USS_BULK(8)

📦 version 1.8.16.1, in nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable

🌸 USS_BULK 🌸

okay bestie, welcome to USS_BULK(8) — straight outta the AFS Command Reference and, uh, it comes with a big fat deprecated sticker. We'll get to that. Buckle up 💅

✨ NAME ✨

uss_bulk — executes multiple uss commands listed in a file. And yes, it's deprecated, we know, we're coping 😭

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

okay so there are two ways to write this, and they're the same command, just long-form vs. short-form. Long version first:

uss bulk -file <bulk input file>
    [-template <pathname of template file>] [-verbose]
    [-cell <cell name>]
    [-admin <administrator to authenticate>] [-dryrun]
    [-skipauth] [-overwrite]
    [-pwexpires <password expires in [0..254] days (0 = never)>>]
    [-pipe] [-help]

and the glow-down abbrevié version:

uss b -f <bulk input file> [-t <pathname of template file>]
    [-v] [-c <cell name>]
    [-a <administrator to authenticate>] [-d] [-s]
    [-o] [-pw <password expires in [0..254] days (0 = never)>>]
    [-pi] [-h]

same vibes, shorter flags 🫶

⚠️ CAUTIONS ⚠️

okay so this is the part where I hold your hand, because it's lowkey serious 🫣

The uss command suite is currently designed for cells using the obsolete Authentication Server, and therefore is primarily useful for sites that have not yet migrated to a Kerberos version 5 KDC. The Authentication Server and supporting commands will be removed in a future version of OpenAFS, which may include uss — unless someone who finds it useful converts it to work with a Kerberos version 5 KDC.

fr fr, this whole tool is on borrowed time. If you're building something new on it, just... don't 💀

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

The uss bulk command executes the uss commands listed in the bulk input file specified with the -file argument. It's giving "one file to rule them all" ✨

And listen: if the bulk input file includes add instructions that reference a template file, then the -template argument is required. No template, no dice, bestie.

Now — if you just wanna create a single account, use the uss add command instead. And to delete one or more accounts, use the uss delete command. Different tool for a different job, iykyk 🌸

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • -file <bulk input file> — specifies the pathname of the bulk input file. Partial pathnames are interpreted relative to the current working directory. For all the deets on the file's format, see uss_bulk(5) 📄
  • -template <pathname of template file> — specifies the pathname of the template file for any uss add commands that appear in the bulk input file. Partial pathnames are interpreted relative to the current working directory. For all the deets on the file's format, see uss(5) 🧚
  • -verbose — produces on the standard output stream a detailed trace of the command's execution. If you skip this argument, only warnings and error messages show up. It's giving silent main character energy 🤫
  • -cell <cell name> — specifies the cell in which to run the command. For more details, see uss(8) 🌈
  • -admin <administrator to authenticate> — specifies the AFS user name under which to establish authenticated connections to the AFS server processes that maintain the various components of a user account. For more details, see uss(8) 👑
  • -dryrun — reports actions that the command interpreter needs to perform while executing the command, without actually performing them. rehearsal era, no commitment, we love to see it 🎭
  • -skipauth — prevents authentication with the AFS Authentication Server, allowing a site using Kerberos to substitute that form of authentication 🙈
  • -overwrite — overwrites any directories, files and links that exist in the file system and for which there are also "D", "E", "F", "L", or "S" instructions in a template file referenced by an add instruction in the bulk input file. If this flag is omitted, the command interpreter prompts, once for each add instruction in the bulk input file, for confirmation that it should overwrite such elements. Do not include this flag if the bulk input file does not contain add instructions. ⚠️
  • -pwexpires <password expiration> — sets the number of days after a user's password is changed that it remains valid, for each user named by an add instruction in the bulk input file. Provide an integer from the range 1 through 254 to specify the number of days until expiration, or the value 0 to indicate that the password never expires (the default).

So when the password becomes invalid (expires), the user is unable to authenticate, but has 30 more days in which to issue the kpasswd command to change the password (after that, only an administrator can change it). clock is ticking bestie ⏰

  • -pipe — suppresses the Authentication Server's prompt for the password of the issuer or the user named by the -admin argument (the Authentication Server always separately authenticates the creator of an entry in the Authentication Database). Instead, the command interpreter accepts the password via the standard input stream, as piped in from another program. This enables the uss bulk command to run as part of unattended batch jobs 🤖
  • -help — prints the online help for this command. All other valid options are ignored. it said "not listening" and meant it 💅

🦋 EXAMPLES 🦋

The following example command executes the instructions in the bulk input file called new_students, which includes add instructions that refer to the template file student.template. Both files reside in the current working directory.

% uss bulk new_students student.template

yes the example uses the short form. no we're not gonna argue about it 🍓

👑 PRIVILEGE REQUIRED 👑

The issuer (or the user named by the -admin argument) must have the privileges necessary to run the commands that correspond to instructions in the bulk input file. no shortcuts, no borrowed creds, periodt ✨

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

uss(5), uss_bulk(5), uss(8), uss_add(8), uss_delete(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. giving credit where credit is due, we love a documented lineage 💜

so that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 this was USS_BULK(8) from the AFS Command Reference, and this particular glow-up is courtesy of OpenAFS, dated 2026-06-25 — go forth, bulk your hearts out, and remember: deprecated but iconic 💅✨

📦 where this page comes from