Administering User Accountsadministeringuser accountsThis chapter explains how to create and maintain user accounts in your cell.The preferred method for creating user accounts is the uss program, which enables you to
create multiple accounts with a single command. See Creating and Deleting User Accounts with the uss
Command Suite. If you prefer to create each account component individually, follow the instructions in Creating AFS User Accounts.Summary of InstructionsThis chapter explains how to perform the following tasks by using the indicated commands:Create Protection Database entrypts createuserCreate Authentication Database entrykas createCreate volumevos createMount volumefs mkmountCreate entry on ACLfs setaclExamine Protection Database entrypts examineChange directory ownership/etc/chownLimit failed authentication attemptskas setfields with -attempts and -locktimeUnlock Authentication Database entrykas unlockSet password lifetimekas setfields with -pwexpiresProhibit password reusekas setfields with -reuseChange AFS passwordkas setpasswordList groups owned by userpts listownedRename Protection Database entrypts renameDelete Authentication Database entrykas deleteRename volumevos renameRemove mount pointfs rmmountDelete Protection Database entrypts deleteList volume locationvos listvldbRemove volumevos removelocal password filecreating entry for AFS userwith manual account creationThe Components of an AFS User AccountThe differences between AFS and the UNIX file system imply that a complete AFS user account is not the same as a UNIX user
account. The following list describes the components of an AFS account. The same information appears in a corresponding section
of Creating and Deleting User Accounts with the uss Command Suite, but is repeated here for your
convenience. A Protection Database entry defines the username (the name provided when authenticating with
AFS), and maps it to an AFS user ID (AFS UID), a number that the AFS servers use internally when referencing users. The
Protection Database also tracks the groups to which the user belongs. For details, see Administering the Protection Database.An Authentication Database entry records the user's AFS password in a scrambled form suitable
for use as an encryption key.A home volume stores all the files in the user's home directory together on a single partition
of a file server machine. The volume has an associated quota that limits its size. For a complete discussion of volumes,
see Managing Volumes.A mount point makes the contents of the user's volume visible and accessible in the AFS
filespace, and acts as the user's home directory. For more details about mount points, see About
Mounting Volumes.Full access permissions on the home directory's access control list (ACL) and ownership of the
directory (as displayed by the UNIX ls -ld command) enable the user to manage his or her
files. For details on AFS file protection, see Managing Access Control Lists.A local password file entry (in the /etc/passwd file or
equivalent) of each AFS client machine enables the user to log in and access AFS files through the Cache Manager. A
subsequent section in this chapter further discusses local password file entries.Other optional configuration files make the account more convenient to use. Such files help the
user log in and log out more easily, receive electronic mail, print, and so on.AFS UIDmatching with UNIX UIDUNIX UIDmatching with AFS UIDCreating Local Password File EntriesTo obtain authenticated access to a cell's AFS filespace, a user must not only have a valid AFS token, but also an entry
in the local password file (/etc/passwd or equivalent) of the machine whose Cache Manager is
representing the user. This section discusses why it is important for the user's AFS UID to match to the UNIX UID listed in the
local password file, and describes the appropriate value to put in the file's password field.One reason to use uss commands is that they enable you to generate local password file
entries automatically as part of account creation. See Creating a Common Source Password
File.Information similar to the information in this section appears in a corresponding section of Creating and Deleting User Accounts with the uss Command Suite, but is repeated here for your
convenienceAssigning AFS and UNIX UIDs that MatchA user account is easiest to administer and use if the AFS user ID number (AFS UID) and UNIX UID match. All instructions
in the AFS documentation assume that they do.The most basic reason to make AFS and UNIX UIDs the same is so that the owner name reported by the UNIX ls -l and ls -ld commands makes sense for AFS files and directories.
Following standard UNIX practice, the File Server records a number rather than a username in an AFS file or directory's owner
field: the owner's AFS UID. When you issue the ls -l command, it translates the UID to a
username according to the mapping in the local password file, not the AFS Protection Database. If the AFS and UNIX UIDs do not
match, the ls -l command reports an unexpected (and incorrect) owner. The output can even
vary on different client machines if their local password files map the same UNIX UID to different names.Follow the recommendations in the indicated sections to make AFS and UNIX UIDs match when creating accounts for various
types of users: If creating an AFS account for a user who already has a UNIX UID, see Making UNIX and AFS
UIDs Match.If some users in your cell have existing UNIX accounts but the user for whom you are creating an AFS account does
not, then it is best to allow the Protection Server to allocate an AFS UID automatically. To avoid overlap of AFS UIDs
with existing UNIX UIDs, set the Protection Database's max user id counter higher than
the largest UNIX UID, using the instructions in Displaying and Setting the AFS UID and GID
Counters.If none of your users have existing UNIX accounts, allow the Protection Server to allocate AFS UIDs automatically,
starting either at its default or at the value you have set for the max user id
counter.passwordsetting in local password filewith manual account creationlocal password filesetting password inwith manual account creationSpecifying Passwords in the Local Password FileAuthenticating with AFS is easiest for your users if you install and configure an AFS-modified login utility, which logs
a user into the local file system and obtains an AFS token in one step. In this case, the local password file no longer
controls a user's ability to login in most circumstances, because the AFS-modified login utility does not consult the local
password file if the user provides the correct AFS password. You can nonetheless use a password file entry's password field
(usually, the second field) in the following ways to control login and authentication: To prevent both local login and AFS authentication, place an asterisk ( * ) in the field. This is useful mainly in
emergencies, when you want to prevent a certain user from logging into the machine.To prevent login to the local file system if the user does not provide the correct AFS password, place a character
string of any length other than the standard thirteen characters in the field. This is appropriate if you want to allow
only people with local AFS accounts to log into to your machines. A single X or other
character is the most easily recognizable way to do this.To enable a user to log into the local file system even after providing an incorrect AFS password, record a
standard UNIX encrypted password in the field by issuing the standard UNIX password-setting command (passwd or equivalent).If you do not use an AFS-modified login utility, you must place a standard UNIX password in the local password file of
every client machine the user will use. The user logs into the local file system only, and then must issue the klog command to authenticate with AFS. It is simplest if the passwords in the local password file and
the Authentication Database are the same, but this is not required. convertingexisting UNIX accounts to AFS accountswith manual account creationuser accountconverting existing UNIX to AFSwith manual account creationConverting Existing UNIX AccountsThis section discusses the three main issues you need to consider if your cell has existing UNIX accounts that you wish to
convert to AFS accounts.Making UNIX and AFS UIDs MatchAs previously mentioned, AFS users must have an entry in the local password file on every client machine from which they
access the AFS filespace as an authenticated user. Both administration and use are much simpler if the UNIX UID and AFS UID
match. When converting existing UNIX accounts, you have two alternatives: Make the AFS UIDs match the existing UNIX UIDs. In this case, you need to assign the AFS UID yourself by including
the -id argument to the pts createuser command as you
create the AFS account.Because you are retaining the user's UNIX UID, you do not need to alter the UID in the local password file entry.
However, if you are using an AFS-modified login utility, you possibly need to change the password field in the entry.
For a discussion of how the value in the password field affects login with an AFS-modified login utility, see Specifying Passwords in the Local Password File.If now or in the future you need to create AFS accounts for users who do not have an existing UNIX UID, then you
must guarantee that new AFS UIDs do not conflict with any existing UNIX UIDs. The simplest way is to set the
max user id counter in the Protection Database to a value higher than the largest
existing UNIX UID. See Displaying and Setting the AFS UID and GID Counters.Change the existing UNIX UIDs to match the new AFS UIDs that the Protection Server assigns automatically.Allow the Protection Server to allocate the AFS UIDs automatically as you create AFS accounts. You must then alter
the user's entry in the local password file on every client machine to include the new UID.There is one drawback to changing the UNIX UID: any files and directories that the user owned in the local file
system before becoming an AFS user still have the former UID in their owner field. If you want the ls -l and ls -ld commands to display the correct owner, you must
use the chown command to change the value to the user's new UID, whether you are
leaving the file in the local file system or moving it to AFS. See Moving Local Files into
AFS.Setting the Password Field AppropriatelyExisting UNIX accounts already have an entry in the local password file, probably with a (scrambled) password in the
password field. You possibly need to change the value in the field, depending on the type of login utility you use:
If the login utility is not modified for use with AFS, the actual password must appear (in scrambled form) in the
local password file entry.If the login utility is modified for use with AFS, choose one of the values discussed in Specifying Passwords in the Local Password File.Moving Local Files into AFSNew AFS users with existing UNIX accounts probably already own files and directories stored in a machine's local file
system, and it usually makes sense to transfer them into the new home volume. The easiest method is to move them onto the
local disk of an AFS client machine, and then use the UNIX mv command to transfer them into
the user's new AFS home directory.As you move files and directories into AFS, keep in mind that the meaning of their mode bits changes. AFS ignores the
second and third sets of mode bits (group and other), and does not use the first set (the owner bits) directly, but only in
conjunction with entries on the ACL (for details, see How AFS Interprets the UNIX Mode Bits).
Be sure that the ACL protects the file or directory at least as securely as the mode bits.If you have chosen to change a user's UNIX UID to match a new AFS UID, you must change the ownership of UNIX files and
directories as well. Only members of the system:administrators group can issue the chown command on files and directories once they reside in AFS.Creating AFS User AccountsThere are two methods for creating user accounts. The preferred method--using the uss
commands--enables you to create multiple accounts with a single command. It uses a template to define standard values for the
account components that are the same for each user (such as quota), but provide differing values for more variable components
(such as username). See Creating and Deleting User Accounts with the uss Command Suite.The second method involves issuing a separate command to create each component of the account. It is best suited to
creation of one account at a time, since some of the commands can create only one instance of the relevant component. To review
the function of each component, see The Components of an AFS User Account.Use the following instructions to create any of the three types of user account, which differ in their levels of
functionality. For a description of the types, see Configuring AFS User Accounts. To create an authentication-only account, perform Step 1 through Step 4 and also Step 14. This type of account consists only of entries
in the Authentication Database and Protection Database.To create a basic account, perform Step 1 through Step 8 and Step 11 through Step 14. In
addition to Authentication Database and Protection Database entries, this type of account includes a volume mounted at the
home directory with owner and ACL set appropriately.To create a full account, perform all steps in the following instructions. This type of account includes
configuration files for basic functions such as logging in, printing, and mail delivery, making it more convenient and
useful. For a discussion of some useful types of configuration files, see Creating Standard Files
in New AFS Accounts.creatinguser accountwith individual commandsuser accountcreatingwith individual commandscreatingProtection Database user entrywith pts createuser commandcreatingAuthentication Database entrywith kas create commandProtection Databaseuser entrycreating with pts createuser commandAuthentication Databaseentrycreating with kas create commandusernameassigningwith pts createuser commandAFS UIDassigningwith pts createuser commanduserAFS UID, assigningassigningAFS UID to userTo create one user account with individual commandsDecide on the value to assign to each of the following account components. If you are
creating an authentication-only account, you need to pick only a username, AFS UID, and initial password. The username. By convention, the names of many components of the user account incorporate this name. For a
discussion of restrictions and suggested naming schemes, see Choosing Usernames and Naming
Other Account Components.The AFS UID, if you want to assign a specific one. It is generally best to have the Protection Server allocate
one instead, except when you are creating an AFS account for a user who already has an existing UNIX account. In
that case, migrating the user's files into AFS is simplest if you set the AFS UID to match the existing UNIX UID.
See Converting Existing UNIX Accounts.The initial password. Advise the user to change this at the first login, using the password changing
instructions in the OpenAFS User Guide.The name of the user's home volume. The conventional name is user.username
(for example, user.smith).The volume's site (disk partition on a file server machine). Some cells designate certain machines or
partitions for user volumes only, or it possibly makes sense to place the volume on the emptiest partition that
meets your other criteria. To display the size and available space on a partition, use the vos
partinfo command, which is fully described in Creating Read/write
Volumes.The name of the user's home directory (the mount point for the home volume). The conventional location is a
directory (or one of a set of directories) directly under the cell directory, such as /afs/cellname/usr. For suggestions on how to avoid the
slowed directory lookup that can result from having large numbers of user home directories in a single usr directory, see Evenly Distributing User Home Directories with
the G Instruction.The volume's space quota. Include the -maxquota argument to the vos create command, or accept the default quota of 5000 KB.The ACL on the home directory. By default, the ACL on every new volume grants all seven permissions to the
system:administrators group. After volume creation, use the fs setacl command to remove the entry if desired, and to grant all seven permissions to the
user.Authenticate as an AFS identity with all of the following privileges. In the conventional
configuration, the admin user account has them, or you possibly have a personal
administrative account. (To increase cell security, it is best to create special privileged accounts for use only while
performing administrative procedures; for further discussion, see An Overview of Administrative
Privilege.) If necessary, issue the klog command to authenticate.
% klog admin_user
Password: <admin_password>
The following list specifies the necessary privileges and indicates how to check that you have them.Membership in the system:administrators group. If necessary, issue the
pts membership command, which is fully described in To
display the members of the system:administrators group.
% pts membership system:administratorsInclusion in the /usr/afs/etc/UserList file. If necessary, issue the bos listusers command, which is fully described in To display the
users in the UserList file.
% bos listusers <machine name>
The ADMIN flag on your Authentication Database entry. However, the
Authentication Server performs its own authentication, so in Step 4 you specify an
administrative identity on the kas command line itself.The i (insert) and a (administer) permissions on the ACL of the directory where
you are mounting the user's volume. If necessary, issue the fs listacl command, which
is fully described in Displaying ACLs.
% fs listacl [<dir/file path>]
Members of the system:administrators group always implicitly have the a (administer) and by default also the l (lookup) permission on every ACL and can use the fs setacl command to grant other rights as necessary.Knowledge of the password for the local superuser root.pts commandscreateuseruser accountcommandspts createuseruser accountIssue the pts createuser command to create an entry in the
Protection Database. For a discussion of setting AFS UIDs, see Assigning AFS and UNIX UIDs that
Match. If you are converting an existing UNIX account into an AFS account, also see Converting Existing UNIX Accounts.
% pts createuser <user name> [<user id>]
wherecuIs an acceptable alias for createuser (and createu is the shortest acceptable abbreviation).user nameSpecifies the user's username (the character string typed at login). It is best to limit the name to eight or
fewer lowercase letters, because many application programs impose that limit. The AFS servers themselves accept
names of up to 63 lowercase letters. Also avoid the following characters: colon (:), semicolon (;), comma (,), at sign (@), space, newline, and the period (.), which is conventionally used only in special administrative names.user idIs optional and appropriate only if the user already has a UNIX UID that the AFS UID must match. If you do not
provide this argument, the Protection Server assigns one automatically based on the counter described in Displaying and Setting the AFS UID and GID Counters. If the ID you specify is less than
1 (one) or is already in use, an error results.kas commandscreatecommandskas createIssue the kas create command to create an entry in the
Authentication Database. To avoid having the user's temporary initial password echo visibly on the screen, omit the
-initial_password argument; instead enter the password at the prompts that appear when
you omit the argument, as shown in the following syntax specification.The Authentication Server performs its own authentication rather than accepting your existing AFS token. By default,
it authenticates your local (UNIX) identity, which possibly does not correspond to an AFS-privileged administrator.
Include the -admin argument to name an identity that has the
ADMIN flag on its Authentication Database entry. To verify that an entry has the flag,
issue the kas examine command as described in To check if the
ADMIN flag is set.
% kas create <name of user> \
-admin <admin principal to use for authentication>
Administrator's (admin_user) password: <admin_password>
initial_password: <initial_password>
Verifying, please re-enter initial_password: <initial_password>
where crIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation for create.name of userSpecifies the same username as in Step 3.-adminNames an administrative account that has the ADMIN flag on its
Authentication Database entry, such as admin. The password prompt echoes it as
admin_user. Enter the appropriate password as admin_password.initial_passwordSpecifies the initial password as a string of eight characters or less, to comply with the length
restriction that some applications impose. Possible choices for an initial password include the username, a string
of digits from a personal identification number such as the Social Security number, or a standard string such as
changeme. Instruct the user to change the string to a truly secret password as
soon as possible by using the kpasswd command as described in the IBM
AFS User Guide.vos commandscreatewhen creating user accountcommandsvos createwhen creating user accountIssue the vos create command to create the user's volume.
% vos create <machine name> <partition name> <volume name> \
[-maxquota <initial quota (KB)>]
wherecrIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation of create.machine nameNames the file server machine on which to place the new volume.partition nameNames the partition on which to place the new volume.volume nameNames the new volume. The name can include up to 22 characters. By convention, user volume names have the form
user.username, where username is the name assigned in Step 3.-maxquotaSets the volume's quota, as a number of kilobyte blocks. If you omit this argument, the default is 5000
KB.fs commandsmkmountwhen creating user accountcommandsfs mkmountwhen creating user accountIssue the fs mkmount command to mount the volume in the
filespace and create the user's home directory.
% fs mkmount <directory> <volume name>
wheremkIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation for mkmount.directoryNames the mount point to create. A directory of the same name must not already exist. Partial pathnames are
interpreted relative to the current working directory. By convention, user home directories are mounted in a
directory called something like /afs/.cellname/usr, and the home directory name matches the username assigned in Step 3.Specify the read/write path to the mount point, to avoid the failure that results when you attempt to create
the new mount point in a read-only volume. By convention, you indicate the read/write path by placing a period
before the cell name at the pathname's second level (for example, /afs/.example.com).
For further discussion of the concept of read/write and read-only paths through the filespace, see The Rules of Mount Point Traversal.volume nameIs the name of the volume created in Step 5.(Optional) Issue the fs setvol command with the
-offlinemsg argument to record auxiliary information about the volume in its volume
header. For example, you can record who owns the volume or where you have mounted it in the filespace. To display the
information, use the fs examine command.
% fs setvol <dir/file path> -offlinemsg <offline message>
wheresvIs an acceptable alias for setvol (and setv
the shortest acceptable abbreviation).dir/file pathNames the mount point of the volume with which to associate the message. Partial pathnames are interpreted
relative to the current working directory.Specify the read/write path to the mount point, to avoid the failure that results when you attempt to change a
read-only volume. By convention, you indicate the read/write path by placing a period before the cell name at the
pathname's second level (for example, /afs/.example.com). For further discussion of the
concept of read/write and read-only paths through the filespace, see The Rules of Mount
Point Traversal.-offlinemsgSpecifies up to 128 characters of auxiliary information to record in the volume header.Issue the fs setacl command to set the ACL on the new home
directory. At the least, create an entry that grants all permissions to the user, as shown.You can also use the command to edit or remove the entry that the vos create
command automatically places on the ACL for a new volume's root directory, which grants all permissions to the system:administrators group. Keep in mind that even if you remove the entry, the members of the
group by default have implicit a (administer) and by
default l (lookup) permissions on every ACL, and can
grant themselves other permissions as required.For detailed instructions for the fs setacl command, see Setting ACL Entries.
% fs setacl <directory> -acl <user name> all \
[system:administrators desired_permissions]
(Optional) Create configuration files and subdirectories in
the new home directory. Possibilities include .login and .logout files, a shell-initialization file such as .cshrc, files
to help with printing and mail delivery, and so on.If you are converting an existing UNIX account into an AFS account, you possibly wish to move some files and
directories into the user's new AFS home directory. See Converting Existing UNIX
Accounts.(Optional) In the new .login or shell
initialization file, define the user's $PATH environment variable to include the directories where AFS binaries are kept
(for example, the /usr/afsws/bin and /usr/afsws/etc
directories).In Step 12 and Step 14, you
must know the user's AFS UID. If you had the Protection Server assign it in Step 3, you
probably do not know it. If necessary, issue the pts examine command to display it.
% pts examine <user or group name or id>
whereeIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation of examine.user or group name or idIs the username that you assigned in Step 3.The first line of the output displays the username and AFS UID. For further discussion and an example of the output,
see Displaying Information from the Protection Database.Designate the user as the owner of the home directory and any files and subdirectories
created or moved in Step 9. Specify the owner by the AFS UID you learned in Step 11 rather than by username. This is necessary for new accounts because the user does not yet have
an entry in your local machine's password file (/etc/passwd or equivalent). If you are
converting an existing UNIX account, an entry possibly already exists, but the UID is possibly incorrect. In that case,
specifying a username means that the corresponding (possibly incorrect) UID is recorded as the owner.Some operating systems allow only the local superuser root to issue the chown command. If necessary, issuing the su command before the
chown command.
% chown new_owner_ID directory
where new_owner_IDIs the user's AFS UID, which you learned in Step 11.directoryNames the home directory you created in Step 6, plus each subdirectory or
file you created in Step 9.If the new user home directory resides in a replicated volume, use the vos release
command to release the volume, as described in To replicate a read/write volume (create a
read-only volume).
% vos release <volume name or ID>
This step can be necessary even if the home directory's parent directory is not itself a mount point for a
replicated volume (and is easier to overlook in that case). Suppose, for example, that the Example Corporation puts the
mount points for user volumes in the /afs/example.com/usr directory. Because that is a
regular directory rather than a mount point, it resides in the root.cell volume mounted
at the /afs/example.com directory. That volume is replicated, so after changing it by
creating a new mount point the administrator must issue the vos release command.Create or modify an entry for the new user in the local password file (/etc/passwd or equivalent) of each machine the user can log onto. Remember to make the UNIX UID the
same as the AFS UID you learned in Step 11, and to fill the password field appropriately
(for instructions, see Specifying Passwords in the Local Password File).If you use the package utility to distribute a common version of the password file
to all client machines, then you need to make the change only in the common version. See Configuring Client Machines with the package Program.passwordimproving securityauthenticationimproving securityloginlimiting failed attemptsklog commandlimiting failed attemptsImproving Password and Authentication SecurityAFS provides several optional features than can help to protect your cell's filespace against unauthorized access. The
following list summarizes them, and instructions follow. Limit the number of consecutive failed login attempts.One of the most common ways for an unauthorized user to access your filespace is to guess an authorized user's
password. This method of attack is most dangerous if the attacker can use many login processes in parallel or use the RPC
interfaces directly.To protect against this type of attack, use the -attempts argument to the kas setfields command to limit the number of times that a user can consecutively fail to enter the
correct password when using either an AFS-modified login utility or the klog command.
When the limit is exceeded, the Authentication Server locks the user's Authentication Database entry (disallows
authentication attempts) for a period of time that you define with the -locktime argument
to the kas setfields command. If desired, system administrators can use the kas unlock command to unlock the entry before the complete lockout time passes.In certain circumstances, the mechanism used to enforce the number of failed authentication attempts can cause a
lockout even though the number of failed attempts is less than the limit set by the -attempts argument. Client-side authentication programs such as klog and an AFS-modified login utility normally choose an Authentication Server at random for each
authentication attempt, and in case of a failure are likely to choose a different Authentication Server for the next
attempt. The Authentication Servers running on the various database server machines do not communicate with each other
about how many times a user has failed to provide the correct password to them. Instead, each Authentication Server
maintains its own separate copy of the auxiliary database file kaserverauxdb (located in
the /usr/afs/local directory by default), which records the number of consecutive
authentication failures for each user account and the time of the most recent failure. This implementation means that on
average each Authentication Server knows about only a fraction of the total number of failed attempts. The only way to
avoid allowing more than the number of attempts set by the -attempts argument is to have
each Authentication Server allow only some fraction of the total. More specifically, if the limit on failed attempts is
f, and the number of Authentication Servers is S, then each Authentication
Server can only permit a number of attempts equal to f divided by S (the Ubik
synchronization site for the Authentication Server tracks any remainder, f mod S).Normally, this implementation does not reduce the number of allowed attempts to less than the configured limit
(f). If one Authentication Server refuses an attempt, the client contacts another instance of the
server, continuing until either it successfully authenticates or has contacted all of the servers. However, if one or more
of the Authentication Server processes is unavailable, the limit is effectively reduced by a percentage equal to the
quantity U divided by S, where U is the number of
unavailable servers and S is the number normally available.To avoid the undesirable consequences of setting a limit on failed authentication attempts, note the following
recommendations: Do not set the -attempts argument (the limit on failed authentication
attempts) too low. A limit of nine failed attempts is recommended for regular user accounts, to allow three failed
attempts per Authentication Server in a cell with three database server machines.Set fairly short lockout times when including the -locktime argument.
Although guessing passwords is a common method of attack, it is not a very sophisticated one. Setting a lockout time
can help discourage attackers, but excessively long times are likely to be more of a burden to authorized users than
to potential attackers. A lockout time of 25 minutes is recommended for regular user accounts.Do not assign an infinite lockout time on an account (by setting the -locktime argument to 0 [zero]) unless there is a highly
compelling reason. Such accounts almost inevitably become locked at some point, because each Authentication Server
never resets the account's failure counter in its copy of the kaauxdb file (in
contrast, when the lockout time is not infinite, the counter resets after the specified amount of time has passed
since the last failed attempt to that Authentication Server). Furthermore, the only way to unlock an account with an
infinite lockout time is for an administrator to issue the kas unlock command. It
is especially dangerous to set an infinite lockout time on an administrative account; if all administrative accounts
become locked, the only way to unlock them is to shut down all instances of the Authentication Server and remove the
kaauxdb file on each.In summary, the recommended limit on authentication attempts is nine and lockout time 25 minutes.Limit password lifetime.The longer a password is in use, the more time an attacker has to try to learn it. To protect against this type of
attack, use the -pwexpires argument to the kas setfields
command to limit how many days a user's password is valid. The user becomes unable to authenticate with AFS after the
password expires, but has up to 30 days to use the kpasswd command to set a new password.
After the 30 days pass, only an administrator who has the ADMIN flag on the
Authentication Database entry can change the password.If you set a password lifetime, many AFS-modified login utilities (but not the klog
command) set the PASSWORD_EXPIRES environment variable to the number of days remaining until the password expires. A
setting of zero means that the password expires today. If desired, you can customize your users' login scripts to display
the number of days remaining before expiration and even prompt for a password change when a small number of days remain
before expiration.Prohibit reuse of passwords.Forcing users to select new passwords periodically is not effective if they simply set the new password to the
current value. To prevent a user from setting a new password to a string similar to any of the last 20 passwords, use the
-reuse argument to the kas setfields command.If you prohibit password reuse and the user specifies an excessively similar password, the Authentication Server
generates the following message to reject it:
Password was not changed because it seems like a reused password
A persistent user can try to bypass this restriction by changing the password 20 times in quick succession (or
running a script to do so). If you believe this is likely to be a problem, you can include the -minhours argument to the kaserver initialization command (for
details, see the command's reference page in the OpenAFS Administration Reference. If the user
attempts to change passwords too frequently, the following message appears.
Password was not changed because you changed it too recently; see
your systems administrator
Check the quality of new passwords.You can impose a minimum quality standard on passwords by writing a script or program called kpwvalid. If the kpwvalid file exists, the kpasswd and kas setpassword command interpreters invoke it to
check a new password. If the password does not comply with the quality standard, the kpwvalid program returns an appropriate code and the command interpreter rejects the
password.The kpwvalid file must be executable, must reside in the same AFS directory as the
kpasswd and kas binaries, and its directory's ACL must
grant the w (write) permission only to the system:administrators group.If you choose to write a kpwvalid program, consider imposing standards such as the
following. A minimum lengthWords found in the dictionary are prohibitedNumbers, punctuation, or both must appear along with lettersThe AFS distribution includes an example kpwvalid program. See the kpwvalid reference page in the OpenAFS Administration Reference.kas commandssetfieldslimiting failed authentication attemptscommandskas setfieldslimiting failed authentication attemptsTo limit the number of consecutive failed authentication attemptsIssue the kas setfields command with the -attempts
and -locktime arguments.The Authentication Server performs its own authentication rather than accepting your existing AFS token. By default,
it authenticates your local (UNIX) identity, which possibly does not correspond to an AFS-privileged administrator.
Include the -admin argument to name an identity that has the
ADMIN flag on its Authentication Database entry. To verify that an entry has the flag,
issue the kas examine command as described in To check if the
ADMIN flag is set.
% kas setfields <name of user> \
-admin <admin principal to use for authentication> \
-attempts <maximum successive failed login tries ([0..254])> \
-locktime <failure penalty [hh:mm or minutes]>
Administrator's (admin_user) password: <admin_password>
where name of userNames the Authentication Database entry to edit.-adminNames an administrative account that has the ADMIN flag on its
Authentication Database entry, such as the admin account. The password prompt
echoes it as admin_user. Enter the appropriate password as admin_password.-attemptsSpecifies the maximum consecutive number of times that a user can fail to provide the correct password
during authentication (via the klog command or an AFS-modified login utility)
before the Authentication Server refuses further attempts for the amount of time specified by the -locktime argument. The range of valid values is 0 (zero)
through 254. If you omit this argument or specify 0, the Authentication Server allows an unlimited number of failures.-locktimeSpecifies how long the Authentication Server refuses authentication attempts after the user exceeds the
failure limit specified by the -attempts argument.Specify a time in either hours and minutes (hh:mm) or minutes only (mm), from the range 01 (one minute) through 36:00 (36 hours). The kas command interpreter automatically reduces any larger value to 36:00 and also rounds up
each nonzero value to the next-higher multiple of 8.5 minutes.It is best not to provide a value of 0 (zero), especially on administrative
accounts, because it sets an infinite lockout time. An administrator must always issue the kas unlock command to unlock such an account.To unlock a locked user accountIssue the kas command to enter interactive mode.The Authentication Server performs its own authentication rather than accepting your existing AFS token. By default,
it authenticates your local (UNIX) identity, which possibly does not correspond to an AFS-privileged administrator.
Include the -admin argument to name an identity that has the
ADMIN flag on its Authentication Database entry. To verify that an entry has the flag,
issue the kas examine command as described in To check if the
ADMIN flag is set.
% kas -admin <admin principal to use for authentication>
Administrator's (admin_user) password: <admin_password>
ka>
where -admin names an administrative account that has the
ADMIN flag on its Authentication Database entry, such as admin. The password prompt echoes it as admin_user. Enter the appropriate password as
admin_password.Issue the (kas) examine command to verify that the user's account is in fact
locked, as indicated by the message shown:
ka> examine <name of user>
User is locked until time
kas commandsunlockcommandskas unlockIssue the (kas) unlock command to unlock the account.
ka> unlock <authentication ID>
whereuIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation of unlock.authentication IDNames the Authentication Database entry to unlock.kas commandssetfieldssetting password lifetimecommandskas setfieldssetting password lifetimeAuthentication Databasepassword lifetime, settingTo set password lifetimeIssue the kas setfields command with the -pwexpires argument.The Authentication Server performs its own authentication rather than accepting your existing AFS token. By default,
it authenticates your local (UNIX) identity, which possibly does not correspond to an AFS-privileged administrator.
Include the -admin argument to name an identity that has the
ADMIN flag on its Authentication Database entry. To verify that an entry has the flag,
issue the kas examine command as described in To check if the
ADMIN flag is set.
% kas setfields <name of user> \
-pwexpires <number days password is valid [0..254])> \
-admin <admin principal to use for authentication>
Administrator's (admin_user) password: <admin_password>
where name of userSpecifies the Authentication Database entry on which to impose a password expiration.-pwexpiresSets the number of days after the user's password was last changed that it remains valid. Provide an integer
from the range 1 through 254 to specify the
number of days until expiration.When the password becomes invalid (expires), the user is unable to authenticate, but has 30 more days in
which to issue the kpasswd or kas setpassword
command to change the password (after that, only an administrator can change it). Note that the clock starts at
the time the password was last changed, not when the kas setfields command is
issued. To avoid retroactive expiration, have the user change the password just before issuing the command.-adminNames an administrative account that has the ADMIN flag on its
Authentication Database entry, such as admin. The password prompt echoes it as
admin_user. Enter the appropriate password as admin_password.kas commandssetfieldsprohibiting password reusecommandskas setfieldsprohibiting password reuseTo prohibit reuse of passwordsIssue the kas setfields command with the -reuse
argument.The Authentication Server performs its own authentication rather than accepting your existing AFS token. By default,
it authenticates your local (UNIX) identity, which possibly does not correspond to an AFS-privileged administrator.
Include the -admin argument to name an identity that has the
ADMIN flag on its Authentication Database entry. To verify that an entry has the flag,
issue the kas examine command as described in To check if the
ADMIN flag is set.
% kas setfields <name of user> -reuse < permit password reuse (yes/no)> \
-admin <admin principal to use for authentication>
Administrator's (admin_user) password: <admin_password>
where name of userNames the Authentication Database entry for which to set the password reuse policy.-reuseSpecifies whether the Authentication Server allows reuse of passwords similar to any of the user's last 20
passwords. Specify the value no to prohibit reuse, or the value yes to reinstate the default of allowing password reuse.-adminNames an administrative account that has the ADMIN flag on its
Authentication Database entry, such as admin. The password prompt echoes it as
admin_user. Enter the appropriate password as admin_password.passwordsetting in Authentication Databasesettingpasswordin Authentication DatabaseAuthentication DatabasepasswordsettingChanging AFS PasswordsAfter setting an initial password during account creation, you normally do not need to change user passwords, since they
can use the kpasswd command themselves by following the instructions in the OpenAFS
User Guide. In the rare event that a user forgets the password or otherwise cannot log in, you can use the kas setpassword command to set a new password.If entries in the local password file (/etc/passwd or equivalent) have actual scrambled
passwords in their password field, remember to change the password there also. For further discussion, see Specifying Passwords in the Local Password File. kas commandssetpasswordcommandskas setpasswordTo change an AFS passwordIssue the kas setpassword command to change the password. To avoid having the new
password echo visibly on the screen, omit the -new_password argument; instead enter the
password at the prompts that appear when you omit the argument, as shown.The Authentication Server performs its own authentication rather than accepting your existing AFS token. By default,
it authenticates your local (UNIX) identity, which possibly does not correspond to an AFS-privileged administrator.
Include the -admin argument to name an identity that has the
ADMIN flag on its Authentication Database entry. To verify that an entry has the flag,
issue the kas examine command as described in To check if the
ADMIN flag is set.
% kas setpassword <name of user> \
-admin <admin principal to use for authentication>
Administrator's (admin_user) password: <admin_password>
new_password: <new_password>
Verifying, please re-enter new_password: <new_password>
where spIs an acceptable alias for setpassword (setp is the shortest acceptable abbreviation).name of userNames the Authentication Database entry for which to set the password.-adminNames an administrative account that has the ADMIN flag on its
Authentication Database entry, such as admin. The password prompt echoes it as
admin_user. Enter the appropriate password as admin_password.new_passwordSpecifies the user's new password. It is subject to the restrictions imposed by the kpwvalid program, if you use it.Displaying and Setting the Quota on User VolumesUser volumes are like all other volumes with respect to quota. Each new AFS volume has a default quota of 5000 KB, unless
you use the -maxquota argument to the vos create command to
set a different quota. You can also use either of the following commands to change quota at any time: fs setquotafs setvolYou can use any of the three following commands to display a volume's quota: fs quotafs listquotafs examineFor instructions, see Setting and Displaying Volume Quota and Current Size. usernamechangingchangingusernamerenaminguser account componentsProtection Databasechanging usernameAuthentication Databasechanging usernameChanging UsernamesBy convention, many components of a user account incorporate the username, including the Protection and Authentication
Database entries, the volume name and the home directory name. When changing a username, it is best to maintain consistency by
changing the names of all components, so the procedure for changing a username has almost as many steps as the procedure for
creating a new user account.To change a usernamepts commandsrenameusernamecommandspts renameusernameAuthenticate as an AFS identity with all of the following privileges. In the conventional configuration, the
admin user account has them, or you possibly have a personal administrative account. (To
increase cell security, it is best to create special privileged accounts for use only while performing administrative
procedures; for further discussion, see An Overview of Administrative Privilege.) If
necessary, issue the klog command to authenticate.
% klog admin_user
Password: <admin_password>
The following list specifies the necessary privileges and indicates how to check that you have them.Membership in the system:administrators group. If necessary, issue the
pts membership command, which is fully described in To
display the members of the system:administrators group.
% pts membership system:administratorsInclusion in the /usr/afs/etc/UserList file. If necessary, issue the bos listusers command, which is fully described in To display the
users in the UserList file.
% bos listusers <machine name>
The ADMIN flag on the Authentication Database entry. However, the
Authentication Server performs its own authentication, so the following instructions direct you to specify an
administrative identity on the kas command line itself.The a (administer), d (delete), and i (insert) permissions on the ACL of the directory where you are removing the current mount point
and creating a new one. If necessary, issue the fs listacl command, which is fully
described in Displaying ACLs.
% fs listacl [<dir/file path>]
Members of the system:administrators group always implicitly have the a (administer) and by default also the l (lookup) permission on every ACL and can use the fs setacl command to grant other rights as necessary.Issue the pts listowned command to display the names of the
groups the user owns. After you change the username in the Protection Database in Step 3,
you must issue the pts rename command to change each group's owner prefix to match the
new name, because the Protection Server does not automatically make this change. For a complete description of the
pts listowned command, see Displaying Information from the
Protection Database.
% pts listowned <user or group name or id>
Issue the pts rename command to change the user's name in
the Protection Database.
% pts rename <old name> <new name>
Issue the pts rename command to change the group names you noted in Step 2, so that their owner prefix (the part of the group name before the colon) accurately reflects
the owner's new name.Repeat the command for each group. Step 3 details its syntax.
% pts rename <old name> <new name>
Issue the kas command to enter interactive mode.The Authentication Server performs its own authentication rather than accepting your existing AFS token. By default,
it authenticates your local (UNIX) identity, which possibly does not correspond to an AFS-privileged administrator.
Include the -admin argument to name an identity that has the
ADMIN flag on its Authentication Database entry. To verify that an entry has the flag,
issue the kas examine command as described in To check if the
ADMIN flag is set.
% kas -admin <admin principal to use for authentication>
Administrator's (admin_user) password: <admin_password>
ka>
where -admin names an administrative account that has the
ADMIN flag on its Authentication Database entry, such as admin. The password prompt echoes it as admin_user. Enter the appropriate password as
admin_password. kas commandsdeletewhen changing usernamecommandskas deletewhen changing usernameIssue the (kas) delete command to delete the user's existing Authentication
Database entry.
ka> delete <name of user>
wheredelIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation for delete, or you can use the alias
rm.name of userNames the Authentication Database entry to delete.kas commandscreatewhen changing usernamecommandskas createwhen changing usernameIssue the (kas) create command to create an Authentication Database entry for the
new username. To avoid having the user's password echo visibly on the screen, do not include the -initial_password argument; instead enter the password at the prompts that appear in that case, as
shown in the following syntax specification.
ka> create <name of user>
initial_password: <password>
Verifying, please re-enter initial_password: <password>
wherecrIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation for create.name of userSpecifies the new username.passwordSpecifies the password for the new user account. If the user is willing to tell you his or her current
password, you can retain it. Otherwise, provide a string of eight characters or less to comply with the length
restriction that some applications impose. Possible choices for an initial password include the username, a string
of digits from a personal identification number such as the Social Security number, or a standard string such as
changeme. Instruct the user to change the string to a truly secret password as soon
as possible by using the kpasswd command as instructed in the OpenAFS
User Guide.Issue the quit command to leave interactive mode.
ka> quitvos commandsrenamewhen changing usernamecommandsvos renamewhen changing usernamevolume namechangingwhen renaming userrenamingvolume when changing usernamechangingvolume name when renaming userIssue the vos rename command to change the name of the
user's volume. For complete syntax, see To rename a volume.
% vos rename <old volume name> <new volume name>
fs commandsrmmountwhen changing usernamecommandsfs rmmountmount pointchanging when renaming userremovingmount pointwhen changing usernamechangingmount point when renaming userIssue the fs rmmount command to remove the existing mount
point. For the directory argument, specify the read/write path to the mount point, to avoid the failure that results when
you attempt to delete a mount point from a read-only volume.
% fs rmmount <directory>
fs commandsmkmountwhen changing usernamecommandsfs mkmountwhen changing usernamecreatingmount point when changing usernameIssue the fs mkmount command to create a mount point for the
volume's new name. Specify the read/write path to the mount point for the directory argument, as in the previous step. For
complete syntax, see Step 6 in To create one user account with
individual commands.
% fs mkmount <directory> <volume name>
If the changes you made in Step 10 and Step 11 are to
a mount point that resides in a replicated volume, use the vos release command to release
the volume, as described in To replicate a read/write volume (create a read-only volume).
% vos release <volume name or ID>
This step can be necessary even if the home directory's parent directory is not itself a mount point for a
replicated volume (and is easier to overlook in that case). For example, the Example Corporation template puts the mount
points for user volumes in the /afs/example.com/usr directory. Because that is a regular
directory rather than a mount point, it resides in the root.cell volume mounted at the
/afs/example.com directory. That volume is replicated, so after changing it the
administrator must issue the vos release command.Removing a User Accountremovinguser account componentsuser accountremoving from systemBefore removing an account, it is best to make a backup copy of the user's home volume on a permanent storage medium such
as tape. If you need to remove several accounts, it is probably more efficient to use the uss
delete command instead; see Deleting Individual Accounts with the uss delete
Command.To remove a user accountAuthenticate as an AFS identity with all of the following privileges. In the conventional configuration, the
admin user account has them, or you possibly have a personal administrative account. (To
increase cell security, it is best to create special privileged accounts for use only while performing administrative
procedures; for further discussion, see An Overview of Administrative Privilege.) If
necessary, issue the klog command to authenticate.
% klog admin_user
Password: <admin_password>
The following list specifies the necessary privileges and indicates how to check that you have them.Membership in the system:administrators group. If necessary, issue the
pts membership command, which is fully described in To
display the members of the system:administrators group.
% pts membership system:administratorsInclusion in the /usr/afs/etc/UserList file. If necessary, issue the bos listusers command, which is fully described in To display the
users in the UserList file.
% bos listusers <machine name>
The ADMIN flag on the Authentication Database entry. However, the
Authentication Server performs its own authentication, so the following instructions direct you to specify an
administrative identity on the kas command line itself.The d (delete) permission on the ACL of the
directory where you are removing the user volume's mount point. If necessary, issue the fs
listacl command, which is fully described in Displaying ACLs.
% fs listacl [<dir/file path>]
Members of the system:administrators group always implicitly have the a (administer) and by default also the l (lookup) permission on every ACL and can use the fs setacl command to grant other rights as necessary.(Optional) If it is possible you need to restore the user's account someday, note
the username and AFS UID, possibly in a file designated for that purpose. You can later restore the account with its
original AFS UID.(Optional) Copy the contents of the user's volume to tape. You can use the
vos dump command as described in Dumping and Restoring
Volumes or the AFS Backup System as described in Backing Up Data.(Optional) If you intend to remove groups that the user owns
from the Protection Database after removing the user's entry, issue the pts listowned
command to display them. For complete instructions, see Displaying Information from the
Protection Database.
% pts listowned <user or group name or id>
(Optional) Issue the pts
delete command to remove the groups the user owns. However, if it is likely that other users have placed the
groups on the ACLs of directories they own, it is best not to remove them.
% pts delete <user or group name or id>+
wheredelIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation for delete.user or group name or idSpecifies the name or AFS UID of each group displayed in the output from Step 4.kas commandsdeletewhen removing user accountcommandskas deleteAuthentication DatabaseentryremovingIssue the kas delete command to remove the user's Authentication Database
entry.The Authentication Server performs its own authentication rather than accepting your existing AFS token. By default,
it authenticates your local (UNIX) identity, which possibly does not correspond to an AFS-privileged administrator.
Include the -admin argument to name an identity that has the
ADMIN flag on its Authentication Database entry. To verify that an entry has the flag,
issue the kas examine command as described in To check if the
ADMIN flag is set.
% kas delete <name of user> \
-admin <admin principal to use for authentication>
Administrator's (admin_user) password: <admin_password>
where dIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation for delete.name of userNames the Authentication Database entry to delete.-adminNames an administrative account that has the ADMIN flag on its
Authentication Database entry, such as admin. The password prompt echoes it as
admin_user. Enter the appropriate password as admin_password.Issue the vos listvldb command to display the site of the
user's home volume in preparation for removing it. By convention, user volumes are named user.username.
% vos listvldb <volume name or ID>
wherelistvlIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation of listvldb.volume name or IDSpecifies the volume's name or volume ID number.vos commandsremovewhen removing user accountcommandsvos removevolumeremovingwhen removing user accountremovingvolume when removing user accountIssue the vos remove command to remove the user's volume. It
automatically removes the backup version of the volume, if it exists. It is not conventional to replicate user volumes, so
the command usually also completely removes the volume's entry from the Volume Location Database (VLDB). If there are
ReadOnly replicas of the volume, you must repeat the vos remove command to remove each
one individually.
% vos remove <machine name> <partition name> <volume name or ID>
whereremoIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation of remove.machine nameNames the file server machine that houses the volume, as specified in the output from Step 7.partition nameNames the partition that houses the volume, as specified in the output from Step 7.volume name or IDSpecifies the volume's name or ID number.fs commandsrmmountwhen removing user accountcommandsfs rmmountmount pointremoving when removing user accountremovingmount point when removing user accountIssue the fs rmmount command to remove the volume's mount
point.If you mounted the user's backup volume as a subdirectory of the home directory, then this command is sufficient to
unmount the backup version as well. If you mounted the backup version at an unrelated location in the filespace, repeat
the fs rmmount command for it.
% fs rmmount <directory>
where rmmIs the shortest acceptable abbreviation of rmmount.directoryNames the mount point for the volume's previous name (the former home directory). Partial pathnames are
interpreted relative to the current working directory.Specify the read/write path to the mount point, to avoid the failure that results when you attempt to delete
a mount point from a read-only volume. By convention, you indicate the read/write path by placing a period before
the cell name at the pathname's second level (for example, /afs/.example.com). For
further discussion of the concept of read/write and read-only paths through the filespace, see Mounting Volumes.pts commandsdeletewhen removing user accountcommandspts deleteProtection Databaseuser entrydeletingremovingProtection Database entryIssue the pts delete command to remove the user's Protection
Database entry. A complete description of this command appears in Step 5.
% pts delete <user or group name or id>
If the deleted user home directory resided in a replicated volume, use the vos
release command to release the volume, as described in To replicate a read/write
volume (create a read-only volume).
% vos release <volume name or ID>
This step can be necessary even if the home directory's parent directory is not itself a mount point for a
replicated volume (and is easier to overlook in that case). For example, the Example Corporation template puts the mount
points for user volumes in the /afs/example.com/usr directory. Because that is a regular
directory rather than a mount point, it resides in the root.cell volume mounted at the
/afs/example.com directory. That volume is replicated, so after changing it by deleting a
mount point the administrator must issue the vos release command.