Administration Reference

uss Bulk Input File

Purpose

Provides instructions for the uss bulk command

Description

The uss bulk input file lists instructions for the uss command interpreter to execute when running the uss bulk command. If the file includes add instructions that reference a uss template file, then the template file must also exist.

Summary of Bulk Input File Instructions

The bulk input file can include the following instructions, each on its own line. A more detailed description of each instruction's syntax follows this list.

add: Creates a user account. Equivalent to the uss add command.
delete: Deletes a user account. Equivalent to the uss delete command.
delvolume: Removes the volume and VLDB entry for each account referenced by a delete instruction that follows this instruction in the bulk input file.
exec: Executes a command.
savevolume: Preserves the volume and VLDB entry for each account referenced by a delete instruction that follows this instruction in the bulk input file.

The add Instruction for Creating an Account

The add instruction creates a user account. Each instance in the bulk input file is equivalent in effect to a uss add command issued on the command line. The order of the instruction's fields matches the order of arguments to the uss add command, although some arguments do not have a corresponding field. Like the uss add command's arguments, many of the fields correspond to (provide a value for) a variable in the uss template file, as indicated in the following description of each field.

The instruction's syntax is as follows. It appears on multiple lines here only for the sake of legibility--each add instruction must appear on a single line in the bulk input file.

   add username[:full_name][:initial_password][:password_expires]
       [:file_server][:partition][:mount_point][:uid][:var1][:var2]
       [:var3][:var4][:var5][:var6][:var7][:var8][:var9][:]

To omit a value for a field (presumably because it is optional or the template specifies a constant value for it), type nothing between the two colons that surround it. After the last argument provided, end the line with either a colon and carriage return, or a carriage return alone.

The meaning of, and acceptable values for, each field are as follows.

username

Names the user's Authentication Database and Protection Database entries. It can include up to eight alphanumeric characters, but not the : (colon), . (period), or @ (at-sign) characters. Because it becomes the username (the name under which a user logs in), it is best not to include shell metacharacters and to obey the restrictions that many operating systems impose on usernames (usually, to contain no more than eight lowercase letters).

Corresponding argument to the uss add command: -user. Corresponding variable in the template file: $USER.

full_name

Specifies the user's full name. Do not surround it with double quotes (""), even if it contains spaces. If not provided, it defaults to the username in the username field.

Corresponding argument to the uss add command: -realname. Corresponding variable in the template file: $NAME. Many operating systems include a field for the full name in a user's entry in the local password file (/etc/passwd or equivalent), and this variable can be used to pass a value to be used in that field.

initial_password

Specifies the user's initial password. Although the AFS commands that handle passwords accept strings of virtually unlimited length, it is best to use a password of eight characters or less, which is the maximum length that many applications and utilities accept. If not provided, this argument defaults to the string changeme.

Corresponding argument to the uss add command: -pass. Corresponding variable in the template file: none.

password_expires

Sets the number of days after a user's password is changed that it remains valid. 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).

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).

Corresponding argument to the uss add command: -pwexpires. Corresponding variable in the template file: $PWEXPIRES.

file_server

Names the file server machine on which to create the new user's volume. It is best to provide a fully-qualified hostname (for example, fs1.abc.com), but an abbreviated form is acceptable provided that the cell's naming service is available to resolve it at the time the volume is created.

Corresponding argument to the uss add command: -server. Corresponding variable in the template file: $SERVER.

partition

Specifies the partition on which to create the user's volume; it must reside on the file server machine named in the file_server field. Identify the partition by its complete name (for example, /vicepa, or use one of the following abbreviations:

   /vicepa     =     vicepa      =      a      =      0
   /vicepb     =     vicepb      =      b      =      1

After /vicepz (for which the index is 25) comes

   /vicepaa    =     vicepaa     =      aa     =      26
   /vicepab    =     vicepab     =      ab     =      27

and so on through

   /vicepiv    =     vicepiv     =      iv     =      255

Corresponding argument to the uss add command: -partition. Corresponding variable in template: $PART.

mount_point

Specifies the complete pathname for the user's home directory.

Corresponding argument to the uss add command: -mount.

Corresponding variable in template: $MTPT, but in the template file's V instruction only. Occurrences of the $MTPT variable in template instructions that follow the V instruction take their value from the V instruction's mount_point field. Thus the value of this command line argument becomes the value for the $MTPT variable in instructions that follow the V instruction only if the string $MTPT appears alone in the V instruction's mount_point field.

uid

Specifies a positive integer other than 0 (zero) to assign as the user's AFS UID. If this argument is omitted, the Protection Server assigns an AFS UID that is one greater than the current value of the max user id counter (use the pts listmax command to display the counter). If including this argument, first use the pts examine command to verify that no existing account already has the desired AFS UID; if one does, the account-creation process terminates with an error.

Corresponding argument to the uss add command: -uid. Corresponding variable in template: $UID.

var1 through var9

Specifies values for each of the number variables $1 through $9 that can appear in the template file. The number variables allow the administrator to provide values for variables other than the set defined by the uss command suite.

Corresponding argument to the uss add command: -var. Corresponding variables in template: $1 through $9.

If providing a value in any of the fields, then in every field that precedes it either provide an actual value or indicate an empty field by putting nothing between two colons. It is acceptable, but not necessary, to indicate empty fields by putting colons after the last field that contains an actual value.

The delete Instruction for Deleting an Account

The delete instruction deletes a user account from the system. Each instance in the bulk input file is equivalent in effect to a uss delete command issued on the command line. The order of the instruction's fields matches the order of arguments to the uss delete command:

   delete username:mount_point_path[:{ savevolume | delvolume }][:]

where

username: Names the entry to delete from the Protection and Authentication Databases.
mount_point_path: Specifies the complete pathname to the user's home directory, which is deleted from the filespace. By default, the volume mounted there is also deleted from the file server machine where it resides, as is its record from the Volume Location Database (VLDB). To prevent deletion, include the savevolume string in the instruction's third field, or precede this delete instruction with a savevolume instruction. Partial pathnames are interpreted relative to the current working directory.
savevolume: Retains the volume on its file server machine, and the corresponding entry in the VLDB. Provide this value or delvolume in the third field, or omit both values to treat the volume according to the prevailing default, which is set by a preceding savevolume or delvolume instruction in the bulk input file.
delvolume: Removes the volume from its file server machine, and the corresponding entry from the VLDB. Provide this value or savevolume in the third field, or omit both values to treat the volume according to the prevailing default, which is set by a preceding savevolume or delvolume instruction in the bulk input file.

After the last argument provided, end the line with either a colon and carriage return or a carriage return alone.

The exec Instruction for Executing a Command

The exec instruction executes the specified command, which can be a UNIX shell script or command, a program, or an AFS command. The uss command interpreter must have the necessary privileges in AFS and the local file system; it assumes the AFS and local identities of the issuer of the uss bulk command.

The instruction's syntax is as follows:

   exec command

The delvolume and savevolume Instructions for Setting the Default Treatment of Volumes

The savevolume and delvolume instructions determine the default treatment of volumes referenced by the delete instructions that follow them in the bulk input file. Their syntax is as follows:

   savevolume
   delvolume

The savevolume instruction prevents the removal of the volume and VLDB entry for all delete instruction that follow it in the bulk input file, and the delvolume instruction removes the volume and VLDB entry for all subsequent delete instructions. Either setting persists until its opposite appears in the file, or until the end of the bulk file.

If neither line appears in the bulk input file, the default is to remove the volume and the VLDB entry; delete instructions that appear before the first savevolume instruction are also subject to this default. If a delete instruction's third field specifies either savevolume or delvolume, that setting overrides the default.

Examples

The following example add instruction creates an authentication-only account. The user's initial password is changeme (the default).

   add anderson

The following example add instructions refer to the indicated V instruction in a template file (which must appear on a single line in the template file).

   add smith:John Smith:::fs1:a:::::marketing 
   add jones:Pat Jones:::fs3:c:::::finance
   V user.$USER $SERVER.abc.com /vicep$PART 2000 \
       /afs/abc.com/usr/$3/$USER $UID $USER all

The first add instruction creates an account called smith in the Protection and Authentication Databases, with an initial password changeme and a value for $UID provided by the Protection Server. The volume user.smith resides on partition /vicepa of file server machine fs1.abc.com and is mounted at /afs/abc.com/usr/marketing/smith. He owns his home directory and has all access permissions on its root directory's access control list (ACL). The account for jones is similar, except that the volume resides on partition /vicepc of file server machine fs3.abc.com and is mounted at /afs/abc.com/usr/finance/jones.

Notice that the fields corresponding to the volume mount point, UID, $1 variable, and $2 variable are empty (between a and marketing on the first example line), because their corresponding variables do not appear in the template file. The initial password field is also empty.

The following add instructions are equivalent in effect to the preceding example, but explicitly indicate empty fields for all of the number variables that don't have a value:

   add smith:John Smith:::fs1:a:::::marketing::::::
   add jones:Pat Jones:::fs3:c:::::finance::::::

The following example shows a complete bulk file containing a set of delete instructions combined with a savevolume instruction. Because the delete instruction for users smith, pat, and rogers appear before the savevolume instruction and the third field is blank in each, the corresponding home volumes are removed. The volume for user terry is retained because the default established by the savevolume instruction applies to it, but user johnson's volume is removed because the third field of her delete instruction overrides the current default.

   delete smith:/afs/abc.com/usr/smith
   delete pat:/afs/abc.com/usr/pat
   delete rogers:/afs/abc.com/usr/rogers
   savevolume
   delete terry:/afs/abc.com/usr/terry
   delete johnson:/afs/abc.com/usr/johnson:delvolume

The following example exec instruction appears between sets of add and delete instructions in a bulk input file. A message appears in the command shell where the uss bulk command is issued, to indicate when the additions are finished and the deletions beginning.

   exec echo "Additions completed; beginning deletions..."

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