BOS_SETAUTH(8)

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version 1.8.16.1 · 10 versions
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✨ bos_setauth(8) — the vibe ✨

okay so bestie, we're in the bos section 8 of the AFS Command Reference, and this little icon is called bos_setauth — it sets the authorization checking requirements for, like, all the server processes on a machine. yeah. all of them. no cap. 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

bos_setauth — sets authorization checking requirements for all server processes 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

bos setauth -server <machine name> -authrequired (on | off)
    [-cell <cell name>] [-noauth] [-localauth] [-help]
bos seta -s <machine name> -a (on | off)
    [-c <cell name>] [-n] [-l] [-h]

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so the bos setauth command is the one that flips authorization checking on or off on the server machine you name with the -server argument. it's giving light switch but for security, and honestly? it's the whole personality of the machine. 🙈

when authorization checking is enabled (which is the normal case, the standard, the default girlie behavior), the AFS server processes running on that machine actually verify that whoever issued a command meets its privilege requirements. main character energy, gatekeeping as one should. 👑

when authorization checking is disabled... whew. 😭 server processes will perform any action for anyone, including the unprivileged user "anonymous". literally anyone. that security exposure is so bad that disabling authorization checking is not allowed except during installation or emergencies. periodt. like, do not.

to signal to the server processes that authorization checking is off, the BOS Server creates a zero-length file called /var/lib/openafs/local/NoAuth on its local disk. all AFS server processes are constantly monitoring for the NoAuth file's presence, and when it's there, they do not check for authorization. the BOS Server removes that file when you use this command to re-enable authorization checking. no file, no skipping the vibe check. simple as.

🚨 CAUTIONS 🚨

bestie. listen. do not create the NoAuth file directly, except when you're being directed by instructions for dealing with emergencies — and doing that requires being logged in as the local superuser "root". use this command instead. i'm so serious. 💀

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -server <machine name> — names the server machine where you're enabling or disabling authorization checking. identify it by IP address or its host name (fully-qualified, or abbreviated as long as it's unambiguous, iykyk). more deets in bos(8). 🖥️
  • -authrequired (on | off) — the actual switch: "on" enables authorization checking, "off" disables it. that's the whole thing. 🎚️
  • -cell <cell name> — names the cell in which to run the command. do not combine this argument with the -localauth flag. more details in 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. the classic "i'm just here for the lore" flag. 📖

🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

here's the moment where we disable authorization checking on the machine "fs7.example.com" — dramatic, iconic, please be careful:

% bos setauth -server fs7.example.com -authrequired off

👑 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED 👑

the issuer must be listed in the /etc/openafs/server/UserList file on the machine named by the -server argument — or must be logged onto a server machine as the local superuser "root" if the -localauth flag is included. no entry, no entry. 🫶

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

KeyFile(5), KeyFileExt(5), NoAuth(5), UserList(5), bos(8), bos_restart(8)

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 🧚 — brought to you by OpenAFS, dated 2026-07-27, straight from the BOS_SETAUTH(8) era. slay, stay authorized, and please don't touch NoAuth with your bare hands. 💅✨

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