3.11. OpenAFS Servers on Windows are Unsupported

The AFS Server functionality provided as part of the OpenAFS install package might work but should be considered highly experimental.  It has not been thoroughly tested.  Any data which would cause pain if lost should not be stored in an OpenAFS Server on Windows.

Known issues include lack of support for power management and dynamic network configuration. Salvager is also known to crash.

3.11.1. OpenAFS Server Installation

When the OpenAFS Server is installed, the TransarcAFSServer service (bosctlsvc.exe) will be installed and configured. The TransarcAFSServer service will auto-start the traditional AFS bos server. The former AFS Server Configuration wizard makes assumptions that no longer hold true and it has therefore been disabled. However, following the instructions for installing the AFS Servers on UNIX it is possible to properly configure the AFS Servers on Microsoft Windows. The AFS Server binaries, configuration files, and log files are installed under %Program Files%\OpenAFS\Server. kaserver has been deprecated and its use is strongly discouraged. Instead, Active Directory or some other Kerberos v5 KDC should be used in its place.

3.11.2. Using the AFS Client Service when the Server is installed

A few notes on the usage of the AFS Client Service if it is going to be used with the OpenAFS AFS Server:

  • Freelance mode should be disabled when the AFS Client Service is installed on the same machine as the AFS Server,.  Otherwise, you will be unable to manipulate the contents of the root.afs volume for the hosted cell without constructing an explicit mountpoint to the root.afs volume from another volume.

  • The AFS Server and related tools only support the built in kaserver (Kerberos IV).  If kaserver is being used, MIT Kerberos for Windows should not be installed or must be disabled via the EnableKFW registry value.

  • The AFS Servers are not aware of power management events nor are they aware of network configuration changes. It is strongly advised that the AFS servers be installed only on systems that will not be shutdown or suspended unexpectedly. An inadvertent shutdown will corrupt volume data.