FS_LISTCELLS(1)

📦
version 1.8.16.1 · 10 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💖 FS_LISTCELLS(1) — like, the AFS command reference era 💖

okay bestie, so this one's from the AFS Command Reference corner of the manual-verse, and it's genuinely one of the cutest little commands out there. no cap. 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

fs_listcells — displays the database server machines known to the Cache Manager. that's it, that's the whole job, and she does it beautifully. 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

fs listcells [-numeric] [-help]

fs listc [-n] [-h]

yes, fs listc is the glow-down nickname version, and -n / -h are her tiny flag era. iconic shorthand behavior honestly. 🎀

👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

so here's the tea: the fs listcells command formats and displays the list of the database server machines that the Cache Manager stores in kernel memory — for its home cell and its foreign cells. she's holding receipts on everybody. 😭✨

and like, every single time your client machine reboots, the Cache Manager copies the whole contents of /etc/openafs/CellServDB into kernel memory. every. reboot. 🫶

so if you wanna modify that list between reboots, you do not just yolo it — you use the fs newcell command. that's the assignment. 💜

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -numeric — displays each database server machine's IP address rather than hostname. like, showing the raw digits instead of the cute name. ngl very direct of her. 🔥
  • -help — prints the online help for this command. and fr fr, all other valid options are ignored when you use it. she's like "okay we're doing help mode, everyone else sit down." 🙈

🦋 OUTPUT 🦋

the output includes a line for each cell included in the Cache Manager's kernel memory list, and it comes out in this format:

Cell <cell> on hosts <database server machines>

so here's the part where it gets a little messy, bestie. the Cache Manager stores IP addresses, but by default she has them translated to hostnames before reporting them — by passing them to the cell's name service (think the Domain Name Service, or a local host table).

and the name service?? sometimes she comes back with hostnames in UPPERCASE LETTERS (screaming, basically), or she just hands back an IP address when she cannot resolve a name. it's giving "we tried our best." 😭

but listen — using the -numeric flag bypasses the translation to hostnames, which can result in significantly faster production of output. speed queen behavior. ⭐ and the output includes IP addresses only when you do that.

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

the following example shows output for several cells, as illustrations of the different formats for machine names:

% fs listcells
Cell example.com on hosts fs1.example.com fs2.example.com fs3.example.com
Cell example.org on hosts DB1.FS.EXAMPLE.ORG
   DB2.FS.EXAMPLE.ORG DB3.FS.EXAMPLE.ORG
Cell example.net on hosts 138.255.0.2 sv3.example.net

see how example.org is out here YELLING in all caps and example.net is just dropping raw IPs mid-list? that's exactly the name-service chaos described above. no notes. 💀

🎀 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED 🎀

None — she needs literally nothing. everyone's welcome. 🫶

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

(homework, bestie. go read them. iykyk.) 📚

IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights Reserved.

This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0. It was converted from HTML to POD by software written by Chas Williams and Russ Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth Cassell. shoutout to the whole conversion squad, absolute legends. 👑

and that's the whole page, bestie — this one shipped under the OpenAFS banner, dated 2026-07-27, in the FS_LISTCELLS(1) era of the manual. go forth and list those cells. periodt. 💖✨🌸

📦 where this page comes from