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Revision 1 as of 2008-04-16 02:17:37

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SetupNewAfsServer

These steps are listed in approximately the order in which they should be performed, after performing all of the "generic" steps in SetupNewMachines.

TableOfContents

1. Update Existing Machines

1.1. Update AFSDB DNS Records

1.2. Update CellServDB on AFS Servers

On all existing AFS servers, add the IP address for the new machine to /etc/openafs/server/CellServDB (this should be a symlink to /etc/openafs/CellServDB). The format of this file is very strange, and often confuses people:

  1. A line starting with a ">" (greater-than sign) indicates the start of the declaration of the servers for a cell. The name of the cell comes after the greater-than.

  2. All lines between the previous line and the next line starting with a greater-than sign are servers for the previously mentioned cell. Each of these lines consists of an IP address, one or more tabs, a hash mark, and the hostname of the server.

Here is an example: 

>hcoop.net
1.1.1.1        #afs1.hcoop.net
2.2.2.2        #afs2.hcoop.net
>whitehouse.gov
0.0.0.0        #ovaloffice.whitehouse.gov

1.3. Restart All AFS Servers

Now, restart each of the existing AFS servers, one at a time, so they reload their CellServDB files. FIXME: is this really necessary?

2. Set Up New AFS Server

2.1. Install Debian Packages

The AFS client and server (which can both be simultaneously installed on the same machine) keep their CellServDB's in different places, for historical reasons. We can simplify our setup by symlinking the server's to the client's (the reverse will not work due to restrictive permissions on /etc/openafs/server/): 

ln -sf /etc/openafs/CellServDB /etc/openafs/server/CellServDB

3. To Do

The information in CellServDB needs to stay in sync with the AFSDB DNS entries -- they both contain essentially exactly the same data in different formats. Unfortunately AFS can't be modified to "do away with" the CellServDB file because the AFS fileservers are supposed to be able to operate correctly even when DNS is down (clients are another story). So, it would be nice to have some way of generating the CellServDB from the AFSDB records periodically.