Most DFS commands from the bos and fts suites have an optional -noauth option. Omitting the -noauth option from a command requires that authentication information be available about the issuer of the command; because it is optional, the option is always omitted by default. Including the -noauth option with a command directs the bos or fts program to use the unprivileged identity nobody as the identity of the issuer of the command. Include the -noauth option with a command if
· Authentication information is unnecessary. If DFS authorization checking is disabled on a server machine or if a command does not require administrative privilege, DFS server processes on the machine do not check for authentication information. Omitting the -noauth option in these cases causes the bos or fts program to include the unnecessary security credentials of the issuer with the command; including the -noauth option allows the command to execute more quickly because it avoids the unnecessary creation of the issuer's security credentials.
You may want to include the -noauth option with a command that does not require administrative privilege if the command is to be issued as a bos cron process. (See Monitoring and Controlling Server Processes for more information about bos processes.)
· Authentication information is unavailable. If some aspect of the Security Service is unavailable (for example, if the secd process is not functioning) and the -noauth option is omitted from a command, bos and fts commands fail even if DFS authorization checking is disabled. The failure occurs because the bos or fts program cannot obtain the issuer's security credentials from the Security Service. In such cases, even commands that do not require administrative privilege may fail if the -noauth option is not used.
Including the -noauth option when DFS authorization checking is disabled ensures that a command will succeed because the Security Service is never contacted to assemble the issuer's security credentials. Include the -noauth option with a command that requires administrative privilege only if DFS authorization checking is disabled on the necessary machines. A command that requires administrative privilege fails if the -noauth option is included and DFS authorization checking is not disabled.