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AFS User Volume Provisioning

Overview

Effective Monday, Nov. 23, 2020, new faculty and staff members are longer auto-provisioned with AFS user volumes, but can submit a Help request if personal AFS user volume is needed. New students and post-docs will continue to be auto-provisioned.

This change does not impact existing AFS directories or the process for adding permissions for new individuals to those existing directories. Your existing space and everything in it will remain intact. 

Read more in this IT Community news item.

Project timeline

  • May - October 2020
     
    Gather data and get stakeholder approval
  • November 2020
     
    Implement change
  • March 2021
     
    Project completed

Frequently Asked Questions

What will happen when the auto-provisioning of AFS user space becomes a manual request process?

New Stanford faculty and staff will not be able to save files to their user directory, which includes their web directory unless they submit a Help request. 

Users will still be added to AFS as a known user. This will allow them to log in and be assigned permissions to existing resources.

Why is this change necessary?

University IT will sunset AFS soon. We are taking incremental steps to reduce the overall footprint on AFS. User directory space has remained level over the last few years and this should start to reduce that level with current attrition rates.

Can I still request an AFS user directory space?

Yes. You can submit a Help request for a personal AFS user volume.

Without a home directory, what will happen when I log into a cluster computer at the libraries (or other Stanford locations)?

Behavior will vary based on the system type. In some cases, an error message will be provided to the user which will prevent them from gaining access until they request AFS user directory space. In other cases, users will be able to gain access without a home directory and can navigate to directories where they’ve been granted privileges.

What alternative web spaces can I use in place of AFS?
I have things in my AFS user directory space that my staff/students need to get to. Does that change?

No. Your current space and everything in it will remain intact. The only change is how AFS web spaces will be provisioned to new faculty and staff. They will need to request the space. New students and post-docs will continue to be auto-provisioned.

Will new users be able to use WebAFS?

Users will need to have a user directory space prior to using WebAFS.

Can I still use Cardinal or other servers to connect with AFS?

Yes.