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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
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<!ENTITY VERSION "1.0">
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<!ENTITY COMMANDNAME "mandos">
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<!ENTITY TIMESTAMP "2025-06-27">
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<!ENTITY % common SYSTEM "common.ent">
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<!ENTITY TIMESTAMP "2008-09-12">
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<refentry xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
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<title>Mandos Manual</title>
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<!-- NWalsh’s docbook scripts use this to generate the footer: -->
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<productname>Mandos</productname>
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<productnumber>&version;</productnumber>
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<productnumber>&VERSION;</productnumber>
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<date>&TIMESTAMP;</date>
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<firstname>Björn</firstname>
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<surname>Påhlsson</surname>
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<email>belorn@recompile.se</email>
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<email>belorn@fukt.bsnet.se</email>
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<firstname>Teddy</firstname>
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<surname>Hogeborn</surname>
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<email>teddy@recompile.se</email>
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<email>teddy@fukt.bsnet.se</email>
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<holder>Teddy Hogeborn</holder>
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<holder>Björn Påhlsson</holder>
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<replaceable>DIRECTORY</replaceable></option></arg>
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<arg><option>--debug</option></arg>
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<arg><option>--debuglevel
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<replaceable>LEVEL</replaceable></option></arg>
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<arg><option>--no-dbus</option></arg>
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<arg><option>--no-ipv6</option></arg>
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<arg><option>--no-restore</option></arg>
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<arg><option>--statedir
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<replaceable>DIRECTORY</replaceable></option></arg>
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<arg><option>--socket
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<replaceable>FD</replaceable></option></arg>
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<arg><option>--foreground</option></arg>
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<arg><option>--no-zeroconf</option></arg>
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<command>&COMMANDNAME;</command>
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<title>DESCRIPTION</title>
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<command>&COMMANDNAME;</command> is a server daemon which
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handles incoming requests for passwords for a pre-defined list
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of client host computers. For an introduction, see
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>intro</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>8mandos</manvolnum></citerefentry>. The Mandos server
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uses Zeroconf to announce itself on the local network, and uses
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TLS to communicate securely with and to authenticate the
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clients. The Mandos server uses IPv6 to allow Mandos clients to
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use IPv6 link-local addresses, since the clients will probably
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not have any other addresses configured (see <xref
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linkend="overview"/>). Any authenticated client is then given
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the stored pre-encrypted password for that specific client.
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handles incoming request for passwords for a pre-defined list of
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client host computers. The Mandos server uses Zeroconf to
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announce itself on the local network, and uses TLS to
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communicate securely with and to authenticate the clients. The
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Mandos server uses IPv6 to allow Mandos clients to use IPv6
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link-local addresses, since the clients will probably not have
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any other addresses configured (see <xref linkend="overview"/>).
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Any authenticated client is then given the stored pre-encrypted
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password for that specific client.
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<term><option>--debuglevel
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<replaceable>LEVEL</replaceable></option></term>
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Set the debugging log level.
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<replaceable>LEVEL</replaceable> is a string, one of
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<quote><literal>CRITICAL</literal></quote>,
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<quote><literal>ERROR</literal></quote>,
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<quote><literal>WARNING</literal></quote>,
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<quote><literal>INFO</literal></quote>, or
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<quote><literal>DEBUG</literal></quote>, in order of
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increasing verbosity. The default level is
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<quote><literal>WARNING</literal></quote>.
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<term><option>--priority <replaceable>
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PRIORITY</replaceable></option></term>
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<term><option>--no-dbus</option></term>
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<xi:include href="mandos-options.xml" xpointer="dbus"/>
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See also <xref linkend="dbus_interface"/>.
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<term><option>--no-ipv6</option></term>
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<xi:include href="mandos-options.xml" xpointer="ipv6"/>
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<term><option>--no-restore</option></term>
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<xi:include href="mandos-options.xml" xpointer="restore"/>
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See also <xref linkend="persistent_state"/>.
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<term><option>--statedir
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<replaceable>DIRECTORY</replaceable></option></term>
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<xi:include href="mandos-options.xml" xpointer="statedir"/>
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<term><option>--socket
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<replaceable>FD</replaceable></option></term>
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<xi:include href="mandos-options.xml" xpointer="socket"/>
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<term><option>--foreground</option></term>
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<xi:include href="mandos-options.xml"
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xpointer="foreground"/>
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<term><option>--no-zeroconf</option></term>
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<xi:include href="mandos-options.xml" xpointer="zeroconf"/>
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start a TLS protocol handshake with a slight quirk: the Mandos
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server program acts as a TLS <quote>client</quote> while the
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connecting Mandos client acts as a TLS <quote>server</quote>.
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The Mandos client must supply a TLS public key, and the key ID
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of this public key is used by the Mandos server to look up (in a
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list read from <filename>clients.conf</filename> at start time)
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which binary blob to give the client. No other authentication
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or authorization is done by the server.
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The Mandos client must supply an OpenPGP certificate, and the
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fingerprint of this certificate is used by the Mandos server to
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look up (in a list read from <filename>clients.conf</filename>
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at start time) which binary blob to give the client. No other
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authentication or authorization is done by the server.
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<title>Mandos Protocol (Version 1)</title><tgroup cols="3"><thead>
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The server will, by default, continually check that the clients
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are still up. If a client has not been confirmed as being up
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for some time, the client is assumed to be compromised and is no
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longer eligible to receive the encrypted password. (Manual
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intervention is required to re-enable a client.) The timeout,
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extended timeout, checker program, and interval between checks
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can be configured both globally and per client; see
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mandos-clients.conf</refentrytitle>
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longer eligible to receive the encrypted password. The timeout,
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checker program, and interval between checks can be configured
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both globally and per client; see <citerefentry>
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<refentrytitle>mandos-clients.conf</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
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<refsect1 id="approval">
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<title>APPROVAL</title>
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The server can be configured to require manual approval for a
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client before it is sent its secret. The delay to wait for such
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approval and the default action (approve or deny) can be
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configured both globally and per client; see <citerefentry>
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<refentrytitle>mandos-clients.conf</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>. By default all clients
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will be approved immediately without delay.
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This can be used to deny a client its secret if not manually
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approved within a specified time. It can also be used to make
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the server delay before giving a client its secret, allowing
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optional manual denying of this specific client.
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<refsect1 id="logging">
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<title>LOGGING</title>
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The server will send log message with various severity levels to
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<filename class="devicefile">/dev/log</filename>. With the
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<filename>/dev/log</filename>. With the
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<option>--debug</option> option, it will log even more messages,
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and also show them on the console.
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<refsect1 id="persistent_state">
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<title>PERSISTENT STATE</title>
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Client settings, initially read from
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<filename>clients.conf</filename>, are persistent across
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restarts, and run-time changes will override settings in
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<filename>clients.conf</filename>. However, if a setting is
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<emphasis>changed</emphasis> (or a client added, or removed) in
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<filename>clients.conf</filename>, this will take precedence.
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<refsect1 id="dbus_interface">
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<title>D-BUS INTERFACE</title>
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The server will by default provide a D-Bus system bus interface.
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This interface will only be accessible by the root user or a
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Mandos-specific user, if such a user exists. For documentation
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of the D-Bus API, see the file <filename>DBUS-API</filename>.
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<refsect1 id="exit_status">
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<title>EXIT STATUS</title>
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<term><filename>/run/mandos.pid</filename></term>
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The file containing the process id of the
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<command>&COMMANDNAME;</command> process started last.
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<emphasis >Note:</emphasis> If the <filename
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class="directory">/run</filename> directory does not
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exist, <filename>/var/run/mandos.pid</filename> will be
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class="directory">/var/lib/mandos</filename></term>
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Directory where persistent state will be saved. Change
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this with the <option>--statedir</option> option. See
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also the <option>--no-restore</option> option.
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<term><filename class="devicefile">/dev/log</filename></term>
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<term><filename>/var/run/mandos.pid</filename></term>
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The file containing the process id of
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<command>&COMMANDNAME;</command>.
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<term><filename>/dev/log</filename></term>
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The Unix domain socket to where local syslog messages are
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backtrace. This could be considered a feature.
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Currently, if a client is declared <quote>invalid</quote> due to
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having timed out, the server does not record this fact onto
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permanent storage. This has some security implications, see
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<xref linkend="CLIENTS"/>.
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There is currently no way of querying the server of the current
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status of clients, other than analyzing its <systemitem
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class="service">syslog</systemitem> output.
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There is no fine-grained control over logging and debug output.
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<xi:include href="bugs.xml"/>
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Debug mode is conflated with running in the foreground.
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The console log messages does not show a time stamp.
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This server does not check the expire time of clients’ OpenPGP
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<refsect1 id="example">
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<informalexample>
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Run the server in debug mode, read configuration files from
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the <filename class="directory">~/mandos</filename> directory,
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and use the Zeroconf service name <quote>Test</quote> to not
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collide with any other official Mandos server on this host:
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the <filename>~/mandos</filename> directory, and use the
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Zeroconf service name <quote>Test</quote> to not collide with
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any other official Mandos server on this host:
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soon after startup.
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<refsect2 id="clients">
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<refsect2 id="CLIENTS">
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<title>CLIENTS</title>
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The server only gives out its stored data to clients which
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does have the correct key ID of the stored key ID. This is
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guaranteed by the fact that the client sends its public key in
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the TLS handshake; this ensures it to be genuine. The server
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computes the key ID of the key itself and looks up the key ID
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in its list of clients. The <filename>clients.conf</filename>
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does have the OpenPGP key of the stored fingerprint. This is
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guaranteed by the fact that the client sends its OpenPGP
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public key in the TLS handshake; this ensures it to be
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genuine. The server computes the fingerprint of the key
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itself and looks up the fingerprint in its list of
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clients. The <filename>clients.conf</filename> file (see
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mandos-clients.conf</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>)
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<emphasis>must</emphasis> be made non-readable by anyone
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except the user starting the server (usually root).
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except the user running the server.
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As detailed in <xref linkend="checking"/>, the status of all
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compromised if they are gone for too long.
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If a client is compromised, its downtime should be duly noted
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by the server which would therefore declare the client
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invalid. But if the server was ever restarted, it would
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re-read its client list from its configuration file and again
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regard all clients therein as valid, and hence eligible to
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receive their passwords. Therefore, be careful when
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restarting servers if it is suspected that a client has, in
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fact, been compromised by parties who may now be running a
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fake Mandos client with the keys from the non-encrypted
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initial <acronym>RAM</acronym> image of the client host. What
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should be done in that case (if restarting the server program
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really is necessary) is to stop the server program, edit the
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configuration file to omit any suspect clients, and restart
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For more details on client-side security, see
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mandos-client</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>8mandos</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
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<refsect1 id="see_also">
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<title>SEE ALSO</title>
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>intro</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>8mandos</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mandos-clients.conf</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mandos.conf</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mandos-client</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>8mandos</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>sh</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
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<refentrytitle>mandos-clients.conf</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry>
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<refentrytitle>mandos.conf</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry>
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<refentrytitle>mandos-client</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>8mandos</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry>
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<refentrytitle>sh</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
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RFC 7250: <citetitle>Using Raw Public Keys in Transport
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Layer Security (TLS) and Datagram Transport Layer Security
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This is implemented by GnuTLS version 3.6.6 and is, if
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present, used by this server so that raw public keys can be
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RFC 6091: <citetitle>Using OpenPGP Keys for Transport Layer
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Security (TLS) Authentication</citetitle>
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This is implemented by GnuTLS before version 3.6.0 and is,
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if present, used by this server so that OpenPGP keys can be
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RFC 5081: <citetitle>Using OpenPGP Keys for Transport Layer
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This is implemented by GnuTLS and used by this server so
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that OpenPGP keys can be used.