Provided by: openafs-dbserver_1.8.10-2.1ubuntu3.4_amd64 
NAME
ptserver - Initializes the Protection Server
SYNOPSIS
ptserver [-database | -db <db path>]
[-p <number of threads>]
[-d <debug level>]
[-groupdepth | -depth <# of nested groups>]
[-default_access <user access mask> <group access mask>]
[-restricted] [-restrict_anonymous] [-enable_peer_stats]
[-enable_process_stats] [-allow-dotted-principals]
[-rxbind] [-auditlog <file path>]
[-audit-interface (file | sysvmq)]
[-syslog[=<FACILITY>]]
[-logfile <log file>]
[-transarc-logs]
[-config <configuration path>]
[-rxmaxmtu <bytes>]
[-help]
DESCRIPTION
The ptserver command initializes the Protection Server, which must run on every database server machine.
In the conventional configuration, its binary file is located in the /usr/lib/openafs directory on a file
server machine.
The ptserver command is not normally issued at the command shell prompt, but rather placed into a
database server machine's /etc/openafs/BosConfig file with the bos create command. If it is ever issued
at the command shell prompt, the issuer must be logged onto a file server machine as the local superuser
"root".
The Protection Server performs the following tasks:
• Maintains the Protection Database, which contains entries for every user and group in the cell. Use
the pts commands to administer the database.
• Allocates AFS IDs for new user, machine and group entries and maps each ID to the corresponding name.
• Generates a current protection subgroup (CPS) at the File Server's request. The CPS lists all groups
to which a user or machine belongs.
When using Kerberos 5, cross-realm authentication is possible. If the special pts group
system:authuser@FOREIGN.REALM exists and its group quota is greater than zero, aklog will automatically
create an entry for the foreign user in the local PTS database and add the foreign user to the
system:authuser@FOREIGN.REALM PTS group. Each time a foreign user is created in the local PTS database,
the group quota for the system:authuser@FOREIGN.REALM PTS group is decremented by one.
This command does not use the syntax conventions of the AFS command suites. Provide the command name and
all option names in full.
OPTIONS
-d <debug level>
Sets the detail level for the debugging trace written to the /var/log/openafs/PtLog file. Provide one
of the following values, each of which produces an increasingly detailed trace: 0, 1, 5, 25, and 125.
-database | -db <db path>
Specifies the pathname of an alternate directory in which the Protection 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
/var/lib/openafs/db/prdb.
-p <number of threads>
Sets the number of server lightweight processes (LWPs or pthreads) to run. Provide a positive
integer from the range 3 to 64. The default value is 3.
-groupdepth | -depth <# of nested groups>
Specifies the group depth for nested groups when ptserver is compiled with the SUPERGROUPS option
enabled. The default depth for nested groups is 5.
-default_access <user access> <group access>
Specifies the default user and group privacy flags to apply to each entry. Provide a string of five
characters, one for each of the permissions. See pts_examine(1) or pts_setfields(1) for more
information on the flags.
-restricted
Run the PT Server in restricted mode. While in restricted mode, only members of the
system:administrators PTS group may make any PTS changes.
-restrict_anonymous
Run the PT Server in restricted anonymous access mode. While in this mode, only authenticated users
will be able to access the PTS database.
-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.
-allow-dotted-principals
By default, the RXKAD security layer will disallow access by Kerberos principals with a dot in the
first component of their name. This is to avoid the confusion where principals user/admin and
user.admin are both mapped to the user.admin PTS entry. Sites whose Kerberos realms don't have these
collisions between principal names may disable this check by starting the server with this option.
-rxbind
Bind the Rx socket to the primary interface only. (If not specified, the Rx socket will listen on
all interfaces.)
-syslog[=<syslog facility>]
Specifies that logging output should go to syslog instead of the normal log file. -syslog=FACILITY
can be used to specify to which facility the log message should be sent. Logging message sent to
syslog are tagged with the string "ptserver".
-logfile <log file>
Sets the file to use for server logging. If logfile is not specified, and no other logging options
are supplied, this will be /var/log/openafs/PtLog. Note that this option is intended for debugging
and testing purposes. Changing the location of the log file from the command line may result in
undesirable interactions with tools such as bos.
-transarc-logs
Use Transarc style logging features. Rename the log file /var/log/openafs/PtLog to
/var/log/openafs/PtLog.old when the PT Server is restarted. This option is provided for
compatibility with older versions.
-config <configuration directory>
Set the location of the configuration directory used to configure this service. In a typical
configuration this will be /etc/openafs/server - this option allows the use of alternative
configuration locations for testing purposes.
-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.
-rxmaxmtu <bytes>
Sets the maximum transmission unit for the RX protocol.
-help
Prints the online help for this command. All other valid options are ignored.
EXAMPLES
The following bos create command creates a "ptserver" process on the machine "fs3.example.com". The
command appears here on multiple lines only for legibility.
% bos create -server fs3.example.com -instance ptserver \
-type simple -cmd /usr/lib/openafs/ptserver
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
BosConfig(5), PtLog(5), prdb.DB0(5), bos_create(8), bos_getlog(8), pts(1)
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.
OpenAFS 2025-05-19 PTSERVER(8)