Using the Device-Allocation Commands

This section describes some of the options to the allocate, deallocate, and list_devices commands that are usable only by root or a role of equivalent power. The commands are detailed on their respective man pages.

allocate -F device_special_filename

Reallocates the specified device. This option is often used with the -U option to reallocate the specified device to the specified user. Without the -U option, the device is allocated to root.

allocate -U username

Causes the device to be allocated to the user who is specified rather than to the current user. This option allows you to allocate a device for another user while you are root, without having to assume that user's identity.

deallocate -F device_special_filename

Forces the deallocation of a device. Devices that a user has allocated are not automatically deallocated when the process terminates or when the user logs out. When a user forgets to deallocate a tape drive, you can force deallocation by using the -F option while you are root.

deallocate -I

Forces the deallocation of all allocatable devices. This option should be used only at system initialization.

list_devices

Lists all the device-special files that are associated with any device that is listed in the device_maps file.

list_devices -U username

Lists the devices that are allocatable or allocated to the user ID that is associated with the specified user name. This option allows you to check which devices are allocatable or allocated to another user while you are root.