Index: http-transport.scm
==================================================================
--- http-transport.scm
+++ http-transport.scm
@@ -399,13 +399,13 @@
 			(thread-sleep! 0.5) ;; give some margin for queries to complete before switching from file based access to server based access
 			(set! *dbstruct-db*  (db:setup)) ;;  run-id))
 			(set! server-going #t)
 			(tasks:server-set-state! (db:delay-if-busy tdbdat) server-id "running")
                         ;;(BB> "http-transport: ->running")
-			(server:write-dotserver *toppath* iface port (current-process-id) 'http)
+			(server:write-dotserver *toppath* iface port (current-process-id) 'http) ;; create file .server
                         (thread-start! *watchdog*)
-                        (server:complete-attempt *toppath*))
+                        (server:complete-attempt *toppath*)) ;; delete file .starting-server
 		      (begin ;; gotta exit nicely
                         ;;(BB> "http-transport: ->collision")
 			(tasks:server-set-state! (db:delay-if-busy tdbdat) server-id "collision")
 			(http-transport:server-shutdown server-id port))))))
       

Index: server.scm
==================================================================
--- server.scm
+++ server.scm
@@ -226,39 +226,47 @@
 	 #f))))
 
 (define (server:read-dotserver->server-url areapath)
   (let* ((temp (server:read-dotserver areapath))
          (tokens (if temp (string-split temp ":") '())))
-    (if (eq? 3 (length tokens))
+    (if (eq? 4 (length tokens))
         (string-join (list-ref tokens 0) ":" (list-ref tokens 1))
         #f)))
 
 (define (server:read-dotserver->pid areapath)
   (let* ((temp (server:read-dotserver areapath))
          (tokens (if temp (string-split temp ":") '())))
-    (if (eq? 3 (length tokens))
+    (if (eq? 4 (length tokens))
         (list-ref tokens 2)
         #f)))
+
+(define (server:read-dotserver->transport areapath)
+  (let* ((temp (server:read-dotserver areapath))
+         (tokens (if temp (string-split temp ":") '())))
+    (if (eq? 4 (length tokens))
+        (string->symbol (list-ref tokens 3))
+        #f)))
 
 (define (server:running-or-starting? areapath) ;; Note: may be unreiable on non-homehost due to NFS lag
   (or (server:read-dotserver areapath) (server:start-attempted? areapath)))
 
 ;; write a .server file in *toppath* with hostport
 ;; return #t on success, #f otherwise
 ;;
-(define (server:write-dotserver areapath hostportpid)
+(define (server:write-dotserver areapath host port pid transport)
   (let ((lock-file   (conc areapath "/.server.lock"))
-	(server-file (conc areapath "/.server")))
+	(server-file (conc areapath "/.server"))
+        (payload (conc host ":" port ":" pid ":" transport)))
     (if (common:simple-file-lock lock-file)
 	(let ((res (handle-exceptions
 		    exn
 		    #f ;; failed for some reason, for the moment simply return #f
 		    (with-output-to-file server-file
 		      (lambda ()
-			(print hostportpid)))
+			(print payload)))
 		    #t)))
-	  (debug:print-info 0 *default-log-port* "server file " server-file " for " hostportpid " created")
+	  (debug:print-info 0 *default-log-port* "server file " server-file " for " payload " created")
 	  (common:simple-file-release-lock lock-file)
 	  res)
 	#f)))
 
 (define (server:remove-dotserver-file areapath hostport)

Index: tasks.scm
==================================================================
--- tasks.scm
+++ tasks.scm
@@ -330,10 +330,14 @@
     (vector header res)))
 
 (define (tasks:get-server mdb run-id #!key (retries 10))
   (let ((res  #f)
 	(best #f))
+
+    (set! res (vector id interface port pubport transport pid hostname)))
+
+    
     (handle-exceptions
      exn
      (begin
        (print-call-chain (current-error-port))
        (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "WARNING: tasks:get-server db access error.")