FS_SYSNAME(1)

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version 1.8.16.1 · 10 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💅 FS_SYSNAME(1) — the AFS Command Reference glow-up ✨

okay bestie, welcome to fs_sysname, a lil command from the AFS Command Reference that's about to tell you (or change!) who your machine thinks it is 💖

🦋 NAME

fs_sysname — it reports your CPU/operating system type, or sets it. literally a vibe check for your kernel, no cap 👑

🌸 SYNOPSIS

fs sysname [-newsys <new sysname>]+ [-help]

fs sy [-n <new sysname>]+ [-h]

✨ DESCRIPTION

so the tea is: fs sysname sets or displays the local machine's CPU/operating system type, as recorded in kernel memory 🧠✨

The Cache Manager swaps that string in for the @sys variable whenever @sys shows up in AFS pathnames. If you wanna know how using @sys can simplify cell configuration, the OpenAFS Quick Beginnings and OpenAFS Administration Guide have the whole story 💫

⚠️ but bestie, use it sparingly — it can make the effect of changing directories unpredictable 😭

This command always applies to the local machine only, periodt. If you run it on an NFS client machine that's accessing AFS via the NFS/AFS Translator, then the string gets set or reported for the NFS client machine. Here's the mechanics: the Cache Manager on the AFS client machine that's serving as the NFS client's NFS/AFS translator machine stores the value in its kernel memory, and it can therefore hand the NFS client the proper version of program binaries when the user issues commands whose pathname to the binaries includes @sys 🌈

There's a separate record for each user logged into the NFS client, which means: if a user adopts a new identity (UNIX UID) during a login session on the NFS client — maybe by using the UNIX su command — they gotta verify that the correct string is set for the new identity too 🫶

🔥 OPTIONS

  • -newsys <new sysname> — sets the CPU/operating system indicator string for the local machine. You can use this option multiple times in the same invocation, which sets @sys to an array of values 📚 When @sys holds an array of values, the first value that matches a path is used 🥇

If this argument is omitted, the output displays the current setting instead 👀 AFS uses a standardized set of strings — consult the OpenAFS Quick Beginnings or OpenAFS Release Notes for those.

  • -help — prints the online help for this command. Every other valid option is ignored 💀

💜 OUTPUT

When the -newsys argument is omitted, the output reports the machine's system type in this format:

Current sysname is '<system_type>'

When the -newsys argument is included, the output is this:

fs: new sysname list set.

🎀 EXAMPLES

This one shows the output produced on a Sun Netra T1 running Solaris 10 ☀️:

% fs sysname
Current sysname is 'sun4x_510'

This command defines a machine to be an IBM RS/6000 running AIX 4.2:

% fs sysname -newsys rs_aix42

And this command defines a machine to be Mac OS X PPC plus a custom type foo 🍓 The second command queries the new sysname:

% fs sysname -newsys ppc_darwin_80 -newsys foo
fs: new sysname list set.
% fs sysname
Current sysname list is 'ppc_darwin_80' 'foo'

So if @sys is "ppc_darwin_80 foo", then cd @sys will try to change into the ppc_darwin_80 directory. And if the ppc_darwin_80 directory doesn't exist? Then the foo directory gets tried 💫

👑 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED

To display the current setting, no privilege is required, you're free bestie 🦋

But to include the -newsys argument on an AFS client machine, the issuer must be logged in as the local superuser root 🔐

🌈 SEE ALSO

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.

and that's the whole page, bestie 💖 this icon of a manpage came to you from OpenAFS, dated 2026-07-27 — k bye, go set your sysname responsibly ✨🎀

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