Command Reference Manual

bos addkey

Purpose

Adds a new server encryption key to the /usr/afs/etc/KeyFile file

Synopsis

bos addkey -server <machine name>  [-key <key>]
           -kvno <key version number>  [-cell <cell name>]
           [-noauth]  [-localauth]  [-help]
    
bos addk -s <machine name>  [-ke <key>]  -kv <key version number>
         [-ce <cell name>]  [-n]  [-l]  [-h]

Description

The bos addkey command constructs a server encryption key from the text string provided, assigns it the key version number specified with the -kvno argument, and adds it to the /usr/afs/etc/KeyFile file on the machine specified with the -server argument. Be sure to use the kas setpassword or kas setkey command to add the same key to the afs entry in the Authentication Database.

Do not use the -key argument, which echoes the password string visibly on the screen. If the argument is omitted, the BOS Server prompts for the string and does not echo it visibly:

Input key:
Retype input key:

The BOS Server prohibits reuse of any key version number already listed in the /usr/afs/etc/KeyFile file. This ensures that users who still have tickets sealed with the current key are not prevented from communicating with a server process because the current key is overwritten with a new key. Use the bos listkeys command to display the key version numbers in the /usr/afs/etc/KeyFile file.

Options

-server: Indicates the server machine on which to change the /usr/afs/etc/KeyFile file.
: Identify the machine by IP address or its host name (either fully-qualified or abbreviated unambiguously). For details, see the introductory reference page for the bos command suite.
: In cells that run the United States edition of AFS and use the Update Server to distribute the contents of the /usr/afs/etc directory, it is customary to specify only the system control machine as a value for the -server argument. In cells that run the international version of AFS, repeat the command for each file server machine. For further discussion, see the introductory reference page for the bos command suite.
-key: Specifies a character string just like a password; the BOS Server calls a DES conversion function to encode it into a form appropriate for use as an encryption key. Omit this argument to have the BOS Server prompt for the string instead.
-kvno: Defines the new key's key version number. It must be an integer in the range from 0 (zero) through 255. For the sake of simplicity, use the number one higher than the current highest key version number; use the bos listkeys command to display key version numbers.
-cell: Names the cell in which to run the command. Do not combine this argument with the -localauth flag. For more details, see the introductory bos reference page.
-noauth: Assigns the unprivileged identity anonymous to the issuer. Do not combine this flag with the -localauth flag. For more details, see the introductory bos reference page.
-localauth: Constructs a server ticket using a key from the local /usr/afs/etc/KeyFile file. The bos command interpreter presents the ticket to the BOS Server during mutual authentication. Do not combine this flag with the -cell or -noauth options. For more details, see the introductory bos reference page.
-help: Prints the online help for this command. All other valid options are ignored.

Output

If the strings typed at the Input key and Retype input key prompts do not match, the following message appears, and the command exits without adding a new key:

Input key mismatch

Examples

The following command adds a new server encryption key with key version number 14 to the KeyFile file kept on the machine fs1.abc.com (the system control machine). The issuer omits the -key argument, as recommended, and provides the password at the prompts.

% bos addkey -server fs1.abc.com -kvno 14
Input key:
Retype input key:

Privilege Required

The issuer must be listed in the /usr/afs/etc/UserList file on the machine named by the -server argument, or must be logged onto a server machine as the local superuser root if the -localauth flag is included.

Related Information