# Administration Reference

## NoAuth

Purpose

Disables authorization checking

Description

The NoAuth file, if present in a server machine's /usr/afs/local directory, indicates to the AFS server processes running on the machine that it is not necessary to perform authorization checking. They perform any action for any user who logs into the machine's local file system or issues a remote command that affects the machine's AFS server functioning, such as commands from the AFS command suites. Because failure to check authorization exposes the machine's AFS server functionality to attack, there are normally only two circumstances in which the file is present:

- During installation of the machine, as instructed in the IBM AFS Quick Beginnings

- During correction of a server encryption key emergency, as discussed in the IBM AFS Administration Guide

In all other circumstances, the absence of the file means that the AFS server processes perform authorization checking, verifying that the issuer of a command has the required privilege.

Create the file in one of the following ways:

- By issuing the bosserver initialization command with the -noauth flag, if the Basic OverSeer (BOS) Server is not already running

- By issuing the bos setauth command with off as the value for the -authrequired argument, if the BOS Server is already running

To remove the file, issue the bos setauth command with on as the value for the -authrequired argument.

The file's contents, if any, are ignored; an empty (zero-length) file is effective.

Related Information

bos setauth

bosserver

© IBM Corporation 2000. All Rights Reserved