The Andrew File System

The Andrew File System (AFS) is a distributed network file system that enables files from any AFS machine across the country to be accessed as easily as files stored locally.

AFS is composed of cells, with each cell representing an independently administered portion of file space. Cells connect to form one enormous UNIX file system under the root /afs directory. PSC organizes and maintains the disk space associated with the cell psc.edu.

You can access your PSC AFS space from pscuxa, PSC's Linux front end. You can also make your directories accessible to users from any other AFS machine at any remote site.

For archival storage, see information on the File ARchiver (FAR).

Using AFS

As a user of the psc.edu cell, you receive several directories of AFS space for your work. In most cases, these directories function just like any other UNIX file system. You use standard UNIX commands to create subdirectories and to move, copy and delete files. You will, however, need to familiarize yourself with a few special AFS commands:

klog
authenticates you, and grants you an AFS token.

unlog
removes authentication, deleting an AFS token.

kpasswd
changes an AFS password

tokens
displays authentications

fs
is a collection of commands that allow you to examine your AFS file space and set AFS file protections.

pts
is a collection of commands that allow you to create AFS groups of users, that can then be assigned permissions to your files.

These commands reside in the directory /usr/afsws/bin. Make sure that these directories are in your search path.

See also