AFS for OS X/Darwin
What is AFS and why do I need it?
AFS provides a system of accessing network file servers in a reasonable and scalable manner. So from a user standpoint, it's much like SMB/CIFS and Appleshare. A lot of universities (such as UNC Chapel Hill, where I work) use it to provide integrated access to files on central servers. Unless you need to access an AFS cell, you don't need it.
UNC-CH's ITS has some good docs on afs to get you started.
But before we get started, a few caveats:
- If you haven't already, install the OS X developer tools (now called Xcode). If you're playing with afs, you're going to need the developer tools soon enough, might as well install them now.
- I'm making no claims that this will work for you, it's just what's worked for me.
- Read the readmes, associated pages, and notices, as this page will certainly be out of date at some time(s).
- To do some of this, you need to work as root. You can either do this by using the command "sudo /bin/tcsh" or (if root is enabled for login) su to root in a terminal window (using the terminal app in the Utilities folder).
- I suggest you use vi as your text editor, UNC's ITS has a pretty good document on it. Some of the directories you'll be using aren't available in Finder, and some of the files are marked read only (so with vi you can reach all of the files, and using "w!" you can save your revisions of a read only file.
- If you want to use a GUI editor, BBEdit is probably your best choice, but you may have trouble accessing the files because of permissions.
- Be careful, you can munge your machine if you're not. Make backups of data before you start!
The Options
There are two good options, OpenAFS
and Arla. I've
tried both, and there's little difference in performance. OpenAFS is
probably the better choice for most folks, since it is in wider
use.
The Alternatives
Most afs cells offer unix login servers, so you can also access afs space through a login server with an SFTP client such as fugu or fetch, or you can mount shares directly to the finder using MacFusion.
Installing OpenAFS
- Installing OpenAFS for 10.3
- Installing OpenAFS for 10.5
- UNC Chapel Hill's ITS has written up instructions for installing OpenAFS. If you're not using isis.unc.edu as your main afs cell, you can still use this document as a starting point but you'll need different settings.
- You should consider integrating the logins so that you can get AFS tokens when you login to the main console or screensaver. Likewise, if you login remotely to your machine with SSH, you might want to add PAM support for AFS to the system so you can get tokens in your SSH sessions. Information on integrating Kerberos and AFS is here.
Also, if you're interested, here's some other references:
- Slides from a presentation on AFS I gave in April 2004
- If you're interested in the AFS server for OS X, and are very daring (since this isn't really supported!) take a look at this PDF on OpenAFS with Jaguar
AFS Tools
I've put together a list of useful AFS tools, things like athentication plugins, GUI tools, and useful scripts.
Installing Arla
Here's a older document describing installation of Arla.
Last modified: 06 March 2010