Commonly Used fs and pts Commands

Commonly Used fs and pts Commands
	Appendix B. OpenAFS Command Syntax and Online Help

This section provides additional information on the commonly used AFS fs and pts commands. For more detailed information, see the OpenAFS Administration Reference.

About the fs Commands

Some fs commands extend UNIX file system semantics by invoking file-related functions that UNIX does not provide (setting access control lists, for example). Other fs commands help you control the performance of the Cache Manager running on your local client machine.

All fs commands accept the optional -help flag. It has the same function as the fs help command: it prints a command's online help message on the screen. Do not provide other options at the same time as this flag. It overrides them, and the only effect of issuing the command is to display the help message.

The privilege required for issuing fs commands varies. The necessary privileges for the fs commands described in this guide include the following:

Having certain permissions on a directory's access control list. For example, creating and removing mount points requires a (administer), i (insert), and d (delete) permissions for the directory in which the mount point resides.
Belonging to the system:administrators group (see Using the System Groups on ACLs).
No privilege. Many fs commands simply list information and so do not require any special privilege.

About the pts Commands

The pts command suite is the interface through which you can create protection groups and add members to them. System administrators who belong to a special system group called system:administrators group can manipulate any group, and also create the user and machine entries that can belong to groups. Users who do not belong to the system:administrators group can always list the information associated with the group entries they own, as well as their own user entries. Depending on the setting of an entry's privacy flags, regular users can sometimes access and manipulate group entries in certain ways.

All pts commands accept optional arguments and flags. They are listed in the command descriptions in the OpenAFS Administration Reference and are described here in detail:

[-cell <cell name>]

This argument indicates that the command runs in the indicated cell. The issuer can abbreviate the cell name value to the shortest form that distinguishes it from the other cells listed in the /usr/vice/etc/CellServDB file on the client machine on which the command is issued. By default, commands are executed in the local cell as defined

First, by the value of the environment variable AFSCELL. (This variable is normally not defined by default. If you are working in another, nonlocal cell for an extended period of time, you can set the variable to the name of that cell.)
Second, in the /usr/vice/etc/ThisCell file on the client machine on which the command is issued.

[-force]: This flag directs the pts command interpreter to continue executing the command, if possible, even if it encounters problems during the command's execution. The command interpreter performs as much of the requested operation as possible, rather than halting if it encounters a problem. The command interpreter reports any errors it encounters during the command's execution. This flag is especially useful if you provide many instances for an argument; if one of the instances is invalid, the command reports the error and proceeds with the remaining arguments.

[-help]: This flag has the same function as the pts help command: it prints the command's online help message on the screen. Do not provide other options at the same time as this flag. It overrides them, and the only effect of issuing the command is to display the help message.