ARCHIVED: At IU, how do I share my RFS data with other users using an AFS client?

Note: To be able to run any of the following commands, you need to have the OpenAFS client installed.

On this page:

• Introduction
• Sharing RFS files with other users
• Creating and managing groups in RFS

Introduction

In the Research File System (RFS) at Indiana University, you can share data with other RFS users by setting permissions in Access Control Lists (ACLs) that are stored with directories and subdirectories. The ACL specifies the users and groups that have access to a directory, and the usage rights they have been given. The Andrew File System (AFS), on which RFS is based, provides permissions.

The following permissions apply to file access:

The following permissions apply at the directory level:

You can add users to ACLs when you need to share files. If you have multiple directories or varying permissions for a large number of users, you can simplify ACL management tasks by creating groups.

Note: You can share your RFS data only with other RFS users.

Sharing RFS files with other users

The most permissive access provided by the ACL is rlidwka, which is the default level of access for the owner of the directory. To restrict access, you can define a more selective combination of permissions. For example, you can give the rl set of permissions to users who need read-only access to the files in a directory.

To set ACL permissions for your RFS directories from the command line, use the fs command with the appropriate arguments:

• To view the ACLs on directories and subdirectories, use:

    fs listacl

• To give users access to directories and subdirectories, use:

    fs setacl

• To copy ACLs between directories, use:

    fs copyacl

To view a list of all fs subcommands, use:

  fs help

To view the correct syntax for arguments, add the argument to the end of the command:

  fs help listacl

For full examples of the various fs commands, see:

• fs setacl
• fs listacl
• fs copyacl

Note: You cannot set file permissions in AFS. AFS permissions are set at the directory and subdirectory level, and are inherited by the files in them.

Creating and managing groups in RFS

To create groups and add users, use the pts command. New users automatically inherit applicable permissions when you add them to a group for which you've defined ACL permissions.

• To create a group, enter the following command, replacing username with your Network ID username and groupname with the name of your group:

    pts creategroup username:groupname

• To add a user to a group, enter the following command, replacing newuser with the user's Network ID username, username with your Network ID username, and groupname with the name of your group:

    pts adduser newuser username:groupname

  Note: To add a user to a project user group, you must use projectname_user instead of username:groupname (replace projectname with the name of your project user group); for example, to add new user sebulba to the podrace project user group, enter:

    pts adduser sebulba podrace_user

Other useful pts commands include:

To view a list of all pts subcommands, use:

  pts help

You can find full examples of pts commands at the OpenAFS Administration Reference for pts.

For help with RFS, email Research Storage.