3 vos - Introduction to the vos command suite
7 The commands in the B<vos> command suite are the administrative interface
8 to the Volume Server and Volume Location (VL) Server. System
9 administrators use B<vos> commands to create, move, delete, replicate,
10 back up and examine volumes, among other operations. The VL Server
11 automatically records in the Volume Location Database (VLDB) changes in
12 volume status and location that result from B<vos> commands.
14 The operations invoked by most B<vos> commands are idempotent, meaning
15 that if an operation is interrupted by a network, server machine, or
16 process outage, then a subsequent attempt at the same operation continues
17 from the interruption point, rather than starting over at the beginning of
18 the operation. Before executing a command, the Volume and VL Servers check
19 the current state of the volumes and VLDB records to be altered by the
20 command. If they are already in the desired end state (or a consistent
21 intermediate state), there is no need to repeat the internal steps that
22 brought them there. Idempotency does not apply if the command issuer
23 explicitly interrupts the operation with the Ctrl-C command or another
24 interrupt signal. In that case, the volume is left locked and the
25 administrator must use the B<vos unlock> command to unlock it before
28 It is important that the VLDB accurately indicate the status of the
29 volumes on file server machines at all times. L<vldb.DB0(5)> and
30 L<afs_volume_header(5)> describe the information recorded in the VLDB and
31 volume headers, respectively. If a B<vos> command changes volume status,
32 it automatically records the change in the corresponding VLDB entry. The
33 most common cause of discrepancies between the VLDB and volume status on
34 file server machines is interrupted operations; to restore consistency,
35 use the B<vos syncserv> and B<vos syncvldb> commands.
37 There are several categories of commands in the vos command suite:
43 Commands to create, move, and rename volumes: B<vos backup>, B<vos
44 backupsys>, B<vos changeloc>, B<vos create>, B<vos move>, and B<vos
49 Commands to remove VLDB volume records or volumes or both: B<vos
50 delentry>, B<vos remove>, and B<vos zap>.
54 Commands to edit or display VLDB server entries: B<vos changeaddr> and
59 Commands to create, size, and restore dump files: B<vos dump>, B<vos
60 restore>, and B<vos size>.
64 Commands to administer replicated volumes: B<vos addsite>, B<vos release>,
69 Commands to display VLDB records, volume headers, or both: B<vos examine>,
70 B<vos listvldb>, and B<vos listvol>.
74 Commands to display information about partitions that house volumes: B<vos
75 listpart> and B<vos partinfo>.
79 Commands to restore consistency between the VLDB and volume headers: B<vos
80 syncserv> and B<vos syncvldb>.
84 Commands to lock and unlock VLDB entries: B<vos lock>, B<vos unlock>, and
89 A command to report Volume Server status: B<vos status>.
93 A command to change volume fields: B<vos setfields>.
97 Commands to obtain help: B<vos apropos> and B<vos help>.
103 Currently, the maximum size of a volume is 2 terabytes (2^31 bytes).
107 The following arguments and flags are available on many commands in the
108 B<bos> suite. The reference page for each command also lists them, but
109 they are described here in greater detail.
113 =item B<-cell> <I<cell name>>
115 Names the cell in which to run the command. It is acceptable to abbreviate
116 the cell name to the shortest form that distinguishes it from the other
117 entries in the F</usr/vice/etc/CellServDB> file on the local machine. If
118 the B<-cell> argument is omitted, the command interpreter determines the
119 name of the local cell by reading the following in order:
125 The value of the AFSCELL environment variable.
129 The local F</usr/vice/etc/ThisCell> file.
133 Do not combine the B<-cell> and B<-localauth> options. A command on which
134 the B<-localauth> flag is included always runs in the local cell (as
135 defined in the server machine's local F</usr/afs/etc/ThisCell> file),
136 whereas a command on which the B<-cell> argument is included runs in the
137 specified foreign cell.
141 Prints a command's online help message on the standard output stream. Do
142 not combine this flag with any of the command's other options; when it is
143 provided, the command interpreter ignores all other options, and only
144 prints the help message.
148 Constructs a server ticket using the server encryption key with the
149 highest key version number in the local F</usr/afs/etc/KeyFile> file. The
150 B<vos> command interpreter presents the ticket, which never expires, to
151 the Volume Server and VL Server during mutual authentication.
153 Use this flag only when issuing a command on a server machine; client
154 machines do not usually have a F</usr/afs/etc/KeyFile> file. The issuer
155 of a command that includes this flag must be logged on to the server
156 machine as the local superuser C<root>. The flag is useful for commands
157 invoked by an unattended application program, such as a process controlled
158 by the UNIX B<cron> utility or by a cron entry in the machine's
159 F</usr/afs/local/BosConfig> file. It is also useful if an administrator is
160 unable to authenticate to AFS but is logged in as the local superuser
163 Do not combine the B<-cell> and B<-localauth> options. A command on which
164 the B<-localauth> flag is included always runs in the local cell (as
165 defined in the server machine's local F</usr/afs/etc/ThisCell> file),
166 whereas a command on which the B<-cell> argument is included runs in the
167 specified foreign cell. Also, do not combine the B<-localauth> and
172 Establishes an unauthenticated connection to the Volume Server and VL
173 Server, in which the servers treat the issuer as the unprivileged user
174 C<anonymous>. It is useful only when authorization checking is disabled on
175 the server machine (during the installation of a file server machine or
176 when the B<bos setauth> command has been used during other unusual
177 circumstances). In normal circumstances, the servers allow only privileged
178 users to issue commands that change the status of a volume or VLDB record,
179 and refuses to perform such an action even if the B<-noauth> flag is
180 provided. Do not combine the B<-noauth> and B<-localauth> flags.
182 =item B<-partition> <I<partition name>>
184 Identifies the AFS server partition on a file server machine that houses,
185 or is to house, the volumes of interest, or about which to list
186 information. The B<vos> command interpreter accepts any of the following
189 /vicepa = vicepa = a = 0
190 /vicepb = vicepb = b = 1
192 After /vicepz (for which the index is 25) comes
194 /vicepaa = vicepaa = aa = 26
195 /vicepab = vicepab = ab = 27
199 /vicepiv = vicepiv = iv = 255
201 The B<-frompartition> and B<-topartition> arguments to the B<vos move>
202 command also accept this notation.
204 =item B<-server> <I<machine name>>
206 Identifies the file server machine that houses, or is to house, the
207 volumes or AFS server partitions of interest. Provide the machine's IP
208 address in dotted decimal format, its fully qualified host name (for
209 example, C<fs1.abc.com>), or the shortest abbreviated form of its host
210 name that distinguishes it from other machines. Successful use of an
211 abbreviated form depends on the availability of a name resolution service
212 (such as the Domain Name Service or a local host table) at the time the
215 The B<-fromserver> and B<-toserver> arguments to the B<vos move> command
216 also accept these name formats.
220 Shows all servers as IP addresses instead of the DNS name. This is very
221 useful when the server address is registered as 127.0.0.1 or when dealing
222 with multi-homed servers. The B<-noresolve> option is available in OpenAFS
223 versions 1.4.8 or later and 1.5.35 or later.
227 Produces on the standard output stream a detailed trace of the command's
228 execution. If this argument is omitted, only warnings and error messages
233 =head1 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED
235 To issue most vos commands, the issuer must be listed in the
236 F</usr/afs/etc/UserList> file on each server machine that houses or is to
237 house an affected volume, and on each database server machine. The most
238 predictable performance results if all database server and file server
239 machines in the cell share a common F<UserList> file. Alternatively, if
240 the B<-localauth> flag is included, the issuer must be logged on to a
241 server machine as the local superuser C<root>.
243 To issue a vos command that only displays information, no privilege is
254 L<vos_changeaddr(1)>,
255 L<vos_convertROtoRW(1)>,
282 L<vos_unlockvldb(1)>,
287 IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights Reserved.
289 This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0. It was
290 converted from HTML to POD by software written by Chas Williams and Russ
291 Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth Cassell.