The System Control machine in a domain stores and distributes system configuration information, such as administrative lists, shared by all DFS server machines in the domain. Configure the first server machine for any new domain as the System Control machine for that domain. It can then be used to distribute the administrative lists for that domain from its dcelocal/var/dfs directory to any subsequent server machines added to the domain.
The following processes run on a System Control machine:
· An upserver process (the server portion of the Update Server), which controls the distribution of common configuration files to all other server machines in the domain.
· An upclient process (the client portion of the Update Server), which retrieves binary files from the Binary Distribution machine of the proper CPU/OS type. (See Binary Distribution Machines.)
· A BOS Server (bosserver process). (See Choosing DFS Machine Roles for more information about the BOS Server.)
The Update Server helps ensure that all server machines in a domain run the same version of common configuration files such as administrative lists. Configuration files are created and modified on the System Control machine, which runs the server portion, or upserver process, of the Update Server. Other server machines in the domain run the client portion, or upclient process, of the Update Server. The upclient processes on the other server machines in the domain frequently contact the upserver process on the System Control machine to verify that the most recent version of each configuration file is in use. If the most recent version of a file is not in use, the upclient process on each machine retrieves the most recent version from the System Control machine and installs it locally.
The server portion of the Update Server must be run on any machine that acts as a System Control machine for a domain. The admin.up list is used to identify all server principals that can obtain updates from the System Control machine. The list should include the names of all of the server machines in a domain.