BOSSERVER(8)

📦
version 1.8.16.1 · 11 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💅 BOSSERVER(8) 💅

okay bestie, welcome to bosserver(8), straight outta the AFS Command Reference. this is the manual page for the BOS Server, and we're gonna get you so cozy with it. grab a boba 🧋

✨ NAME ✨

bosserver — Initializes the BOS Server. that's it. that's the whole job description. iconic behavior honestly 👑

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

bosserver
    [-noauth]
    [-log]
    [-enable_peer_stats]
    [-auditlog <log path>]
    [-audit-interface ( file | sysvmq )]
    [-enable_process_stats]
    [-allow-dotted-principals]
    [-cores[=none|<path>]]
    [-restricted]
    [-rxmaxmtu <bytes>]
    [-rxbind]
    [-syslog[=<facility>]>]
    [-transarc-logs]
    [-pidfiles[=<path>]]
    [-nofork]
    [-help]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so bosserver initializes the Basic OverSeer (BOS) Server, aka the bosserver process. in the conventional setup, the binary file lives in the /usr/lib/openafs directory on a file server machine. yes, really, that's where it hangs out.

the BOS Server must run on every file server machine, and it helps automate file server administration by doing these things:

  • Monitors the other AFS server processes on the local machine, to make sure they are running correctly. 👀
  • Automatically restarts failed processes, without contacting a human operator. and when it's restarting multiple server processes simultaneously, the BOS Server takes interdependencies into account and initiates restarts in the correct order. it's giving project manager energy fr fr.
  • Processes commands from the bos suite that administrators issue to verify the status of server processes, install and start new processes, stop processes either temporarily or permanently, and restart halted processes.
  • Manages system configuration information: the files that list the cell's server encryption keys, database server machines, and users privileged to issue commands from the bos and vos suites.

the BOS Server is configured via the BosConfig configuration file. normally, this file is managed via the bos command suite rather than edited directly. see the BosConfig(5) man page for the syntax of this file. 📝

⚠️ heads up: the BOS Server will rewrite BosConfig when shutting down, so changes made manually to it will be discarded. no takebacks, no mercy.

instead, if you want to change the BOS Server configuration only for the next restart of bosserver, create a file named /etc/openafs/BosConfig.new. if BosConfig.new exists when bosserver starts, it is renamed to /etc/openafs/BosConfig, removing any existing file by that name, before bosserver reads its configuration. sneaky, but legal ✨

the BOS Server logs a default set of important events in the file /var/log/openafs/BosLog. to record the name of any user who performs a privileged bos command (one that requires being listed in the /etc/openafs/server/UserList file), add the -log flag. to display the contents of the BosLog file, use the bos getlog command. 🫶

the first time that the BOS Server initializes on a server machine, it creates several files and subdirectories in the local /usr/afs directory, and sets their mode bits to protect them from unauthorized access. each time it restarts, it checks that the mode bits still comply with the settings listed in the following chart. a question mark indicates that the BOS Server initially turns off the bit (sets it to the hyphen), but does not check it at restart.

   /usr/afs              drwxr?xr-x
   /var/lib/openafs/backup       drwx???---
   /usr/lib/openafs          drwxr?xr-x
   /var/lib/openafs/db           drwx???---
   /etc/openafs/server          drwxr?xr-x
   /etc/openafs/server/KeyFile  -rw????---
   /etc/openafs/server/UserList -rw?????--
   /var/lib/openafs/local        drwx???---
   /var/log/openafs         drwxr?xr-x

if the mode bits do not comply, the BOS Server writes the following warning to the BosLog file:

Bosserver reports inappropriate access on server directories

however, the BOS Server does not reset the mode bits, so the administrator can set them to alternate values if desired (with the understanding that the warning message then appears at startup). it's a warning, not a punishment 💀

this command does not use the syntax conventions of the AFS command suites. provide the command name and all option names in full. no abbreviating, bestie, we're not doing that here.

💖 OPTIONS 💖

  • -noauth — turns off all authorization checks, and allows all connecting users to act as administrators, even unauthenticated users. the use of this option is inherently insecure, and should only be used in controlled environments for experimental or debug purposes. see NoAuth(5). literally do not do this in prod, i'm begging.
  • -log — records in the /var/log/openafs/BosLog file the names of all users who successfully issue a privileged bos command (one that requires being listed in the /etc/openafs/server/UserList file).
  • -cores=none|<path> — the argument none turns off core file generation. otherwise, the argument is a path where core files will be stored.
  • -auditlog <log path> — turns on audit logging, and sets the path for the audit log. the audit log records information about RPC calls, including the name of the RPC call, the host that submitted the call, the authenticated entity (user) that issued the call, the parameters for the call, and if the call succeeded or failed. receipts for everything 🔍
  • -audit-interface (file | sysvmq) — specifies what audit interface to use. defaults to "file". see fileserver(8) for an explanation of each interface.
  • -enable_peer_stats — activates the collection of Rx statistics and allocates memory for their storage. for each connection with a specific UDP port on another machine, a separate record is kept for each type of RPC (FetchFile, GetStatus, and so on) sent or received. to display or otherwise access the records, use the Rx Monitoring API. 📊
  • -enable_process_stats — activates the collection of Rx statistics and allocates memory for their storage. a separate record is kept for each type of RPC (FetchFile, GetStatus, and so on) sent or received, aggregated over all connections to other machines. to display or otherwise access the records, use the Rx Monitoring API.
  • -allow-dotted-principals — by default, the RXKAD security layer will disallow access by Kerberos principals with a dot in the first component of their name. this is to avoid the confusion where principals user/admin and user.admin are both mapped to the user.admin PTS entry. sites whose Kerberos realms don't have these collisions between principal names may disable this check by starting the server with this option.
  • -restricted — in normal operation, the bos server allows a super user to run any command. when the bos server is running in restricted mode (either due to this command line flag, or when configured by bos_setrestricted(8)) a number of commands are unavailable. note that this flag persists across reboots. once a server has been placed in restricted mode, it can only be opened up by sending the SIGFPE signal. yeah. a signal. that's the key to the lock 🔒
  • -rxmaxmtu <bytes> — sets the maximum transmission unit for the RX protocol.
  • -rxbind — bind the Rx socket to the primary interface only. if not specified, the Rx socket will listen on all interfaces.
  • -syslog[=<facility>]> — specifies that logging output should go to syslog instead of the normal log file. -syslog=facility can be used to specify to which facility the log message should be sent.
  • -transarc-logs — use Transarc style logging features. rename the existing log file /var/log/openafs/BosLog to /var/log/openafs/BosLog.old when the bos server is restarted. this option is provided for compatibility with older versions. vintage vibes 🕰️
  • -pidfiles[=<path>] — create a one-line file containing the process id (pid) for each non-cron process started by the BOS Server. this file is removed by the BOS Server when the process exits. the optional <path> argument specifies the path where the pid files are to be created. the default location is "/var/lib/openafs/local".

the name of the pid files for "simple" BOS Server process types are the BOS Server instance name followed by ".pid".

the name of the pid files for "fs" and "dafs" BOS Server process types are the BOS Server type name, "fs" or "dafs", followed by the BOS Server core name of the process, followed by ".pid". the pid file name for the "fileserver" process is "fs.file.pid". the pid file name for the "volserver" is "fs.vol.pid".

BOS Server instance names are specfied using the bos create command. see bos_create for a description of the BOS Server process types and instance names.

  • -nofork — run the BOS Server in the foreground. by default, the BOS Server process will fork and detach the stdio, stderr, and stdin streams.
  • -help — prints the online help for this command. all other valid options are ignored.

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

the following command initializes the BOS Server and logs the names of users who issue privileged bos commands.

% bosserver -log

that's it. one flag. slay 💅

👑 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED 👑

the issuer most be logged onto a file server machine as the local superuser "root".

🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

BosConfig(5), BosLog(5), bos(8), bos_create(8), bos_exec(8), bos_getlog(8), bos_getrestart(8), bos_restart(8), bos_setrestricted(8), bos_shutdown(8), bos_start(8), bos_startup(8), bos_status(8), bos_stop(8)

go read the whole friend group, they're all connected 🫶

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.

okay bestie that's the whole page!! no cap, you now know more about the BOS Server than 99% of people at the function 🧚✨ this lil beauty is from OpenAFS, dated 2026-07-27, and it lives at BOSSERVER(8) forever and ever. mwah 💋

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