dfs_intro(8dfs) — Maintenance

NAME

dfs_intro − Introduction to the DFS commands

DESCRIPTION

Most DFS commands are divided into the following categories, or command suites: Operates the DFS Backup System Operates the Basic OverSeer (BOS) Server Configures the Cache Manager Provides DFS kernel and server process logging information Manipulates filesets

In addition, DFS provides a number of miscellaneous commands (for example, salvage and scout) not associated with a specific command suite. DFS also provides an additional command suite, dfsgw, that is used with the DFS/NFS Secure Gateway.

System administrators use the majority of DFS commands. However, DCE users can use the following commands: The cm commands cm_statservers and cm_whereis to determine machine, file, and directory information The fts command fts_lsquota to check quota information

DFS Command Types

DFS commands follow these general naming rules. Commands that begin with add or rm (remove) affect lists or groups of DFS objects. For example, bos addadmin adds an administrative user to an administrative list. cr (create) or del (delete) affect DFS objects. For example, fts crserverentry creates a DFS object, a server entry. ls (list) are used to display objects and groups of objects. set are used to assign values to parameters; for example, fts setrepinfo assigns replication parameters. Analogously, commands beginning with get are used to display parameters; for example, cm getcachesize displays parameters used by the Cache Manager.

Rules For Using DFS Commands

When supplying an argument to a command, the option associated with the argument can be omitted if All arguments supplied with the command are entered in the order in which they appear in the command’s synopsis. Arguments are supplied for all options that precede the option to be omitted. All options that precede the option to be omitted accept only a single argument. No options, either those that accept an argument or those that do not, are supplied before the option to be omitted.

In the case where two options are presented in { | } (braces separated by a vertical bar), the option associated with the first argument can be omitted if that argument is provided; however, the option associated with the second argument is required if that argument is provided.

If it must be specified, an option can be abbreviated to the shortest possible form that distinguishes it from other options of the command. For example, the -server option found in many DFS commands can typically be omitted or abbreviated to be simply -s.

It is also valid to abbreviate a command name to the shortest form that still distinguishes it from the other command names in the suite. For example, it is acceptable to shorten the bos install command to bos i because no other command names in the bos command suite begin with the letter "i." However, there are three bos commands that begin with the letter "g": bos getdates, bos getlog, and bos getrestart. To remain unambiguous, they can be abbreviated to bos getd, bos getl, and bos getr.

The following examples illustrate three acceptable ways to enter the same bos getlog command.

Complete command: $ bos getlog -server /.../abc.com/hosts/fs1 -file BosLog

Abbreviated command name and abbreviated options: $ bos getl -s /.../abc.com/hosts/fs1 -f BosLog

Abbreviated command name and omitted options: $ bos getl /.../abc.com/hosts/fs1 BosLog The dfs_login and dfs_logout commands provided with the DFS/NFS Secure Gateway do not provide the shortcuts and help available with other DFS commands. See the reference pages for these two commands for information about using them.

Aliases

An alias is an alternative way of entering an existing command. Each alias is either shorter than the original command, or it is unique within the command’s suite (because only the number of characters sufficient to uniquely identify a command need to be entered to execute the command, unique aliases require less typing).

The bak suite is the only command suite with aliases. Refer to the bak(8dfs) reference page for a list of the bak commands that have aliases.

Receiving Help

There are several different ways to receive help about DFS commands. The following list summarizes the syntax for the different help options: To view the introductory page for a command suite, enter man followed by the command suite: $ man bak To view the reference page for a command in a suite, enter man followed by the command suite and the command name. Use an _ (underscore) to connect the command suite to the command name. Do not use the underscore when issuing the command in DFS. $ man bak_command To view a list of all commands in a command suite, enter the command suite name followed by help: $ bak help To view the syntax of a specific command, enter the suite name, help, and the command name, in that order: $ bak help command

In addition, all DFS commands include a -help option you can use to display the syntax of the command.

The apropos command displays the first line of the online help entry for any command that has a specified string in its name or short description; this is useful if you cannot remember the exact name of a command. If the string is more than a single word, surround it with "" (double quotes) or other delimiters; enter all strings in lowercase letters. For example, the following command produces a list of all bos commands with the word create in their names or short descriptions: $ bos apropos -topic create

Privileges Required

The majority of DFS commands, because they are administrative in nature, require that the issuer be included in an admin file (for example, admin.bos). Some commands require that the issuer have specific permissions to access files (for example, the delete permission on a directory) or be logged in as root on the machine on which the command is issued. The exact privilege needed to execute each command is detailed with the command.