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 L<B<vos listaddrs>|vos_listaddrs(1)>
64 and L<B<vos setaddrs>|vos_setaddrs(1)>.
68 Commands to create, size, and restore dump files:
69 L<B<vos dump>|vos_dump(1)>,
70 L<B<vos restore>|vos_restore(1)>,
71 and L<B<vos size>|vos_size(1)>.
75 Commands to administer replicated volumes:
76 L<B<vos addsite>|vos_addsite(1)>,
77 L<B<vos release>|vos_release(1)>,
78 and L<B<vos remsite>|vos_remsite(1)>.
82 Commands to display VLDB records, volume headers, or both:
83 L<B<vos examine>|vos_examine(1)>,
84 L<B<vos listvldb>|vos_listvldb(1)>,
85 and L<B<vos listvol>|vos_listvol(1)>.
89 Commands to display information about partitions that house volumes:
90 L<B<vos listpart>|vos_listpart(1)>
91 and L<B<vos partinfo>|vos_partinfo(1)>.
95 Commands to restore consistency between the VLDB and volume headers:
96 L<B<vos syncserv>|vos_syncserv(1)>
97 and L<B<vos syncvldb>|vos_syncvldb(1)>.
101 Commands to lock and unlock VLDB entries:
102 L<B<vos lock>|vos_lock(1)>,
103 L<B<vos unlock>|vos_unlock(1)>,
104 and L<B<vos unlockvldb>|vos_unlockvldb(1)>.
108 A command to report Volume Server status:
109 L<B<vos status>|vos_status(1)>.
113 A command to end Volume Server transactions:
114 L<B<vos endtrans>|vos_endtrans(1)>.
118 A command to change volume fields:
119 L<B<vos setfields>|vos_setfields(1)>.
123 Commands to obtain help:
124 L<B<vos apropos>|vos_apropos(1)>
125 and L<B<vos help>|vos_help(1)>.
131 Currently, the maximum size of a volume is 2 terabytes (2^31 bytes).
135 The following arguments and flags are available on many commands in the
136 B<vos> suite. The reference page for each command also lists them, but
137 they are described here in greater detail.
141 =item B<-cell> <I<cell name>>
143 Names the cell in which to run the command. It is acceptable to abbreviate
144 the cell name to the shortest form that distinguishes it from the other
145 entries in the F</usr/vice/etc/CellServDB> file on the local machine. If
146 the B<-cell> argument is omitted, the command interpreter determines the
147 name of the local cell by reading the following in order:
153 The value of the AFSCELL environment variable.
157 The local F</usr/vice/etc/ThisCell> file.
161 Do not combine the B<-cell> and B<-localauth> options. A command on which
162 the B<-localauth> flag is included always runs in the local cell (as
163 defined in the server machine's local F</usr/afs/etc/ThisCell> file),
164 whereas a command on which the B<-cell> argument is included runs in the
165 specified foreign cell.
167 =item B<-config> <I<config directory>>
169 The location of the directory to use to obtain configuration information,
170 including the CellServDB. This is primarily provided for testing purposes.
174 Prints a command's online help message on the standard output stream. Do
175 not combine this flag with any of the command's other options; when it is
176 provided, the command interpreter ignores all other options, and only
177 prints the help message.
181 Constructs a server ticket using the server encryption key with the
182 highest key version number in the local F</usr/afs/etc/KeyFile> file. The
183 B<vos> command interpreter presents the ticket, which never expires, to
184 the Volume Server and VL Server during mutual authentication.
186 Use this flag only when issuing a command on a server machine; client
187 machines do not usually have a F</usr/afs/etc/KeyFile> file. The issuer
188 of a command that includes this flag must be logged on to the server
189 machine as the local superuser C<root>. The flag is useful for commands
190 invoked by an unattended application program, such as a process controlled
191 by the UNIX B<cron> utility or by a cron entry in the machine's
192 F</usr/afs/local/BosConfig> file. It is also useful if an administrator is
193 unable to authenticate to AFS but is logged in as the local superuser
196 Do not combine the B<-cell> and B<-localauth> options. A command on which
197 the B<-localauth> flag is included always runs in the local cell (as
198 defined in the server machine's local F</usr/afs/etc/ThisCell> file),
199 whereas a command on which the B<-cell> argument is included runs in the
200 specified foreign cell. Also, do not combine the B<-localauth> and
205 Establishes an unauthenticated connection to the Volume Server and VL
206 Server, in which the servers treat the issuer as the unprivileged user
207 C<anonymous>. It is useful only when authorization checking is disabled on
208 the server machine (during the installation of a file server machine or
209 when the L<B<bos setauth>|bos_setauth(8)> command has been used during
210 other unusual circumstances). In normal circumstances, the servers allow
211 only privileged users to issue commands that change the status of a volume
212 or VLDB record, and refuses to perform such an action even if the
213 B<-noauth> flag is provided. Do not combine the B<-noauth> and
216 =item B<-partition> <I<partition name>>
218 Identifies the AFS server partition on a file server machine that houses,
219 or is to house, the volumes of interest, or about which to list
220 information. The B<vos> command interpreter accepts any of the following
223 /vicepa = vicepa = a = 0
224 /vicepb = vicepb = b = 1
226 After /vicepz (for which the index is 25) comes
228 /vicepaa = vicepaa = aa = 26
229 /vicepab = vicepab = ab = 27
233 /vicepiv = vicepiv = iv = 255
235 The B<-frompartition> and B<-topartition> arguments to the
236 L<B<vos move>|vos_move(1)> command also accept this notation.
238 =item B<-server> <I<machine name>>
240 Identifies the file server machine that houses, or is to house, the
241 volumes or AFS server partitions of interest. Provide the machine's IP
242 address in dotted decimal format, its fully qualified host name (for
243 example, C<fs1.example.com>), or the shortest abbreviated form of its host
244 name that distinguishes it from other machines. Successful use of an
245 abbreviated form depends on the availability of a name resolution service
246 (such as the Domain Name Service or a local host table) at the time the
249 The B<-fromserver> and B<-toserver> arguments to the
250 L<B<vos move>|vos_move(1)> command also accept these name formats.
254 Shows all servers as IP addresses instead of the DNS name. This is very
255 useful when the server address is registered as 127.0.0.1 or when dealing
256 with multi-homed servers. The B<-noresolve> option is available in OpenAFS
257 versions 1.4.8 or later and 1.5.35 or later.
261 Produces on the standard output stream a detailed trace of the command's
262 execution. If this argument is omitted, only warnings and error messages
267 =head1 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED
269 To issue most vos commands, the issuer must be listed in the
270 F</usr/afs/etc/UserList> file on each server machine that houses or is to
271 house an affected volume, and on each database server machine. The most
272 predictable performance results if all database server and file server
273 machines in the cell share a common F<UserList> file. Alternatively, if
274 the B<-localauth> flag is included, the issuer must be logged on to a
275 server machine as the local superuser C<root>.
277 To issue a vos command that only displays information, no privilege is
286 L<vos_changeaddr(1)>,
287 L<vos_convertROtoRW(1)>,
315 L<vos_unlockvldb(1)>,
322 IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights Reserved.
324 This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0. It was
325 converted from HTML to POD by software written by Chas Williams and Russ
326 Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth Cassell.