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 L<B<vos unlock>|vos_unlock(1)> command to
26 unlock it before proceeding.
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 L<B<vos syncserv>|vos_syncserv(1)> and
36 L<B<vos syncvldb>|vos_syncvldb(1)> commands.
38 There are several categories of commands in the vos command suite:
44 Commands to create, move, and rename volumes:
45 L<B<vos backup>|vos_backup(1)>,
46 L<B<vos backupsys>|vos_backupsys(1)>,
47 L<B<vos changeloc>|vos_changeloc(1)>,
48 L<B<vos create>|vos_create(1)>,
49 L<B<vos move>|vos_move(1)>,
50 and L<B<vos rename>|vos_rename(1)>.
54 Commands to remove VLDB volume records or volumes or both:
55 L<B<vos delentry>|vos_delentry(1)>,
56 L<B<vos remove>|vos_remove(1)>,
57 and L<B<vos zap>|vos_zap(1)>.
61 Commands to edit or display VLDB server entries:
62 L<B<vos changeaddr>|vos_changeaddr(1)>
63 and L<B<vos listaddrs>|vos_listaddrs(1)>.
67 Commands to create, size, and restore dump files:
68 L<B<vos dump>|vos_dump(1)>,
69 L<B<vos restore>|vos_restore(1)>,
70 and L<B<vos size>|vos_size(1)>.
74 Commands to administer replicated volumes:
75 L<B<vos addsite>|vos_addsite(1)>,
76 L<B<vos release>|vos_release(1)>,
77 and L<B<vos remsite>|vos_remsite(1)>.
81 Commands to display VLDB records, volume headers, or both:
82 L<B<vos examine>|vos_examine(1)>,
83 L<B<vos listvldb>|vos_listvldb(1)>,
84 and L<B<vos listvol>|vos_listvol(1)>.
88 Commands to display information about partitions that house volumes:
89 L<B<vos listpart>|vos_listpart(1)>
90 and L<B<vos partinfo>|vos_partinfo(1)>.
94 Commands to restore consistency between the VLDB and volume headers:
95 L<B<vos syncserv>|vos_syncserv(1)>
96 and L<B<vos syncvldb>|vos_syncvldb(1)>.
100 Commands to lock and unlock VLDB entries:
101 L<B<vos lock>|vos_lock(1)>,
102 L<B<vos unlock>|vos_unlock(1)>,
103 and L<B<vos unlockvldb>|vos_unlockvldb(1)>.
107 A command to report Volume Server status:
108 L<B<vos status>|vos_status(1)>.
112 A command to change volume fields:
113 L<B<vos setfields>|vos_setfields(1)>.
117 Commands to obtain help:
118 L<B<vos apropos>|vos_apropos(1)>
119 and L<B<vos help>|vos_help(1)>.
125 Currently, the maximum size of a volume is 2 terabytes (2^31 bytes).
129 The following arguments and flags are available on many commands in the
130 B<bos> suite. The reference page for each command also lists them, but
131 they are described here in greater detail.
135 =item B<-cell> <I<cell name>>
137 Names the cell in which to run the command. It is acceptable to abbreviate
138 the cell name to the shortest form that distinguishes it from the other
139 entries in the F</usr/vice/etc/CellServDB> file on the local machine. If
140 the B<-cell> argument is omitted, the command interpreter determines the
141 name of the local cell by reading the following in order:
147 The value of the AFSCELL environment variable.
151 The local F</usr/vice/etc/ThisCell> file.
155 Do not combine the B<-cell> and B<-localauth> options. A command on which
156 the B<-localauth> flag is included always runs in the local cell (as
157 defined in the server machine's local F</usr/afs/etc/ThisCell> file),
158 whereas a command on which the B<-cell> argument is included runs in the
159 specified foreign cell.
163 Prints a command's online help message on the standard output stream. Do
164 not combine this flag with any of the command's other options; when it is
165 provided, the command interpreter ignores all other options, and only
166 prints the help message.
170 Constructs a server ticket using the server encryption key with the
171 highest key version number in the local F</usr/afs/etc/KeyFile> file. The
172 B<vos> command interpreter presents the ticket, which never expires, to
173 the Volume Server and VL Server during mutual authentication.
175 Use this flag only when issuing a command on a server machine; client
176 machines do not usually have a F</usr/afs/etc/KeyFile> file. The issuer
177 of a command that includes this flag must be logged on to the server
178 machine as the local superuser C<root>. The flag is useful for commands
179 invoked by an unattended application program, such as a process controlled
180 by the UNIX B<cron> utility or by a cron entry in the machine's
181 F</usr/afs/local/BosConfig> file. It is also useful if an administrator is
182 unable to authenticate to AFS but is logged in as the local superuser
185 Do not combine the B<-cell> and B<-localauth> options. A command on which
186 the B<-localauth> flag is included always runs in the local cell (as
187 defined in the server machine's local F</usr/afs/etc/ThisCell> file),
188 whereas a command on which the B<-cell> argument is included runs in the
189 specified foreign cell. Also, do not combine the B<-localauth> and
194 Establishes an unauthenticated connection to the Volume Server and VL
195 Server, in which the servers treat the issuer as the unprivileged user
196 C<anonymous>. It is useful only when authorization checking is disabled on
197 the server machine (during the installation of a file server machine or
198 when the L<B<bos setauth>|bos_setauth(8)> command has been used during
199 other unusual circumstances). In normal circumstances, the servers allow
200 only privileged users to issue commands that change the status of a volume
201 or VLDB record, and refuses to perform such an action even if the
202 B<-noauth> flag is provided. Do not combine the B<-noauth> and
205 =item B<-partition> <I<partition name>>
207 Identifies the AFS server partition on a file server machine that houses,
208 or is to house, the volumes of interest, or about which to list
209 information. The B<vos> command interpreter accepts any of the following
212 /vicepa = vicepa = a = 0
213 /vicepb = vicepb = b = 1
215 After /vicepz (for which the index is 25) comes
217 /vicepaa = vicepaa = aa = 26
218 /vicepab = vicepab = ab = 27
222 /vicepiv = vicepiv = iv = 255
224 The B<-frompartition> and B<-topartition> arguments to the
225 L<B<vos move>|vos_move(1)> command also accept this notation.
227 =item B<-server> <I<machine name>>
229 Identifies the file server machine that houses, or is to house, the
230 volumes or AFS server partitions of interest. Provide the machine's IP
231 address in dotted decimal format, its fully qualified host name (for
232 example, C<fs1.abc.com>), or the shortest abbreviated form of its host
233 name that distinguishes it from other machines. Successful use of an
234 abbreviated form depends on the availability of a name resolution service
235 (such as the Domain Name Service or a local host table) at the time the
238 The B<-fromserver> and B<-toserver> arguments to the
239 L<B<vos move>|vos_move(1)> command also accept these name formats.
243 Shows all servers as IP addresses instead of the DNS name. This is very
244 useful when the server address is registered as 127.0.0.1 or when dealing
245 with multi-homed servers. The B<-noresolve> option is available in OpenAFS
246 versions 1.4.8 or later and 1.5.35 or later.
250 Produces on the standard output stream a detailed trace of the command's
251 execution. If this argument is omitted, only warnings and error messages
256 =head1 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED
258 To issue most vos commands, the issuer must be listed in the
259 F</usr/afs/etc/UserList> file on each server machine that houses or is to
260 house an affected volume, and on each database server machine. The most
261 predictable performance results if all database server and file server
262 machines in the cell share a common F<UserList> file. Alternatively, if
263 the B<-localauth> flag is included, the issuer must be logged on to a
264 server machine as the local superuser C<root>.
266 To issue a vos command that only displays information, no privilege is
277 L<vos_changeaddr(1)>,
278 L<vos_convertROtoRW(1)>,
305 L<vos_unlockvldb(1)>,
310 IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights Reserved.
312 This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0. It was
313 converted from HTML to POD by software written by Chas Williams and Russ
314 Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth Cassell.