BOS_INSTALL(8)

📦
version 1.8.16.1 · 11 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

🌸 BOS_INSTALL — you're in the AFS Command Reference now, bestie 💖

okay so picture this: you've got a shiny new binary and you need it to actually live on the server's local disk. that's literally this command. it's bos install (or bos i if you're feeling lazy, we support that here 🫶).

✨ NAME ✨

bos_install — installs a new version of a binary file. iconic behaviour, no notes 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

bos install -server <machine name> -file <files to install>+
    [-dir <destination dir>] [-cell <cell name>]
    [-noauth] [-localauth] [-help]

bos i -s <machine name> -f <files to install>+
    [-d <destination dir>] [-c <cell name>] [-n]
    [-l] [-h]

short flags = same energy, less typing ✨

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so bos install takes each binary file you name with -file and copies it onto the local disk of the machine you named with -server. that machine is normally the binary distribution machine for its CPU/operating system type. main character behaviour fr fr 👑

where does it land? /usr/lib/openafs, periodt. unless you pass -dir and point it somewhere else. and yes, the source file's UNIX mode bits get preserved in the transfer — we keep the fit, we don't change the fit 💅

🎀 the backup lore (this part is important bestie)

if there's already a file with the same name chilling in the destination directory, the BOS Server automatically saves it by adding a .BAK extension. gotta respect your elders.

  • if there's a current .BAK version that's at least seven days old, it replaces the current .OLD version.
  • if there's no current .OLD version, the current .BAK version becomes the .OLD version automatically.

and if you wanna see the timestamps on the current versions of the file, that's bos getdate. go look, it's cute.

🔥 making the new binary actually take effect

to start using the new binary immediately, issue the bos restart command. otherwise the BOS Server automatically restarts the process at the time defined in the /etc/openafs/BosConfig file. want to peek at that time? bos getrestart. want to change it? bos setrestart. iykyk 😌

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -server <machine name> — tells you which binary distribution machine to install the new binaries on. identify the machine by IP address or its host name (fully-qualified, or abbreviated as long as it's unambiguous). for the deets, see bos(8). 🫶
heads up bestie: if the machine is not a binary distribution machine and it's running an upclientbin process, your files get overwritten the next time that upclientbin process fetches the corresponding file from the distribution machine — by default within five minutes. so like… don't do that 💀
  • -file <files to install>+ — the complete pathname of each binary file to copy into the destination directory. each source directory can be on the local disk or in AFS — and if it's in AFS, then whoever's running bos install needs the necessary AFS access rights and the local machine has to be running the Cache Manager. also: for the BOS Server to create those .BAK and .OLD versions, the last element in the pathname (aka the filename) has to match the name of a file in the destination directory. bos_create(8) lists the standard binary file names, if you want the canon list 📜
  • -dir <destination dir> — the complete pathname of the local disk directory where the binary files go. it is necessary only if the destination directory isn't /usr/lib/openafs. otherwise, don't bother ✨
  • -cell <cell name> — names the cell in which to run the command. do not combine this argument with the -localauth flag. for more details, see bos(8).
  • -noauth — assigns the unprivileged identity anonymous to the issuer. do not combine this flag with the -localauth flag. for more details, see bos(8).
  • -localauth — constructs a server ticket using a key from the local /etc/openafs/server/KeyFile or /etc/openafs/server/KeyFileExt file. the bos command interpreter presents the ticket to the BOS Server during mutual authentication. do not combine this flag with the -cell or -noauth options. for more details, see bos(8).
  • -help — prints the online help for this command. all other valid options are ignored. so don't bother passing anything else alongside it 🙈

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

this command right here copies the file /afs/example.com/rs_aix42/usr/lib/openafs/vlserver to the file /usr/lib/openafs/vlserver on the machine fs3.example.com — which is the binary distribution machine for server machines running AIX 4.2 in the example.com cell. and the current version of the /usr/lib/openafs/vlserver file gets moved to /usr/lib/openafs/vlserver.BAK. slay ✨

% bos install -server fs3.example.com \
              -file /afs/example.com/rs_aix42/usr/lib/openafs/vlserver

👑 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED 👑

you have to be listed in the /etc/openafs/server/UserList file on the machine named by the -server argument. OR you have to be logged onto a server machine as the local superuser root if the -localauth flag is included. no shortcuts bestie.

🚫 also: bos install cannot be run against servers which are in restricted mode. it's giving "locked door", and you are not getting in.

💖 SEE ALSO 💖

BosConfig(5), KeyFile(5), KeyFileExt(5), UserList(5), bos(8), bos_getdate(8), bos_getrestart(8), bos_restart(8), bos_setrestart(8)

go read the friends, they're all part of the same little universe 🦋

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 gorgeous thing is from the OpenAFS crew, dated 2026-07-27 — go forth and install responsibly 💜⭐

📦 where this page comes from