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Types of Cell Namespace Entries

The following topics describe the different types of entries that comprise the cell namespace. These entries are created when you follow the default configuration path described in Part 2. The OSF DCE Administration Guide - Core Components, the OSF DCE GDS Administration Guide and Reference, and the OSF DCE DFS Administration Guide and Reference provide details about the names that the DCE components use. The cell namespace can be divided into three major parts:

· The CDS part of the namespace

· The Security part of the namespace

· The DFS part of the namespace (the filespace)

· The dced (per host) part of the namespace

Each of the DCE services maintains its own namespace within the cell namespace. DFS maintains its own namespace to ensure consistency among many files. The Security Service maintains its own namespace to ensure that the DCE cell remains secure. Clients of these two services query CDS for binding information that enables them to find Security or DFS servers. The points where the binding information is stored serve as mount points in the CDS namespace for the namespaces that DFS and the Security Service manage. This transition point between two namespaces is called a junction. The /.:/sec directory is the junction from the CDS part to the Security part of the cell namespace, and the /.:/fs directory is the junction from the CDS part to the DFS part of the cell namespace.

The junction /.:/hosts/hostname/config is the junction from CDS to the dced (per host) part of the namespace.

The following figure shows the top level of the cell namespace. In some cases the names in the cell namespace are fixed (or well known) and cannot be changed. In other cases you can choose a different name from the one listed. For more information about which names are well known, see the OSF DCE Administration Guide - Core Components. In the following figure, /.: and cell-profile are well-known names.


Top Level of the Cell Namespace

You can use the CDS browser (cdsbrowser) or the DCE control program (dcecp) to view the CDS part of the namespace, including the sec and fs junctions. You can use commands such as ls to see the contents of the DFS part of the namespace and the dcecp program to see the contents of the Security part.

More:

CDS Namespace Entries

Security Namespace Entries