---
name: "dacs_vfs"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "dacs"
version: "1.4.40-2"
release: "Debian 10 (Buster)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/dacs_vfs"
---

# dacs\_vfs(8)

access objects through the DACS virtual filestore

## NAME

dacs\_vfs - access objects through the **DACS** virtual filestore

## SYNOPSIS

**dacs\_vfs** \[**dacsoptions**\[1\]\]

## DESCRIPTION

This program is part of the **DACS** suite.

The **dacs\_vfs** web service is an interface to the **DACS** virtual filestore. It provides a way to examine, change, and delete items independently of how and where they are stored.

This program is also available as a **DACS** utility, **[dacsvfs(1)](/dacsvfs/1.md)**\[2\].

**Security**\

Only the **DACS** administrator should be able to successfully run this program; therefore, access to it is totally denied by the default rules as a security precaution.

## OPTIONS

### Web Service Arguments

In addition to the **standard CGI arguments**\[3\], **dacs\_vfs** requires the following CGI arguments:

*ITEM\_TYPE*

This is the **DACS** item type, as configured in dacs.conf (**[dacs.conf(5)](/dacs.conf/5.md)**\[4\]), to which the request is to be applied. As a special case, if the value of this argument is the word "enabled", a list of enabled storage methods is displayed.

*REQUEST*

The value of this argument is the name of an operation followed by zero or more arguments. The syntax is identical to that of **[dacsvfs(1)](/dacsvfs/1.md)**\[2\], except that the edit, update, and help operations are unavailable. For the put operation, the value to store is taken from the *VALUE* argument.

*VALUE*

The object to use for the put and load operations.

*FIELD\_SEP*

The field separator character to use for the load and dump operations.

## EXAMPLES

The following examples assume that the web service requests are granted.

This request will return the revocation list:

```
https://example.com/cgi-bin/dacs/dacs_vfs?REQUEST=get&ITEM_TYPE=revocations
```

Assuming the jurisdiction is configured appropriately, the following request will return the roles associated with DEMO::EXAMPLE:jones:

```
https://demo.example.com/cgi-bin/dacs/dacs_vfs?REQUEST=get+jones&ITEM_TYPE=roles
```

If the jurisdiction is configured with the directives:

```
LOG_FILE "${Conf::DACS_HOME}/logs/dacs_log-" . strftime("%d-%b-%y")
VFS "[logfile]dacs-fs:${Conf::DACS_HOME}/logs/dacs_log-" . strftime("%d-%b-%y")
```

then the following request will return the contents of the jurisdiction's **DACS** log file:

```
https://demo.example.com/cgi-bin/dacs/dacs_vfs?REQUEST=get&ITEM_TYPE=logfile
```

**Security**\

The logfile item type is not something predefined by **DACS**; new (not predefined) item types can be created at will and that is what was done for this example. Since logfiles can potentially include sensitive information, as can other resources used by **DACS**, it should be obvious why access to this web service should be very carefully managed.

## DIAGNOSTICS

The program exits 0 if everything was fine, 1 if an error occurred. If an error occurs during processing, this web service will return an HTTP Status of 400, followed by a blank line which is optionally followed by a descriptive error message.

## BUGS

Only the text/plain output format is implemented.

## SEE ALSO

**[dacsvfs(1)](/dacsvfs/1.md)**\[2\], **[dacs.conf(5)](/dacs.conf/5.md)**\[5\]

## AUTHOR

Distributed Systems Software (**www.dss.ca**\[6\])

## COPYING

Copyright © 2003-2012 Distributed Systems Software. See the **LICENSE**\[7\] file that accompanies the distribution for licensing information.

## NOTES

- 1\.

  dacsoptions

  http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacs.1.html#dacsoptions

- 2\.

  [dacsvfs(1)](/dacsvfs/1.md)

  http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacsvfs.1.html

- 3\.

  standard CGI arguments

  http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacs.services.8.html#standard\_cgi\_args

- 4\.

  [dacs.conf(5)](/dacs.conf/5.md)

  http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacs.conf.5.html#VFS

- 5\.

  [dacs.conf(5)](/dacs.conf/5.md)

  http://dacs.dss.ca/man/dacs.conf.5.html

- 6\.

  www.dss.ca

  http://www.dss.ca

- 7\.

  LICENSE

  http://dacs.dss.ca/man/../misc/LICENSE