Files & Directories in AFS

For information related to this topic refer to:

• Andrew Linux Support Statement
• Andrew Solaris Support Statement
• Increasing and Managing Your AFS Quota
• Logging into and out of AFS
• Project Volumes
• Setting Directory Protections and Using PTS Groups in Andrew
• Using Unix and the Andrew System
• Your Andrew Unix Account

Terminology

The following definitions will be useful to know while reading this file:

AFS
The name of the distributed file system used at Carnegie Mellon, which enables cooperating hosts (clients and servers) to efficiently share filesystem resources across both local area and wide area networks.

file
Any electronic document or program which is created and stored in AFS.

directory tree
A hierarchal structure containing files or other directories.

subdirectory
A directory contained within another directory.

How to manage files and directories

You can work with files and directories by using commands from AFS's UNIX operating system. These commands allow you to list, copy, read, move, rename, and delete files. They also allow you to make directories, change between directories, or delete directories. If you are new to AFS, you may want to read individual online help files for specific commands; you may wish to start with the online help for UNIX.

AFS pathnames

When you log in to AFS, you will be starting out in your home directory. Your home directory is usually referred to by its pathname. The pathname of your home directory shows the location of your directory in the AFS. The pathname to Joe User's home directory would look something like this:

/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr#/ju3

Where "usr#" is a number from usr1 to usr25 (every user is randomly assigned to one of these directories) and "ju33" represents Joe User's user ID.

A file called newfile, contained in John Doe's home directory, has a pathname that looks like this:

/afs/andrew.cmu.edu/usr#/ju33/newfile

If you look at your pathname, you will see that it is quite similar. You can see the pathname to your home directory by typing the finger command, followed by your user ID at the system prompt. For example, Joe User could use the finger command like this:

finger ju33

Note: With most commands, you can abbreviate the directory "andrew.cmu.edu" with the single word "andrew." In command files such as .login, .cshrc and preferences, you should always use the full pathname.

Protecting files and directories

See the online document entitled Using PTS Gropus and Setting Directory Protections in Andrew.

Printing a file

For help with printing, type the following at a command prompt:

print-help

Writing/editing files

Several file editors exist. Two of the more popular ones are emacs and vi.