1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
4 <refentrytitle>kas</refentrytitle>
5 <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
9 <refpurpose>Introduction to the kas command suite</refpurpose>
12 <title>Description</title>
13 <para>The commands in the <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis> command suite are the administrative interface
14 to the Authentication Server, which runs on each database server machine
15 in a cell, maintains the Authentication Database, and provides the
16 authentication tickets that client applications must present to AFS
17 servers in order to obtain access to AFS data and other services.</para>
19 <para>There are several categories of commands in the <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis> command suite:</para>
23 <para>Commands to create, modify, examine and delete entries in the
24 Authentication Database, including passwords: <emphasis role="bold">kas create</emphasis>, <emphasis role="bold">kas
25 delete</emphasis>, <emphasis role="bold">kas examine</emphasis>, <emphasis role="bold">kas list</emphasis>, <emphasis role="bold">kas setfields</emphasis>, <emphasis role="bold">kas setkey</emphasis>,
26 <emphasis role="bold">kas setpassword</emphasis>, and <emphasis role="bold">kas unlock</emphasis>.</para>
30 <para>Commands to create, delete, and examine tokens and server tickets: <emphasis role="bold">kas
31 forgetticket</emphasis>, <emphasis role="bold">kas listtickets</emphasis>, <emphasis role="bold">kas noauthentication</emphasis>, and <emphasis role="bold">kas
32 stringtokey</emphasis>.</para>
36 <para>A command to enter interactive mode: <emphasis role="bold">kas interactive</emphasis>.</para>
40 <para>A command to trace Authentication Server operations: <emphasis role="bold">kas statistics</emphasis>.</para>
44 <para>Commands to obtain help: <emphasis role="bold">kas apropos</emphasis> and <emphasis role="bold">kas help</emphasis>.</para>
48 <para>Because of the sensitivity of information in the Authentication Database,
49 the Authentication Server authenticates issuers of <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis> commands
50 directly, rather than accepting the standard token generated by the Ticket
51 Granting Service. Any <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis> command that requires administrative
52 privilege prompts the issuer for a password. The resulting ticket is valid
53 for six hours unless the maximum ticket lifetime for the issuer or the
54 Authentication Server's Ticket Granting Service is shorter.</para>
56 <para>To avoid having to provide a password repeatedly when issuing a sequence
57 of <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis> commands, enter <emphasis>interactive mode</emphasis> by issuing the <emphasis role="bold">kas
58 interactive</emphasis> command, typing <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis> without any operation code, or typing
59 <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis> followed by a user and cell name, separated by an at-sign (<computeroutput>@</computeroutput>; an
60 example is <computeroutput>kas smith.admin@abc.com</computeroutput>). After prompting once for a
61 password, the Authentication Server accepts the resulting token for every
62 command issued during the interactive session. See <link linkend="kas_interactive8">kas_interactive(8)</link>
63 for a discussion of when to use each method for entering interactive mode
64 and of the effects of entering a session.</para>
66 <para>The Authentication Server maintains two databases on the local disk of the
67 machine where it runs:</para>
71 <para>The Authentication Database (<replaceable>/usr/afs/db/kaserver.DB0</replaceable>) stores the
72 information used to provide AFS authentication services to users and
73 servers, including the password scrambled as an encryption key. The
74 reference page for the <emphasis role="bold">kas examine</emphasis> command describes the information in
75 a database entry.</para>
79 <para>An auxiliary file (<replaceable>/usr/afs/local/kaauxdb</replaceable> by default) that tracks how
80 often the user has provided an incorrect password to the local
81 Authentication Server. The reference page for the <emphasis role="bold">kas setfields</emphasis> command
82 describes how the Authentication Server uses this file to enforce the
83 limit on consecutive authentication failures. To designate an alternate
84 directory for the file, use the <emphasis role="bold">kaserver</emphasis> command's <emphasis role="bold">-localfiles</emphasis>
91 <title>Options</title>
92 <para>The following arguments and flags are available on many commands in the
93 <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis> suite. (Some of them are unavailable on commands entered in
94 interactive mode, because the information they specify is established when
95 entering interactive mode and cannot be changed except by leaving
96 interactive mode.) The reference page for each command also lists them,
97 but they are described here in greater detail.</para>
101 <term><emphasis role="bold">-admin_username</emphasis> <<emphasis>user name</emphasis>></term>
103 <para>Specifies the user identity under which to authenticate with the
104 Authentication Server for execution of the command. If this argument is
105 omitted, the <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis> command interpreter requests authentication for the
106 identity under which the issuer is logged onto the local machine. Do not
107 combine this argument with the <emphasis role="bold">-noauth</emphasis> flag.</para>
112 <term><emphasis role="bold">-cell</emphasis> <<emphasis>cell name</emphasis>></term>
114 <para>Names the cell in which to run the command. It is acceptable to abbreviate
115 the cell name to the shortest form that distinguishes it from the other
116 entries in the <replaceable>/usr/vice/etc/CellServDB</replaceable> file on the local machine. If
117 the <emphasis role="bold">-cell</emphasis> argument is omitted, the command interpreter determines the
118 name of the local cell by reading the following in order:</para>
122 <para>The value of the AFSCELL environment variable.</para>
126 <para>The local <replaceable>/usr/vice/etc/ThisCell</replaceable> file.</para>
130 <para>The <emphasis role="bold">-cell</emphasis> argument is not available on commands issued in interactive
131 mode. The cell defined when the <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis> command interpreter enters
132 interactive mode applies to all commands issued during the interactive
138 <term><emphasis role="bold">-help</emphasis></term>
140 <para>Prints a command's online help message on the standard output stream. Do
141 not combine this flag with any of the command's other options; when it is
142 provided, the command interpreter ignores all other options, and only
143 prints the help message.</para>
148 <term><emphasis role="bold">-noauth</emphasis></term>
150 <para>Establishes an unauthenticated connection to the Authentication Server, in
151 which the Authentication Server treats the issuer as the unprivileged user
152 <computeroutput>anonymous</computeroutput>. It is useful only when authorization checking is disabled on
153 the server machine (during the installation of a server machine or when
154 the <emphasis role="bold">bos setauth</emphasis> command has been used during other unusual
155 circumstances). In normal circumstances, the Authentication Server allows
156 only privileged users to issue most <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis> commands, and refuses to
157 perform such an action even if the <emphasis role="bold">-noauth</emphasis> flag is provided. Do not
158 combine this flag with the <emphasis role="bold">-admin_username</emphasis> and <emphasis role="bold">-password_for_admin</emphasis>
164 <term><emphasis role="bold">-password_for_admin</emphasis> <<emphasis>password</emphasis>></term>
166 <para>Specifies the password of the command's issuer. It is best to omit this
167 argument, which echoes the password visibly in the command shell, instead
168 enter the password at the prompt. Do not combine this argument with the
169 <emphasis role="bold">-noauth</emphasis> flag.</para>
174 <term><emphasis role="bold">-servers</emphasis> <<emphasis>machine name</emphasis>>+</term>
176 <para>Establishes a connection with the Authentication Server running on each
177 specified database server machine, instead of on each machine listed in
178 the local <replaceable>/usr/vice/etc/CellServDB</replaceable> file. In either case, the <emphasis role="bold">kas</emphasis>
179 command interpreter then chooses one of the machines at random to contact
180 for execution of each subsequent command. The issuer can abbreviate the
181 machine name to the shortest form that allows the local name service to
182 identify it uniquely.</para>
189 <title>Privilege Required</title>
190 <para>To issue most kas commands, the issuer must have the <computeroutput>ADMIN</computeroutput> flag set in
191 his or her Authentication Database entry (use the <emphasis role="bold">kas setfields</emphasis> command
192 to turn the flag on).</para>
196 <title>See Also</title>
197 <para><link linkend="CellServDB5">CellServDB(5)</link>,
198 <link linkend="kaserver_DB05">kaserver.DB0(5)</link>,
199 <link linkend="kaserverauxdb5">kaserverauxdb(5)</link>,
200 <link linkend="kas_apropos8">kas_apropos(8)</link>,
201 <link linkend="kas_create8">kas_create(8)</link>,
202 <link linkend="kas_delete8">kas_delete(8)</link>,
203 <link linkend="kas_examine8">kas_examine(8)</link>,
204 <link linkend="kas_forgetticket8">kas_forgetticket(8)</link>,
205 <link linkend="kas_help8">kas_help(8)</link>,
206 <link linkend="kas_interactive8">kas_interactive(8)</link>,
207 <link linkend="kas_list8">kas_list(8)</link>,
208 <link linkend="kas_listtickets8">kas_listtickets(8)</link>,
209 <link linkend="kas_noauthentication8">kas_noauthentication(8)</link>,
210 <link linkend="kas_quit8">kas_quit(8)</link>,
211 <link linkend="kas_setfields8">kas_setfields(8)</link>,
212 <link linkend="kas_setpassword8">kas_setpassword(8)</link>,
213 <link linkend="kas_statistics8">kas_statistics(8)</link>,
214 <link linkend="kas_stringtokey8">kas_stringtokey(8)</link>,
215 <link linkend="kas_unlock8">kas_unlock(8)</link>,
216 <link linkend="kaserver8">kaserver(8)</link></para>
220 <title>Copyright</title>
221 <para>IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights Reserved.</para>
223 <para>This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0. It was
224 converted from HTML to POD by software written by Chas Williams and Russ
225 Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth Cassell.</para>