LIVESYS(1)

💖 LIVESYS(1) — the AFS Command Reference glow-up 💖

okay so bestie, we're in the AFS Command Reference section of the manual, and this little page right here is about livesys — she's tiny, she's iconic, she's giving one job and she does it. 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

livesys — reports the configured CPU/operating system type 🦋

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

livesys

no flags, no args, no drama. literally just vibes. 💅

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

So the livesys command displays the string stored in kernel memory that says what the local machine's CPU/operating system (OS) type is. That string has a whole name, a whole identity: conventionally it's called the sysname. 👑

And here's why she matters: the Cache Manager substitutes this string in for the @sys variable whenever @sys shows up in AFS pathnames. The OpenAFS Quick Start Guides and the OpenAFS Administration Guide both explain how using @sys can make cell configuration so much simpler — like, it's a whole glow-up for your setup, fr fr. ✨

Now, if you wanna set a new value in kernel memory? That's not this girl's job. You use the fs sysname command for that, and honestly fs sysname can also show you the current value, so she's kind of doing both. 🙈

And listen — if a sysname list was set using fs sysname, then livesys will only report the first value in the list. Just the first one. That's it. That's the whole report. 💀

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🚨 CAUTIONS 🚨

bestie, READ this. if you want the FULL sysname list, use fs sysname, not this command. livesys is mostly useful for scripts that need to know the primary sysname for the local system — like, for creating directories that will later be addressed using @sys, for example. that's her niche. that's her lane. 🫶

Also, tiny piece of lore: livesys first appeared in OpenAFS 1.2.2. So if you've got a script that needs to support older versions of AFS, you should parse the output of fs sysname or use sys instead. no cap, older AFS doesn't know her yet. 😭

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👑 OUTPUT 👑

The machine's system type shows up as a text string, all by itself, on a single line. That's the whole output. Minimal. Elegant. Main character energy. ⭐

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

Here's what it looks like on a Linux system with a 2.6 kernel:

% livesys
i386_linux26

see?? one line. she ate. 🍓

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🔥 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED 🔥

None. 🌸 you need zero privileges, bestie, she's free, she's accessible, she's for the people. go ahead, run her. 🎀

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• fs_sysname(1)
• sys(1)

The OpenAFS Quick Start Guides at <http://docs.openafs.org/>.

The OpenAFS Administration Guide at <http://docs.openafs.org/AdminGuide/>.

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💖 COPYRIGHT 💖

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

Copyright 2005 Russ Allbery <rra@stanford.edu>

This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0. It was written by Russ Allbery based on the sys man page.

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! 💜 this was OpenAFS, dated 2026-07-27, and LIVESYS(1) is out here living her best life telling you your sysname one singular line at a time. slay, periodt, go run livesys 🌈✨🎀