This section describes how to install the CernVM-FS client. The CernVM-FS client is supported on x86, x86_64, and ARM architectures running Linux and macOS \geq 10.14 as well as on Windows Services for Linux (WSL2). There is experimental support for Power and RISC-V architectures.
The CernVM-FS repositories are located under /cvmfs.
Each repository is identified by a fully qualified repository name.
On Linux, mounting and un-mounting of the CernVM-FS is usually controlled by autofs and automount.
That means that starting from the base directory /cvmfs different repositories are mounted automatically just by accessing them.
A repository will be automatically unmounted after some automount-defined idle time.
On macOS, mounting and un-mounting of the CernVM-FS is done by the user with sudo mount -t cvmfs /cvmfs/... commands.
The CernVM-FS source code and binary packages are available from the CernVM website. However it is recommended to use the available package repositories that are also provided for the supported operating systems.
To add the CVMFS repository and install CVMFS run
sudo yum install https://ecsft.cern.ch/dist/cvmfs/cvmfs-release/cvmfs-release-latest.noarch.rpm sudo yum install -y cvmfs
To add the CVMFS repository and install CVMFS run
wget https://ecsft.cern.ch/dist/cvmfs/cvmfs-release/cvmfs-release-latest_all.deb sudo dpkg -i cvmfs-release-latest_all.deb rm -f cvmfs-release-latest_all.deb sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install cvmfs
To install the CVMFS package run
sudo dnf install https://ecsft.cern.ch/dist/cvmfs/cvmfs-2.8.0/cvmfs-2.8.0-1.fc29.x86_64.rpm https://ecsft.cern.ch/dist/cvmfs/cvmfs-config/cvmfs-config-default-latest.noarch.rpm
The CernVM-FS service container can expose the /cvmfs directory tree to the host. Import the container with
docker pull cvmfs/service
or with
curl https://ecsft.cern.ch/dist/cvmfs/cvmfs-2.8.0/cvmfs-service-2.8.0-1.x86_64.docker.tar.gz | docker load
Run the container as a system service with
docker run -d --rm \ -e CVMFS_CLIENT_PROFILE=single \ -e CVMFS_REPOSITORIES=sft.cern.ch,... \ --cap-add SYS_ADMIN \ --device /dev/fuse \ --volume /cvmfs:/cvmfs:shared \ cvmfs/service:2.8.0-1
Use docker stop to unmount the /cvmfs tree.
Note that if you run multiple nodes (a cluster), you should use -e CVMFS_HTTP_PROXY to set a proper site proxy as described further down.
On Mac OS X, CernVM-FS is based on macFUSE. Note that as of macOS 11 Big Sur, kernel extensions need to be enabled to install macFUSE. Verify that fuse is available with
kextstat | grep -i fuse
Download the CernVM-FS client package in the terminal in order to avoid signature warnings
curl -o ~/Downloads/cvmfs-2.8.0.pkg https://ecsft.cern.ch/dist/cvmfs/cvmfs-2.8.0/cvmfs-2.8.0.pkg
Install the CernVM-FS package by opening the .pkg file and reboot. Future releases will provide a signed and notarized package.
Follow the Windows instructions to install the Windows Subsytem for Linux (WSL2). Install any of the Linux distributions and follow the instructions for the distribution in this guide. Whenever you open the Linux distribution, run
sudo cvmfs_config wsl2_start
to start the CernVM-FS service.
For the basic setup, run cvmfs_config setup.
This ensures that the file /etc/auto.master.d/cvmfs.autofs exists containing /cvmfs /etc/auto.cvmfs and that the autofs service is running. Reload the autofs service in order to apply an updated configuration.
NB: For OpenSUSE uncomment the line #+dir:/etc/auto.master.d/ in the file /etc/auto.master and restart the autofs service.
sed -i 's%#+dir:/etc/auto.master.d%+dir:/etc/auto.master.d%' /etc/auto.master systemctl restart autofs
Due to the lack of autofs on macOS, mount the individual repositories manually like
sudo mkdir -p /cvmfs/cvmfs-config.cern.ch sudo mount -t cvmfs cvmfs-config.cern.ch /cvmfs/cvmfs-config.cern.ch
For optimal configuration settings, mount the config repository before any other repositories.
Create /etc/cvmfs/default.local and open the file for editing.
Select the desired repositories by setting CVMFS_REPOSITORIES=repo1,repo2,.... For ATLAS, for instance, set
CVMFS_REPOSITORIES=atlas.cern.ch,atlas-condb.cern.ch,grid.cern.ch
For an individual workstation or laptop, set
CVMFS_CLIENT_PROFILE=single
If you setup a cluster of cvmfs nodes, specify the HTTP proxy servers on your site with
CVMFS_HTTP_PROXY="http://myproxy1:port|http://myproxy2:port"
If you're unsure about the proxy names, set CVMFS_HTTP_PROXY=DIRECT.
This should only be done for a small number of clients (< 5), because large numbers can put a heavy load on the Stratum 1 servers and result, amongst others, in poorer performance for the client.
For the syntax of more complex HTTP proxy settings, see :ref:`sct_network`.
If there are no HTTP proxies yet at your site, see :ref:`cpt_squid` for instructions on how to set them up.
Check if CernVM-FS mounts the specified repositories by cvmfs_config probe.
If the probe fails, try to restart autofs with sudo systemctl restart autofs.
The CernVM-FS client is not relocatable and needs to be installed under /usr. On Intel architectures, it needs a gcc \geq 4.2 compiler, on ARMv7 a gcc \geq 4.7 compiler. In order to compile and install from sources, use the following commands
cd <source directory> mkdir build && cd build cmake ../ make sudo make install
In order to check for common misconfigurations in the base setup, run
cvmfs_config chksetup
CernVM-FS gathers its configuration parameter from various configuration files that can overwrite each others settings (default configuration, domain specific configuration, local setup, ...). To show the effective configuration for repository.cern.ch, run
cvmfs_config showconfig repository.cern.ch
In order to exclude autofs/automounter as a source of problems, you can try to mount repository.cern.ch manually with the following
mkdir -p /mnt/cvmfs mount -t cvmfs repository.cern.ch /mnt/cvmfs
In order to exclude SELinux as a source of problems, you can try mounting after SELinux has been disabled by
/usr/sbin/setenforce 0
Once the issue has been identified, ensure that the changes are taken by restarting autofs
systemctl restart autofs