diff --git a/sy_old/mars_light.c b/sy_old/mars_light.c
index dfbc6d91..1b4977f9 100644
--- a/sy_old/mars_light.c
+++ b/sy_old/mars_light.c
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ struct light_class {
 	bool   cl_hostcontext;
 	bool   cl_serial;
 	int    cl_father;
+	light_worker_fn cl_prepare;
 	light_worker_fn cl_forward;
 	light_worker_fn cl_backward;
 };
@@ -2406,12 +2407,57 @@ done:
 	return status;
 }
 
+static int prepare_delete(void *buf, struct mars_dent *dent)
+{
+	struct mars_global *global = buf;
+	struct mars_dent *target;
+	struct mars_dent *response;
+	const char *response_path = NULL;
+	int max_serial = 0;
+
+	if (!global || !dent || !dent->new_link) {
+		goto done;
+	}
+	target = _mars_find_dent(global, dent->new_link);
+	if (target) {
+		mars_unlink(dent->new_link);
+		target->d_killme = true;
+		MARS_DBG("target '%s' deleted and marked for removal\n", dent->new_link);
+	} else {
+		MARS_DBG("target '%s' does no longer exist\n", dent->new_link);
+	}
+	
+	response_path = path_make("/mars/todo-global/deleted-%s", my_id());
+	if (!response_path) {
+		MARS_ERR("cannot build response path for '%s'\n", dent->new_link);
+		goto done;
+	}
+	response = _mars_find_dent(global, response_path);
+	if (response && response->new_link) {
+		sscanf(response->new_link, "%d", &max_serial);
+	}
+	if (dent->d_serial > max_serial) {
+		char response_val[16];
+		max_serial = dent->d_serial;
+		snprintf(response_val, sizeof(response_val), "%09d", max_serial);
+		mars_symlink(response_val, response_path, NULL, 0);
+	}
+
+ done:
+	brick_string_free(response_path);
+	return 0;
+}
+
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 // the order is important!
 enum {
 	// root element: this must have index 0
 	CL_ROOT,
+	// global todos
+	CL_GLOBAL_TODO,
+	CL_GLOBAL_TODO_DELETE,
+	CL_GLOBAL_TODO_ITEMS,
 	// replacement for DNS in kernelspace
 	CL_IPS,
 	CL_PEERS,
@@ -2448,6 +2494,32 @@ static const struct light_class light_classes[] = {
 	[CL_ROOT] = {
 	},
 
+	/* Subdirectory for global controlling items...
+	 */
+	[CL_GLOBAL_TODO] = {
+		.cl_name = "todo-global",
+		.cl_len = 11,
+		.cl_type = 'd',
+		.cl_hostcontext = false,
+		.cl_father = CL_ROOT,
+	},
+	/* ... and its contents
+	 */
+	[CL_GLOBAL_TODO_DELETE] = {
+		.cl_name = "delete-",
+		.cl_len = 7,
+		.cl_type = 'l',
+		.cl_serial = true,
+		.cl_father = CL_GLOBAL_TODO,
+		.cl_prepare = prepare_delete,
+	},
+	[CL_GLOBAL_TODO_ITEMS] = {
+		.cl_name = "",
+		.cl_len = 0, // catch any
+		.cl_type = 'l',
+		.cl_father = CL_GLOBAL_TODO,
+	},
+
 	/* Directory containing the addresses of all peers
 	 */
 	[CL_IPS] = {
@@ -2798,7 +2870,7 @@ done:
 /* Do some syntactic checks, then delegate work to the real worker functions
  * from the light_classes[] table.
  */
-static int light_worker(struct mars_global *global, struct mars_dent *dent, bool direction)
+static int light_worker(struct mars_global *global, struct mars_dent *dent, bool prepare, bool direction)
 {
 	light_worker_fn worker;
 	int class = dent->d_class;
@@ -2845,7 +2917,9 @@ static int light_worker(struct mars_global *global, struct mars_dent *dent, bool
 			return -EINVAL;
 		}
 	}
-	if (direction) {
+	if (prepare) {
+		worker = light_classes[class].cl_prepare;
+	} else if (direction) {
 		worker = light_classes[class].cl_backward;
 	} else {
 		worker = light_classes[class].cl_forward;
diff --git a/sy_old/strategy.h b/sy_old/strategy.h
index e5bde5b2..d2a4878f 100644
--- a/sy_old/strategy.h
+++ b/sy_old/strategy.h
@@ -57,10 +57,11 @@ struct mars_global {
 	int global_version;
 };
 
-typedef int (*mars_dent_checker)(struct mars_dent *parent, const char *name, int namlen, unsigned int d_type, int *prefix, int *serial);
-typedef int (*mars_dent_worker)(struct mars_global *global, struct mars_dent *dent, bool direction);
+typedef int (*mars_dent_checker_fn)(struct mars_dent *parent, const char *name, int namlen, unsigned int d_type, int *prefix, int *serial);
+typedef int (*mars_dent_worker_fn)(struct mars_global *global, struct mars_dent *dent, bool prepare, bool direction);
 
-extern int mars_dent_work(struct mars_global *global, char *dirname, int allocsize, mars_dent_checker checker, mars_dent_worker worker, void *buf, int maxdepth);
+extern int mars_dent_work(struct mars_global *global, char *dirname, int allocsize, mars_dent_checker_fn checker, mars_dent_worker_fn worker, void *buf, int maxdepth);
+extern struct mars_dent *_mars_find_dent(struct mars_global *global, const char *path);
 extern struct mars_dent *mars_find_dent(struct mars_global *global, const char *path);
 extern int mars_find_dent_all(struct mars_global *global, char *prefix, struct mars_dent ***table);
 extern void mars_kill_dent(struct mars_dent *dent);
@@ -112,6 +113,7 @@ extern struct mars_brick *make_brick_all(
  */
 extern int mars_stat(const char *path, struct kstat *stat, bool use_lstat);
 extern int mars_mkdir(const char *path);
+extern int mars_unlink(const char *path);
 extern int mars_symlink(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath, const struct timespec *stamp, uid_t uid);
 extern int mars_rename(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath);
 extern int mars_chmod(const char *path, mode_t mode);
diff --git a/sy_old/sy_generic.c b/sy_old/sy_generic.c
index 261d825c..4a620342 100644
--- a/sy_old/sy_generic.c
+++ b/sy_old/sy_generic.c
@@ -96,6 +96,20 @@ int mars_mkdir(const char *path)
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(mars_mkdir);
 
+int mars_unlink(const char *path)
+{
+	mm_segment_t oldfs;
+	int status;
+	
+	oldfs = get_fs();
+	set_fs(get_ds());
+	status = sys_unlink(path);
+	set_fs(oldfs);
+
+	return status;
+}
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(mars_unlink);
+
 int mars_symlink(const char *oldpath, const char *newpath, const struct timespec *stamp, uid_t uid)
 {
 	char *tmp = backskip_replace(newpath, '/', true, "/.tmp-"); 
@@ -270,7 +284,7 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(mars_power_button_recursive);
 
 struct mars_cookie {
 	struct mars_global *global;
-	mars_dent_checker checker;
+	mars_dent_checker_fn checker;
 	char *path;
 	struct mars_dent *parent;
 	int pathlen;
@@ -479,7 +493,7 @@ static int _mars_readdir(struct mars_cookie *cookie)
 	return status;
 }
 
-int mars_dent_work(struct mars_global *global, char *dirname, int allocsize, mars_dent_checker checker, mars_dent_worker worker, void *buf, int maxdepth)
+int mars_dent_work(struct mars_global *global, char *dirname, int allocsize, mars_dent_checker_fn checker, mars_dent_worker_fn worker, void *buf, int maxdepth)
 {
 	static int version = 0;
 	struct mars_cookie cookie = {
@@ -555,6 +569,20 @@ restart:
 		goto restart;
 	}
 
+	/* Preparation pass.
+	 * Here is a chance to mark some dents for removal
+	 * (or other types of non-destructive operations)
+	 */
+	for (tmp = global->dent_anchor.next, next = tmp->next; tmp != &global->dent_anchor; tmp = next, next = next->next) {
+		struct mars_dent *dent = container_of(tmp, struct mars_dent, dent_link);
+		msleep(10); // yield
+		MARS_IO("forward prepare '%s'\n", dent->d_path);
+		status = worker(buf, dent, true, false);
+		if (status)
+			MARS_IO("forward treat '%s' status = %d\n", dent->d_path, status);
+		total_status |= status;
+	}
+
 	/* Remove all dents marked for removal.
 	 */
 	for (tmp = global->dent_anchor.next, next = tmp->next; tmp != &global->dent_anchor; tmp = next, next = next->next) {
@@ -576,7 +604,7 @@ restart:
 		up_read(&global->dent_mutex);
 		msleep(10); // yield
 		MARS_IO("forward treat '%s'\n", dent->d_path);
-		status = worker(buf, dent, false);
+		status = worker(buf, dent, false, false);
 		if (status)
 			MARS_IO("forward treat '%s' status = %d\n", dent->d_path, status);
 		down_read(&global->dent_mutex);
@@ -590,7 +618,7 @@ restart:
 		up_read(&global->dent_mutex);
 		msleep(10); // yield
 		MARS_IO("backward treat '%s'\n", dent->d_path);
-		status = worker(buf, dent, true);
+		status = worker(buf, dent, false, true);
 		if (status)
 			MARS_IO("backward treat '%s' status = %d\n", dent->d_path, status);
 		down_read(&global->dent_mutex);
@@ -607,7 +635,6 @@ done:
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(mars_dent_work);
 
-static
 struct mars_dent *_mars_find_dent(struct mars_global *global, const char *path)
 {
 	struct mars_dent *res = NULL;
@@ -627,7 +654,7 @@ struct mars_dent *_mars_find_dent(struct mars_global *global, const char *path)
 
 	return res;
 }
-//EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(_mars_find_dent);
+EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(_mars_find_dent);
 
 struct mars_dent *mars_find_dent(struct mars_global *global, const char *path)
 {
diff --git a/userspace/marsadm b/userspace/marsadm
index b70cb634..d3ccf084 100644
--- a/userspace/marsadm
+++ b/userspace/marsadm
@@ -229,6 +229,7 @@ sub _create_cluster {
   system("mkdir $mars/ips") unless -d "$mars/ips";
   system("mkdir $mars/defaults") unless -d "$mars/defaults";
   system("mkdir $mars/defaults-$host") unless -d "$mars/defaults-$host";
+  system("mkdir $mars/todo-global") unless -d "$mars/todo-global";
   symlink($ip, "$mars/ips/ip-$host");
 }
 
@@ -375,6 +376,46 @@ sub logrotate_res {
   system("touch $next");
 }
 
+sub _allowed_logdelete {
+  my ($cmd, $res) = @_;
+  my $max = -1;
+  my @paths = glob("$mars/resource-$res/replay-*") or die "cannot find any replay symlinks\n";
+  foreach my $path (@paths) {
+    my $target = readlink($path) or die "cannot read symlink '$path'\n";
+    my $nr = $target;
+    $nr =~ s/^.*log-([0-9]+)-.+$/$1/;
+    $max = $nr if $nr > $max;
+  }
+  return $max;
+}
+
+sub _create_delete {
+  my ($target) = @_;
+  my $nr = 0;
+  my @paths = glob("$mars/todo-global/delete-*");
+  if(@paths) {
+    my $last = pop(@paths);
+    $nr = $last;
+    $nr =~ s/^.*delete-([0-9]+)$/$1/;
+  }
+  my $new = sprintf("$mars/todo-global/delete-%09d", $nr + 1);
+  print "create symlink $new -> $target\n";
+  symlink($target, $new);
+}
+
+sub logdelete_res {
+  my ($cmd, $res) = @_;
+  my @paths = glob("$mars/resource-$res/log-*-$host") or die "cannot find any logfiles\n";
+  @paths = sort(@paths);
+  my $first = shift(@paths);
+  print "chosen '$first' for deletion\n";
+  my $nr = $first;
+  $nr =~ s/^.*log-([0-9]+)-.+$/$1/;
+  my $max = _allowed_logdelete(@_);
+  die "only logfile numbers smaller than $max are allowed to be deleted\n" unless $nr < $max;
+  _create_delete($first);
+}
+
 sub attach_res {
   my ($cmd, $res) = @_;
   my $detach = ($cmd eq "detach");
@@ -523,6 +564,9 @@ my %cmd_table =
    "create-resource"   => \&create_res,
    "join-resource"     => \&create_res,
    "logrotate"         => \&logrotate_res,
+   "log-rotate"        => \&logrotate_res,
+   "logdelete"         => \&logdelete_res,
+   "log-delete"        => \&logdelete_res,
    "fake-sync"         => \&fake_local_res,
 
    # compatible keywords