BOS_START(8)

✨ BOS_START ✨

okay so this is the bos_start page from section 8 of the AFS Command Reference, and bestie, it's about starting a process after setting its status flag 💖. Let's get into it.

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

bos start -server <machine name>
    -instance <server process name>+ [-cell <cell name>]
    [-noauth] [-localauth] [-help]

bos start -s <machine name> -i <server process name>+
    [-c <cell name>] [-n] [-l] [-h]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So what does bos start actually do? It sets the status flag for every single process you name with the -instance argument to "Run" — both in the /etc/openafs/BosConfig file and in the BOS Server's memory on the server machine you named with -server. Then it starts that process. Boom. That's the whole vibe. ✨

🔥 Important though: if the process is already running, the only thing this command does is guarantee that the status flag says "Run". It does not restart the process. No sneaky restarts happening here, okay? It's giving "just making sure the flag is right".

And if you want to start a process without changing its status flag in the BosConfig file? That's a different girl — use the bos startup command instead. 💅

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -server <machine name> — tells you which server machine to start the processes on. You can identify the machine by IP address or by its host name (fully-qualified, or abbreviated as long as it's unambiguous). Need the deets? Go check bos(8).
• -instance <server process name>+ — names each process you wanna start. Use the same process name that got assigned with the -instance argument to the bos create command. Not sure what the names are? The output from the bos status command lists them for you. 👑
• -cell <cell name> — names the cell to run the command in. Do not combine this argument with the -localauth flag, bestie, that's not the move. More details in bos(8).
• -noauth — assigns the unprivileged identity "anonymous" to the issuer. Do not combine this flag with the -localauth flag either. 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 that ticket to the BOS Server during mutual authentication. Do not combine this flag with the -cell or -noauth options. More details? You already know. bos(8). 🫶
• -help — prints the online help for this command. All other valid options are ignored. Simple as that. ✨

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

This next command changes the status flag for the "upclientbin" and "upclientetc" processes to "Run" in the BosConfig file on the machine "fs6.example.com", and starts them running. Look at her go:

% bos start -server fs6.example.com -instance upclientbin upclientetc

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👑 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED 👑

The issuer must be listed in the /etc/openafs/server/UserList file on the machine named by the -server argument. OR — if the -localauth flag is included — they must be logged onto a server machine as the local superuser root. Either/or, bestie, those are the rules. 🎀

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💜 SEE ALSO 💜

BosConfig(5), KeyFile(5), KeyFileExt(5), UserList(5), bos(8), bos_create(8), bos_startup(8), bos_status(8)

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📜 COPYRIGHT 📜

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.

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okay that's the whole page, mwah 💋 and for the record, this is OpenAFS, dated 2026-07-27 — iconic, no cap. 🦋💖