FEDFS-NULL(8)						      System Manager's Manual						     FEDFS-NULL(8)

NAME

       fedfs-null - send a FEDFS_NULL ADMIN protocol request

SYNOPSIS

       fedfs-null [-?d] [-n nettype] [-h hostname] [-s security]

INTRODUCTION

       RFC  5716  introduces the Federated File System (FedFS, for short).  FedFS is an extensible standardized mechanism by which system adminis-
       trators construct a coherent namespace across multiple file servers using file system referrals.  For further details, see fedfs(7).

       FedFS-enabled file servers allow remote administrative access via an authenticated RPC protocol known as the FedFS ADMIN  protocol.   Using
       this protocol, FedFS administrators manage FedFS junctions and NSDB connection parameter information on remote FedFS-enabled file servers.

DESCRIPTION

       The fedfs-null(8) command is part of a collection of low-level single-use programs that is intended for testing the FedFS ADMIN protocol or
       for use in scripts.  It sends a single FEDFS_NULL request to a remote FedFS ADMIN protocol service.

       The FEDFS_NULL request performs a simple ping operation that determines if there is an  operational  FedFS  ADMIN  service  on  the  remote
       server.

OPTIONS

       -d, --debug
	      Enables debugging messages during operation.

       -?, --help
	      Displays fedfs-null(8) version information and a usage message on stderr.

       -h, --hostname=hostname
	      Specifies the hostname of a remote FedFS ADMIN service.  If this option is not specified, the default value is localhost.

       -n, --nettype=nettype
	      Specifies the transport to use when contacting the remote FedFS ADMIN service.  Typically the nettype is one of tcp or udp.  If this
	      option is not specified, the default value is netpath.  See rpc(3t) for details.

       -s, --security=flavor
	      Specifies the security flavor to use when contacting the remote FedFS ADMIN service.  Valid flavors are sys, unix, krb5, krb5i,  and
	      krb5p.  If this option is not specified, the unix flavor is used.  See the SECURITY section of this man page for details.

EXAMPLES

       Suppose	you  are  the FedFS administrator of the example.net FedFS domain and that you want to know if the FedFS ADMIN service on the file
       server fs.example.net is operational.  Use:

	      $ fedfs-null -h fs.example.net
	      Call completed successfully

SECURITY

       By default, or if the sys and unix flavors are specified with the  --security=flavor  option,  the  fedfs-create-junction(8)  command  uses
       AUTH_SYS security for the Remote Procedure Call.  AUTH_SYS has known weaknesses and should be avoided on untrusted networks.

       The  RPC client uses the Kerberos v5 GSS mechanism if a Kerberos security flavor is specified.  When specifying a Kerberos security flavor,
       the user must first obtain a valid Kerberos ticket using kinit(1) before running fedfs-create-junction(8).

       The AUTH_NONE security flavor is no longer supported by this implementation.

SEE ALSO

       fedfs(7), rpc.fedfsd(8), kinit(1), rpc(3t)

       RFC 5716 for FedFS requirements and overview

COLOPHON

       This page is part of the fedfs-utils package.  A description of	the  project  and  information	about  reporting  bugs	can  be  found	at
       http://wiki.linux-nfs.org/wiki/index.php/FedFsUtilsProject.

AUTHOR

       Chuck Lever <chuck.lever@oracle.com>

								  3 February 2014						     FEDFS-NULL(8)