OpenAFS for Linux

These instructions cover installation and configuration of the OpenAFS client for Debian and Red Hat Linux distributions and should be extensible to most major Linux distributions.

Debian Instructions
Redhat Instructions
Settings for other Distributions
Notes

AFS requires substantial bandwidth and is only recommended for on-campus users. If you are using a cable modem or DSL, you may want to try AFS. Dialup users should not attempt to use AFS.

Debian Instructions

You need to have the kernel source package installed for the kernel you are running. You also need to have the .config file for your kernel at the top level of the kernel source directory. If you are using kernel binaries from a Debian package, you should have a copy of the config file in /boot as config-<kernel version>. If you don't have a kernel source package installed, you should do as you would if you were running the 2.4.18 kernel on a 686 machine (all of the commands in these instructions assume 2.4.18 on 686):

apt-get install kernel-source-2.4.18
cd /usr/src
bzcat kernel-source-2.4.18.tar.bz2 | tar xvf -
cp /boot/config-2.4.18-686 kernel-source-2.4.18/.config

Get the openafs-modules-source package and untar the tarball it gives you:

apt-get install openafs-modules-source
cd /usr/src
tar xzvf openafs.tar.gz

Build the openafs kernel module (make-kpkg is part of kernel-package):

cd /usr/src/kernel-source-2.4.18
make-kpkg configure --append_to_version -686
(lots of stuff will fly by)
make-kpkg modules_image --append_to_version -686
(if it asks about the version number, don't abort)

Install the newly created openafs-modules package:

dpkg -i /usr/src/openafs-modules-2.4.18-686*

Get the openafs-client and kerberos packages:

apt-get install openafs-client openafs-krb5 krb5-user krb4-config

Configuration:

default Kerberos version 4 realm: <blank>
default Kerberos version 5 realm: <blank>
AFS cell: eos.ncsu.edu
AFS cache: 50000
Dynamically generate the contents of /afs? No
DB servers: <blank>
Run Openafs client now and at boot? No

Put these files in /etc:

krb.conf, krb5.conf, krb.realms

Put this file in /etc/openafs:

CellServDB

This is a useful script to have in /usr/local/bin:

kreset - FAQ: How do I use kreset?

If you wish for the AFS client to start at boot, edit /etc/openafs/afs.conf.client:

change
AFS_CLIENT=false
to
AFS_CLIENT=true

Start the openafs client:

/etc/init.d/openafs-client start

Or, if you didn't set AFS_CLIENT=true:

/etc/init.d/openafs-client force-start

Red Hat Instructions

At this time Campus Linux Services does not make an openafs package availible for Fedora Core 3 or Fedora Core 4. CLS has a Linux 2.6 version of the openafs rpms created for Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS4 and the source is availible for download here.

This rpm will not build on Fedora Core 3 systems. This is at least partially due to the removal of the kernel-devel package from kernel* in Fedora Core 3. Since Fedora is not officially supported by campus you are on your own as far as getting this to work. You may wish to ask for assistance from other Red Hat Linux users on campus via the realmlinux mailing lists. They are:

realmlinux-user@lists.ncsu.edu

and

realmlinux-dev@lists.ncsu.edu

More information on using these lists can be found here.

Settings for other Distributions

AFS cell: eos.ncsu.edu
AFS cache: 50000
Dynamically generate the contents of /afs? No
DB servers: <blank>
Run Openafs client now and at boot? No

default Kerberos version 4 realm: EOS.NCSU.EDU
default Kerberos version 5 realm: EOS.NCSU.EDU

administrative server: kerberos.ncsu.edu

/etc: krb.conf, krb5.conf, krb.realms

/etc/openafs: CellServDB

Notes

Trying to stop the AFS service will likely freeze your computer. You can do umount /afs, but you must reboot in order for AFS to come back.

If the AFS service is set to start at boot and Internet connectivity is lost, it will take a very long time for the computer to boot. It will appear to hang at starting the AFS client.

The following commands can be used to stop/unmount afs. However, this has been known to cause a kernel panic, and sometimes to completely lock up your box. You really should be using a journeled filesystem such as ext3 if you plan on running these commands. You have been warned.

DEBIAN:

/etc/init.d/openafs-client stop

RED HAT:

/etc/rc.d/init.d/afs stop

Information Technology and Engineering Computer Services (ITECS)
College of Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695
Comments to eoshelp@ncsu.edu. URL: http://www.eos.ncsu.edu/

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staff at North Carolina State University.