KASERVER(8)

NAME
kaserver - Initializes the Authentication Server

SYNOPSIS
kaserver [-noAuth] [-database <dbpath>]
    [-auditlog <log path>] [-audit-interface (file | sysvmq)]
    [-localfiles <lclpath>] [-minhours <n>]
    [-servers <serverlist>] [-enable_peer_stats]
    [-enable_process_stats] [-help]

DESCRIPTION
The kaserver command initializes the Authentication Server, an obsolete way of providing authentication services to an AFS cell. It should no longer be used; instead, it should be replaced with a Kerberos version 5 KDC. It is provided only for support of sites already running the Authentication Server and that have not yet migrated to Kerberos version 5.

For a cell using the Authentication Server, it runs on every database server machine. In the conventional configuration, its binary file is located in the /usr/afs/bin directory on a file server machine.

The kaserver command is not normally issued at the command shell prompt but rather placed into a file server machine's /usr/afs/local/BosConfig file with the bos create command. If it is ever issued at the command shell prompt, the issuer must be logged onto a database server machine as the local superuser "root".

As it initializes, the Authentication Server process creates the two files that constitute the Authentication Database, kaserver.DB0 and kaserver.DBSYS1, in the /usr/afs/db directory if they do not already exist. Use the commands in the kas suite to administer the database.

The Authentication Server is responsible for several aspects of AFS security, including:

•   Maintenance of all AFS server encryption keys and user passwords in the Authentication Database.

•   Creation of the tickets and tokens that users and servers use to establish secure connections. Its Ticket Granting Service (TGS) component performs this function.

The Authentication Server records a trace of its activity in the /usr/afs/logs/AuthLog file. Use the bos getlog command to display the contents of the file. Use the kdb command to read the protected files associated with the AuthLog file, AuthLog.dir and AuthLog.pag.

This command does not use the syntax conventions of the AFS command suites. Provide the command name and all option names in full.

CAUTIONS
The Authentication Server provides only Kerberos version 4, which is no longer considered sufficiently secure. It can only use DES encryption for user keys, is vulnerable to known flaws in the Kerberos version 4 protocol, and is based on protocols that are obsolete and no longer developed. The Authentication Server is also not widely tested and is known to have problems on some platforms OpenAFS otherwise supports.

The Authentication Server should not be used for any new deployment. It is provided only for sites that need to use it while preparing for a migration to Kerberos KDC. No significant updates to the Authentication Server will be developed, and it will be removed from a future version of OpenAFS.

OPTIONS

-noAuth
    Assigns the unprivileged identity "anonymous" to the issuer. Thus, it establishes an unauthenticated connection between the issuer and the Authentication Server. It is useful only when authorization checking is disabled on the database server machine. In normal circumstances, the Authentication Server allows only authorized (privileged) users to issue commands that affect or contact the Authentication Database and will refuse to perform such an action even if the -noAuth flag is used.

-database <dbpath>
    Specifies the pathname of an alternate directory in which the Authentication Database files reside. Provide the complete pathname, ending in the base filename to which the ".DB0" and ".DBSYS1" extensions are appended. For example, the appropriate value for the default database files is /usr/afs/db/kaserver.

    Provide the -localfiles argument along with this one; otherwise, the -localfiles argument is also set to the value of this argument, which is probably inappropriate.

-auditlog <log path>
    Turns on audit logging, and sets the path for the audit log. The audit log records information about RPC calls, including the name of the RPC call, the host that submitted the call, the authenticated entity (user) that issued the call, the parameters for the call, and if the call succeeded or failed.

-audit-interface (file | sysvmq)
    Specifies what audit interface to use. Defaults to "file". See fileserver(8) for an explanation of each interface.

-localfiles <lclpath>
    Specifies the pathname of an alternate directory in which the auxiliary Authentication Database file resides. Provide the complete pathname, ending in the base filename to which the "auxdb" suffix is appended. For example, the appropriate value for the default auxiliary database file is /usr/afs/local/kaserver.

-minhours <n>
    Specifies the minimum number of hours that must pass between password changes made by any regular user. System administrators (with the "ADMIN" flag in their Authentication Database entry) can change passwords as often as desired. Setting a minimum time between password changes is not recommended.

-servers <authentication servers>+
    Names each database server machine running an Authentication Server with which the local Authentication Server is to synchronize its copy of the Authentication Database, rather than with the machines listed in the local /usr/afs/etc/CellServDB file.

-enable_peer_stats
    Activates the collection of Rx statistics and allocates memory for their storage. For each connection with a specific UDP port on another machine, a separate record is kept for each type of RPC (FetchFile, GetStatus, and so on) sent or received. To display or otherwise access the records, use the Rx Monitoring API.

-enable_process_stats
    Activates the collection of Rx statistics and allocates memory for their storage. A separate record is kept for each type of RPC (FetchFile, GetStatus, and so on) sent or received, aggregated over all connections to other machines. To display or otherwise access the records, use the Rx Monitoring API.

-help
    Prints the online help for this command. All other valid options are ignored.

EXAMPLES
The following bos create command creates a "kaserver" process on "fs3.abc.com" (the command appears on two lines here only for legibility):

   % bos create -server fs3.abc.com -instance kaserver \
                -type simple -cmd /usr/afs/bin/kaserver

PRIVILEGE REQUIRED
The issuer must be logged in as the superuser "root" on a file server machine to issue the command at a command shell prompt. It is conventional instead to create and start the process by issuing the bos create command.

SEE ALSO
AuthLog(5), BosConfig(5), CellServDB(5), kaserver.DB0(5), kaserverauxdb(5), bos(8), bos_create(8), bos_getlog(8), kas(8), kdb(8)

COPYRIGHT
IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights Reserved.

This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0. It was converted from HTML to POD by software written by Chas Williams and Russ Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth Cassell.