Chapter 1. Installation Overview

# Chapter 1. Installation Overview

This chapter describes the type of instructions provided in this guide and the hardware and software requirements for installing AFS®.

Before beginning the installation of your cell's first machine, read this chapter and the material from the OpenAFS Administration Guide listed in Recommended Reading List. It is also best to read the entirety of certain sections of this document, in particular Installing the First AFS Machine, before beginning the installation, so that you understand the overall scope of the installation procedure. Similarly, before installing additional server or client machines it is best to read through Installing Additional Server Machines and Installing Additional Client Machines.

If you are already running a version of AFS, consult the upgrade instructions in the OpenAFS Release Notes before proceeding with the installation.

If you are working with an existing cell that uses kaserver or external Kerberos v4 for authentication, please see the notes in kaserver and legacy Kerberos 5 authentication and the rest of Appendix B for how the installation steps will differ from those described in the rest of this guide. Do not use the kaserver for new deployments of AFS; it uses extremely insecure cryptography.

## The Procedures Described in this Guide

This guide describes two types of installation procedures: initial procedures (such as installing the first AFS machine or incorporating AFS into the kernel) and as-needed procedures (such as installing additional server machines or client machines).

### Required Initial Procedures

You must perform the following basic procedures to start using AFS.

#### Incorporating AFS Into the Kernel

You must incorporate AFS modifications into the kernel of every client machine. Depending on the operating system, you either use a program for dynamic kernel loading, build a new static kernel, or can choose between the two. For your convenience, the instructions for incorporating AFS into the kernel appear in full in every chapter where you need to use them.

#### Installing the First AFS Machine

You install the first AFS machine in your cell to function as both an AFS server and client machine. You can disable the client functionality after completing the installation, if you wish.

The first server machine in a cell performs several functions:

- It acts as the first database server machine, running the server processes that maintain the AFS administrative databases

- It may act as the system control machine, distributing certain configuration files to the other server machines in the cell

- It may act as the binary distribution machine for its system type, distributing AFS binaries to other server machines of its system type

The latter two functions are performed by the Update Server, which is considered to be deprecated and may be removed in a future release.

After you install server and client functionality, you complete other procedures specific to the first machine, including setting up the top levels of your cell's AFS filespace.

### As-needed Procedures

#### Upgrading the Operating System

Upgrading the operating system requires you to take several steps to protect data and AFS-modified binaries from being lost or overwritten. For guidelines, see About Upgrading the Operating System.

#### Installing Additional File Server Machines

See Installing an Additional File Server Machine.

#### Configuring or Decommissioning Database Server Machines

See Installing Database Server Functionality and Removing Database Server Functionality.

#### Installing Additional AFS Client Machines

See Installing Additional Client Machines.

#### Building AFS from Source Code

See Appendix A, Building AFS from Source Code

#### Configuring Legacy Components

See Appendix B, Configuring Legacy Components

Typographical Conventions |  | Recommended Reading List