1 OpenAFS for Windows 1.3.72 Installation Notes
2 ---------------------------------------------
4 The OpenAFS for Windows product was very poorly maintained throughout the
5 1.2.x release cycle. While the Unix version was being enhanced and its
6 quality was improving the Windows version stagnated. The IBM AFS 3.6 product
7 was not designed for the Windows 2000/XP/2003 operating system nor was it
8 architected with highly disconnected environments in mind.
10 The 1.3.x series of releases not only fixes a large number of bugs in the 1.2
11 series but also attempts to enhance the functionality of the product to better
12 fit the usage model of today's users. Several items standout.
15 1. The Kerberos 4 infrastructure on which the 1.2 series is reliant is no
16 longer secure. Cross-realm Kerberos is very important in the AFS context and
17 most sites have or are migrating to Kerberos 5 environments. The 1.3 series
18 integrates with the MIT Kerberos for Windows 2.6.x product to provide Kerberos
19 5 functionality including the ability to auto-renew credentials and obtain
20 single sign-on capabilities with the Microsoft Windows Kerberos Logon Service.
22 As of 1.3.65, the OpenAFS client will directly use Kerberos 5 tickets as tokens if
23 KFW is installed. The client requires that all of the AFS Servers with which it
24 communicates support the use of Kerberos 5 tickets as tokens (aka 2b tokens).
25 This means that all of the AFS servers must be running OpenAFS release 1.2.8 or
26 higher. Transarc servers do not support Kerberos 5 tickets as tokens.
28 When using a Microsoft Windows Active Directory as the KDC which issues the
29 service ticket for the AFS cell there are two things to consider. First, the
30 Kerberos 5 tickets issued by Active Directory can be quite large when compared
31 to tickets issued by a traditional KDC due to the incorporation of
32 authorization data in the PAC. If this is your situation you either must
33 modify your 1.2.x servers to support tokens larger than a few hundred bytes;
34 or install the 1.3.64 or higher release on your servers. Second, Windows 2003
35 Active Directory will issue service tickets utilizing the DES-CBC-MD5 enctype.
36 OpenAFS releases older than 1.3.64 will not properly support this enctype.
39 2. The AFS Client Service does not provide robust behavior in an environment
40 with a plug-n-play network environment. Changes to the number of network
41 adapters or the assigned IP addresses will cause the service to panic. The
42 recommended work around for this problem is to install the Microsoft Loopback
43 Adapter on the machine. When the MLA is installed with a static IP address
44 the AFS Client Service will bind only to the loopback and not be affected by
45 changes to state of other network adapters installed on the system.
47 Starting in the 1.3.65 release the installers provided by OpenAFS.org will
48 install the Microsoft Loopback Adapter for you with a name of "AFS" and a
49 pre-assigned IP address in the 10.x.x.x range.
51 One of the benefits of using the MLA is that the NETBIOS names used for the
52 AFS Client's SMB server do not have to be published on any adapter other than
53 the MLA. This means that the names no longer need to be unique. When the MLA
54 is in use, the NETBIOS name associated with the AFS Client Service is simply
55 "AFS". When the MLA is not in use the NETBIOS name is "MACHINE-AFS".
57 When the MLA is installed, UNC paths of the form \\AFS\cellname\path may be used.
60 3. Traditionally, when the AFS Client Service starts it must be able to
61 access the "root.afs" volume of the default cell. The "root.afs" volume
62 contains a set of read-only and read-write mount points to the "root.cell"
63 volumes of various cells the administrator of the default cell believes
64 should be accessible. If the "root.afs" volume is
65 inaccessible when the client service is started, the service will panic.
66 Since many users now use laptops or otherwise operate in disconnected
67 environments in which a VPN may be needed to access the cell's servers, it is
68 often the case that the "root.afs" volume for the default cell is not
69 reachable and the AFS Client Service will not successfully start.
71 The OpenAFS Client Service now supports a fake "root.afs" volume which is
72 dynamically constructed when the service starts. This mode is called
73 Freelance mode. Freelance mode is turned on by default.
76 fake "root.afs" volume are constructed dynamically as cells are accessed.
77 When the fake "root.afs" volume is constructed it will only contain two
78 mount points: a read-only and read-write mount point used to access the
79 "root.cell" volume of the default AFS cell. Any attempt to access a
80 valid cell name will automatically result in a new mount point
81 being created in the fake "root.afs" volume. If the cellname begins with
82 a "." the mount point will be read-write; otherwise the mount point will
83 be read-only. These mount points are preserved in the registry at key:
84 HKLM\SOFTWARE\OpenAFS\Client\Freelance
86 Additional mount points may be manually created using the "fs mkmount"
87 command. Mount points may be removed using the "fs rmmount" command.
89 fs mkmount \\AFS\all\athena.mit.edu root.cell athena.mit.edu
90 fs mkmount \\AFS\all\.athena.mit.edu root.cell athena.mit.edu -rw
91 fs rmmount \\AFS\all\athena.mit.edu
92 fs rmmount \\AFS\all\.athena.mit.edu
95 4. The OpenAFS for Windows client will use AFSDB DNS records to
96 discover cell information when it is not located in the local CellServDB file
97 (\Program Files\OpenAFS\Client\CellServDB).
100 5. OpenAFS for Windows 1.3.72 only supports Windows 2000, Windows XP, and
101 Windows 2003. Windows NT 4.0 and the entire Windows 9x/Me line are no
102 longer supported. Older releases of OpenAFS are available for download
103 if those operating systems must be supported. The last version with support
104 for Win9x is 1.2.2b. The last version with support for Windows NT 4.0 is
108 6. OpenAFS for Windows installs a WinLogon Network Provider to provide
109 Integrated Logon (Single Sign-on) functionality. Integrated Logon can be used
110 when the Windows username and password match the username and password
111 associated with the default cell's Kerberos realm. For example, if the
112 windows username is "jaltman" and the default cell is "athena.mit.edu", then
113 Integrated Logon can be successfully used if the windows password matches the
114 password used for the Kerberos principal "jaltman@ATHENA.MIT.EDU".
116 Integrated Logon is required if you desire the ability to store roaming user
117 profiles within the AFS file system. OpenAFS does not provide tools for
118 synchronizing the Windows and Kerberos user accounts and passwords.
120 If KFW is installed, the Integrated Logon will use Kerberos 5 to obtain
121 tokens. Otherwise, Kerberos 4 is used.
123 There is a High Security mode for use with Integrated Logon when multiple
124 users will share a single machine. There are known problems with this mode.
125 In particular, if you are using this mode it is crucial that new AFS tokens
126 not be obtained after the logon session starts except via the AFS Systray tool
127 as started by the AFS Network Provider. If the AFS Systray tool is stopped
128 you must log off to obtain new tokens. Do not use external tools such as
129 "aklog.exe" if High Security mode is turned on. As of 1.3.70, OpenAFS supports
130 Authenticated SMB connections which removes the need for High Security mode.
133 What Integrated Logon does not do:
134 (a) Integrated Logon does not have the ability to obtain Kerberos 5
135 tickets for use during the Windows Session. At the current time there
136 is no mechanism by which a Kerberos 5 CCAPI credentials cache can
137 be constructed during the logon process such that it will exist in
138 the user's logon session.
139 (b) Integrated Logon does not have the ability to cache the user's
140 username and password for the purpose of obtaining tokens if the
141 Kerberos KDC is inaccessible at logon time.
144 7. The AFS Systray tool (afscreds.exe) supports several new command line
148 -M = renew drive maps
149 -N = ip address change detection
152 autoinit will result in automated attempts to acquire AFS tokens when
153 afscreds.exe is started. afscreds.exe will attempt to utilize tickets stored
154 in the MSLSA credentials cache; any existing CCAPI credentials cache; and
155 finally display an Obtain Tokens dialog to the user. When used in combination
156 with ip address change detection, afscreds.exe will attempt to acquire AFS
157 tokens whenever the IP address list changes and the Kerberos KDC is
160 The renew drive maps option is used to ensure that the user drive maps
161 constructed via the AFS tools (not NET USE) are re-constructed each time
162 afscreds.exe is started.
164 By default afscreds.exe is configured by the OpenAFS.org installers to use -A
165 -N -M -Q as startup options. Currently, there is no UI to change this selection
166 after install time although these options may be altered via the registry either
167 per machine or per user. See AfscredsShortcutParams in registry.txt.
170 8. As of 1.3.71, the OpenAFS for Windows client supports a local Windows
171 authorization group called "AFS Client Admins". This group is used in
172 place of the "Administrators" group to determine which users are allowed
173 to modify the AFS Client Service configuration via either afs_config.exe
174 or fs.exe. For example, the following fs.exe commands are now restricted
175 to members of the "AFS Client Admin" group:
177 - checkservers with a non-zero timer value
180 - sysname with a new sysname list
189 Setting the default sysname for a machine should be done via the registry and
190 not via "fs sysname".
192 The local "SYSTEM" account is always a member of the "AFS Client Admin" group.
194 The initial membership of the "AFS Client Admin" group when created by the
195 installer is equivalent to the local "Administrators" group.
198 9. The AFS Client should support UNC paths everywhere. Power users that make
199 extensive use of the command line shell, cmd.exe, might want to consider using
200 JP Software's 4NT command processor. Unlike cmd.exe, 4NT does fully support
201 UNC paths and can use a UNC path as the default device.
204 10. The AFS Client ships with its own version of aklog.exe which should be
205 used in preference to those obtained by third party sources. The OpenAFS
206 aklog.exe supports Kerberos 5 as well as the ability to auto-generate
207 pts IDs for user's obtaining tokens to foreign cells.
209 Usage: aklog [-d] [[-cell | -c] cell [-k krb_realm]]
210 [[-p | -path] pathname]
214 -d gives debugging information.
215 krb_realm is the kerberos realm of a cell.
216 pathname is the name of a directory to which you wish to authenticate.
217 -noprdb means don't try to determine AFS ID.
218 -5 or -4 selects whether to use Kerberos V or Kerberos IV.
219 (default is Kerberos V)
220 No commandline arguments means authenticate to the local cell.
223 11. The AFS Server functionality provided with OpenAFS 1.3.72 might work but
224 should be considered highly experimental. It has not been thoroughly tested.
225 Any data which would cause pain if lost should not be stored in an OpenAFS
228 A few notes on the usage of the AFS Client Service if it is going to be
229 used with the OpenAFS AFS Server:
231 (a) When the AFS Server is installed Freelance mode must be turned off.
233 (b) The AFS Server and related tools only support the built in kaserver
234 (Kerberos IV). If the AFS Server is being used, MIT Kerberos for Windows
238 12. The OpenAFS for Windows installers now include Symbol information which
239 should be installed if you are experiencing problems and need to send crash
240 reports. This is true in both the release and the debug versions of the
241 installers. The differences between the release and debug versions are
242 whether or not the binaries were compiled with optimization; whether the
243 debug symbols are installed by default; and whether additional debug
244 statements were compiled into the binaries.
247 13. OpenAFS for Windows does not support files larger than 2GB.
250 14. Local RPC is used as the default RPC mechanism for setting
251 tokens. TCP RPC is required to be installed and is used for debugging
255 15. OpenAFS for Windows automatically open ports in the Windows
256 Internet Connection Firewall.
259 16. The OpenAFS for Windows installer by default activates a weak form of
260 encrypted data transfer between the AFS client and the AFS servers. This
261 is often referred to as "fcrypt" mode.
264 17. OpenAFS 1.3.71 adds support for authenticated SMB connections using
265 either NTLM or GSS SPNEGO (NTLM, Kerberos 5, ...). In previous versions
266 of OpenAFS the SMB connections were unauthenticated which left open the
267 door for several security holes which could be used to obtain access to
268 the use of other user's tokens on shared machines. With the introduction
269 of authenticated SMB connections the so called High Security mode should
272 When GSS SPNEGO results in a Kerberos 5 authentication, the Windows SMB
273 client will attempt to retrieve service tickets for "cifs/afs@REALM" (if
274 the loopback adapter is in use) or "cifs/machine-afs@REALM" (if the loopback
275 adapter is not being used). It is extremely important that this service
276 principal not exist in the KDC database. If the request for this ticket
277 fails, a subsequent request for "cifs/HOST$@REALM" will be issued. This
278 service principal should exist in the KDC database. The key associated
279 with this service principal must match the key assigned to
280 "host/machine@REALM". If the local machine is part of a Windows Domain
281 this will all be taken care of for you. If the local machine is using
282 a non-MS KDC for authentication, then your KDC administrator will have to
283 add these service principals to the list of principals to be maintained
287 18. As of 1.3.70, INI files are no longer used for the storage of AFS
288 configuration data. No longer are there any AFS related files stored in the
289 %WINDIR% directory. The CellServDB file is no longer called "afsdsbmt.ini"
290 and it is stored in the OpenAFS\Client directory. The afs_freelance.ini
291 and afsdsbmt.ini file data has been moved to the registry.
293 IMPORTANT: while the CellServDB file location and freelance mountpoint
294 data will be automatically migrated; there is no mechanism for automatic
295 migration of Submounts, Drive Mappings, Active Maps, and CSCPolicy data.
298 19. As of 1.3.70, the OpenAFS Client is compatible with Windows XP SP2
299 and Windows 2003 SP1. The Internet Connection Firewall will be
300 automatically adjusted to allow the receipt of incoming callback messages
301 from the AFS file server. In addition, the appropriate Back Connection
302 entries are added to the registry to allow SMB authentication to be
303 performed across the loopback connection.
306 20. As of 1.3.70, the OpenAFS Client Service supports the CIFS Remote
307 Admin Protocol which provides browsing of server and share information.
308 This significantly enhances the interoperability of AFS volumes within the
309 Explorer Shell and Microsoft Office applications.
312 21. OpenAFS will now automatically forget a user's tokens upon Logoff
313 unless the user's profile was loaded from an AFS volume. In this situation
314 there is no mechanism to determine when the profile has been successfully
315 written back to the network. It is therefore unsafe to release the user's
316 tokens. Whether or not the profile has been loaded from the registry can
317 be determined for Local Accounts, Active Directory accounts and NT4
321 22. Terminal Server installations.
322 When installing under Terminal Server, you must execute the NSIS installer
323 (.exe) from within the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel. Failure to do so
324 will result in AFS not running properly. The AFS Server should not
325 be installed on a machine with Terminal Server installed.
328 23. AFS is a Unix native file system. As such the OpenAFS client attempts
329 to treat the files stored in AFS as they would be on Unix. File and directory
330 names beginning with a "." are automatically given the Hidden attribute so
331 they will not normally be displayed.
334 24. Some organizations which have AFS cell names and Kerberos realm names
335 which differ by more then just lower and upper case rely on a modification
336 to krb524d which maps a Kerberos 5 ticket from realm FOO to a Kerberos 4
337 ticket in realm BAR. This allows user@FOO to appear to be user@bar for
338 the purposes of accessing the AFS cell. As of OpenAFS 1.2.8, support was
339 added to allow the immediate use of Kerberos 5 tickets as AFS (2b) tokens.
340 This is the first building block necessary to break away from the
341 limitations of Kerberos 4 with AFS. By using Kerberos 5 directly we
342 avoid the security holes inherent in Kerberos 4 cross-realm. We also
343 gain access to cryptographically stronger algorithms for authentication
346 Another reason for using Kerberos 5 directly is because the krb524 service
347 runs on a port (4444) which has become increasingly blocked by ISPs. The
348 port was used to spread a worm which attacked Microsoft Windows in the
349 summer of 2003. When the port is blocked users find that they are unable
352 Replacing the Kerberos 4 ticket with a Kerberos 5 ticket is a win in all
353 situations except when the cell name does not match the realm name and
354 the principal names placed into the ACLs are not the principal names from
355 the Kerberos 5 ticket. To support this transition, OpenAFS for Windows
356 in 1.3.72 adds a new registry value to force the use of krb524d. However,
357 the availability of this option should only be used by individuals until
358 such time as their organizations can provide a more permanent solution.
361 25. The Status Cache (AFS Config Control Panel: Advanced Page) is defined
362 to have a maximum number of entries. Each entry represents a single file
363 or directory entry accessed within the AFS file system. When the maximum
364 number of entries are allocated, entries will begin to be reused according
365 to a least recently used (LRU) algorithm. If the number of files or
366 directories being accessed repeatedly by your applications is greater then
367 the maximum number of entries, your host will begin to experience thrashing
368 of the Status Cache and all requests will result in network operations.
370 If you are experiencing poor performance you might want to increase the
371 maximum number of Status Cache entries. Each entry requires 164K. Only
372 those entries which are used are allocated.
375 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
379 Bug reports should be sent to openafs-bugs@openafs.org. Please include as
380 much information as possible about the issue. If you are reporting a crash,
381 please install the debugging symbols by re-running the installer. If a dump
382 file is available for the problem include it along with the AFS Client Trace
383 file %WINDIR%\TEMP\afsd.log. The AFS Client startup log is
384 %WINDIR%\TEMP\afsd_init.log. Send the last continuous block of log
385 information from this file.
387 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
389 How to Contribute to the Development of OpenAFS for Windows:
391 Contributions to the development of OpenAFS for Windows are needed.
392 Contributions may take many forms including cash donations, support contracts,
393 donated developer time, and even donated tech writer time.
395 If you wish to be involved in OpenAFS for Windows development please join the
396 openafs-win32-devel@openafs.org mailing list.
398 https://lists.openafs.org/mailman/listinfo/openafs-win32-devel
400 User questions should be sent to the openafs-info@openafs.org mailing list.
402 https://lists.openafs.org/mailman/listinfo/openafs-info
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