NAME
bos - Introduction to the bos command suite
DESCRIPTION
The commands in the bos command suite are the administrative interface
to the Basic OverSeer (BOS) Server, which runs on every file server
machine to monitor the other server processes on it. If a process
fails, the BOS Server can restart it automatically, taking into account
interdependencies between it and other processes. The BOS Server frees
system administrators from constantly monitoring the status of server
machines and processes.
There are several categories of commands in the bos command suite:
· Commands to administer server process binary files: bos getdate,
bos install, bos prune, and bos uninstall.
· Commands to maintain system configuration files: bos addhost, bos
addkey, bos adduser, bos listhosts, bos listkeys, bos listusers,
bos removehost, bos removekey, bos removeuser, and bos setcellname.
· Commands to start and stop processes: bos create, bos delete, bos
restart, bos shutdown, bos start, bos startup, and bos stop.
· Commands to set and verify server process and server machine
status: bos getlog, bos getrestart, bos setauth, bos setrestart,
and bos status.
· A command to restore file system consistency: bos salvage.
· Commands to obtain help: bos apropos and bos help.
The BOS Server and the bos commands use and maintain the following
configuration and log files:
· The /etc/openafs/server/CellServDB file lists the local cell’s
database server machines. These machines run the Authentication,
Backup, Protection and Volume Location (VL) Server processes, which
maintain databases of administrative information. The database
server processes consult the file to learn about their peers,
whereas the other server processes consult it to learn where to
access database information as needed. To administer the CellServDB
file, use the following commands: bos addhost, bos listhosts, bos
removehost, and bos setcellname.
· The /etc/openafs/server/KeyFile file lists the server encryption
keys that the server processes use to decrypt tickets presented by
client processes and one another. To administer the KeyFile file,
use the following commands: bos addkey, bos listkeys, and bos
removekey.
· The /etc/openafs/server/ThisCell file defines the cell to which the
server machine belongs for the purposes of server-to-server
communication. Administer it with the bos setcellname command.
There is also a /etc/openafs/ThisCell file that defines the
machine’s cell membership with respect to the AFS command suites
and Cache Manager access to AFS data.
· The /etc/openafs/server/UserList file lists the user name of each
administrator authorized to issue privileged bos and vos commands.
To administer the UserList file, use the following commands: bos
adduser, bos listusers, and bos removeuser.
· The /etc/openafs/BosConfig file defines which AFS server processes
run on the server machine, and whether the BOS Server restarts them
automatically if they fail. It also defines when all processes
restart automatically (by default once per week), and when the BOS
Server restarts processes that have new binary files (by default
once per day). To administer the BosConfig file, use the following
commands: bos create, bos delete, bos getrestart, bos setrestart,
bos start, and bos stop.
· The /usr/afs/log/BosLog file records important operations the BOS
Server performs and error conditions it encounters.
For more details, see the reference page for each file.
OPTIONS
The following arguments and flags are available on many commands in the
bos suite. The reference page for each command also lists them, but
they are described here in greater detail.
-cell <cell name>
Names the cell in which to run the command. It is acceptable to
abbreviate the cell name to the shortest form that distinguishes it
from the other entries in the /etc/openafs/CellServDB file on the
local machine. If the -cell argument is omitted, the command
interpreter determines the name of the local cell by reading the
following in order:
· The value of the AFSCELL environment variable.
· The local /etc/openafs/ThisCell file.
Do not combine the -cell and -localauth options. A command on which
the -localauth flag is included always runs in the local cell (as
defined in the server machine’s local /etc/openafs/server/ThisCell
file), whereas a command on which the -cell argument is included
runs in the specified foreign cell.
-help
Prints a command’s online help message on the standard output
stream. Do not combine this flag with any of the command’s other
options; when it is provided, the command interpreter ignores all
other options, and only prints the help message.
-localauth
Constructs a server ticket using the server encryption key with the
highest key version number in the local /etc/openafs/server/KeyFile
file. The bos command interpreter presents the ticket, which never
expires, to the BOS Server during mutual authentication.
Use this flag only when issuing a command on a server machine;
client machines do not usually have a /etc/openafs/server/KeyFile
file. The issuer of a command that includes this flag must be
logged on to the server machine as the local superuser "root". The
flag is useful for commands invoked by an unattended application
program, such as a process controlled by the UNIX cron utility or
by a cron entry in the machine’s /etc/openafs/BosConfig file. It is
also useful if an administrator is unable to authenticate to AFS
but is logged in as the local superuser "root".
Do not combine the -cell and -localauth options. A command on which
the -localauth flag is included always runs in the local cell (as
defined in the server machine’s local /etc/openafs/server/ThisCell
file), whereas a command on which the -cell argument is included
runs in the specified foreign cell. Also, do not combine the
-localauth and -noauth flags.
-noauth
Establishes an unauthenticated connection to the BOS Server, in
which the BOS Server treats the issuer as the unprivileged user
"anonymous". It is useful only when authorization checking is
disabled on the server machine (during the installation of a file
server machine or when the bos setauth command has been used during
other unusual circumstances). In normal circumstances, the BOS
Server allows only privileged users to issue commands that change
the status of a server or configuration file, and refuses to
perform such an action even if the -noauth flag is provided. Do not
combine the -noauth and -localauth flags.
-server <machine name>
Indicates the AFS server machine on which to run the command.
Identify the machine by its IP address in dotted decimal format,
its fully-qualified host name (for example, "fs1.abc.com"), or by
an abbreviated form of its host name that distinguishes it from
other machines. Successful use of an abbreviated form depends on
the availability of a name service (such as the Domain Name Service
or a local host table) at the time the command is issued.
For the commands that alter the administrative files shared by all
server machines in the cell (the bos addhost, bos addkey, bos
adduser, bos removehost, bos removekey, and bos removeuser
commands), the appropriate machine depends on whether the cell uses
the United States or international version of AFS:
· If the cell (as recommended) uses the Update Server to
distribute the contents of the /etc/openafs/server directory,
provide the name of the system control machine. After issuing
the command, allow up to five minutes for the Update Server to
distribute the changed file to the other AFS server machines in
the cell. If the specified machine is not the system control
machine but is running an upclient process that refers to the
system control machine, then the change will be overwritten
when the process next brings over the relevant file from the
system control machine.
· Otherwise, repeatedly issue the command, naming each of the
cell’s server machines in turn. To avoid possible inconsistency
problems, finish issuing the commands within a fairly short
time.
PRIVILEGE REQUIRED
To issue any bos command that changes a configuration file or alters
process status, the issuer must be listed in the
/etc/openafs/server/UserList file on the server machine named by the
-server argument. Alternatively, if the -localauth flag is included the
issuer must be logged on as the local superuser "root".
To issue a bos command that only displays information (other than the
bos listkeys command), no privilege is required.
SEE ALSO
BosConfig(5), CellServDB(5), KeyFile(5), ThisCell(5), UserList(5),
bos_addhost(8), bos_addkey(8), bos_adduser(8), bos_apropos(8),
bos_create(8), bos_delete(8), bos_exec(8), bos_getdate(8),
bos_getlog(8), bos_getrestart(8), bos_help(8), bos_install(8),
bos_listhosts(8), bos_listkeys(8), bos_listusers(8), bos_prune(8),
bos_removehost(8), bos_removekey(8), bos_removeuser(8), bos_restart(8),
bos_salvage(8), bos_setauth(8), bos_setcellname(8), bos_setrestart(8),
bos_shutdown(8), bos_start(8), bos_startup(8), bos_status(8),
bos_stop(8), bos_uninstall(8)
COPYRIGHT
IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights Reserved.
This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0.
It was converted from HTML to POD by software written by Chas Williams
and Russ Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth Cassell.