1
1
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2
2
<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
3
3
"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
4
<!ENTITY VERSION "1.0">
5
<!ENTITY COMMANDNAME "password-request">
6
<!ENTITY TIMESTAMP "2008-09-03">
4
<!ENTITY COMMANDNAME "mandos-client">
5
<!ENTITY TIMESTAMP "2010-09-26">
6
<!ENTITY % common SYSTEM "../common.ent">
9
10
<refentry xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
11
12
<title>Mandos Manual</title>
12
<!-- Nwalsh’s docbook scripts use this to generate the footer: -->
13
<!-- NWalsh’s docbook scripts use this to generate the footer: -->
13
14
<productname>Mandos</productname>
14
<productnumber>&VERSION;</productnumber>
15
<productnumber>&version;</productnumber>
15
16
<date>&TIMESTAMP;</date>
46
48
<refname><command>&COMMANDNAME;</command></refname>
50
Client for <application>Mandos</application>
54
56
<command>&COMMANDNAME;</command>
56
58
<arg choice="plain"><option>--connect
57
<replaceable>IPADDR</replaceable><literal>:</literal
59
<replaceable>ADDRESS</replaceable><literal>:</literal
58
60
><replaceable>PORT</replaceable></option></arg>
59
61
<arg choice="plain"><option>-c
60
<replaceable>IPADDR</replaceable><literal>:</literal
62
<replaceable>ADDRESS</replaceable><literal>:</literal
61
63
><replaceable>PORT</replaceable></option></arg>
65
<arg choice="plain"><option>--keydir
66
<replaceable>DIRECTORY</replaceable></option></arg>
67
<arg choice="plain"><option>-d
68
<replaceable>DIRECTORY</replaceable></option></arg>
72
67
<arg choice="plain"><option>--interface
73
68
<replaceable>NAME</replaceable></option></arg>
74
69
<arg choice="plain"><option>-i
122
125
</refsynopsisdiv>
124
127
<refsect1 id="description">
125
128
<title>DESCRIPTION</title>
127
130
<command>&COMMANDNAME;</command> is a client program that
128
131
communicates with <citerefentry><refentrytitle
129
132
>mandos</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
130
to get a password. It uses IPv6 link-local addresses to get
131
network connectivity, Zeroconf to find the server, and TLS with
132
an OpenPGP key to ensure authenticity and confidentiality. It
133
keeps running, trying all servers on the network, until it
134
receives a satisfactory reply.
133
to get a password. In slightly more detail, this client program
134
brings up a network interface, uses the interface’s IPv6
135
link-local address to get network connectivity, uses Zeroconf to
136
find servers on the local network, and communicates with servers
137
using TLS with an OpenPGP key to ensure authenticity and
138
confidentiality. This client program keeps running, trying all
139
servers on the network, until it receives a satisfactory reply
140
or a TERM signal is received. If no servers are found, or after
141
all servers have been tried, it waits indefinitely for new
137
145
This program is not meant to be run directly; it is really meant
194
<term><option>--keydir=<replaceable
195
>DIRECTORY</replaceable></option></term>
197
<replaceable>DIRECTORY</replaceable></option></term>
200
Directory to read the OpenPGP key files
201
<filename>pubkey.txt</filename> and
202
<filename>seckey.txt</filename> from. The default is
203
<filename>/conf/conf.d/mandos</filename> (in the initial
204
<acronym>RAM</acronym> disk environment).
210
<term><option>--interface=
211
<replaceable>NAME</replaceable></option></term>
202
<term><option>--interface=<replaceable
203
>NAME</replaceable></option></term>
213
205
<replaceable>NAME</replaceable></option></term>
216
208
Network interface that will be brought up and scanned for
217
Mandos servers to connect to. The default it
218
<quote><literal>eth0</literal></quote>.
209
Mandos servers to connect to. The default is the empty
210
string, which will automatically choose an appropriate
214
If the <option>--connect</option> option is used, this
215
specifies the interface to use to connect to the address
219
Note that since this program will normally run in the
220
initial RAM disk environment, the interface must be an
221
interface which exists at that stage. Thus, the interface
222
can not be a pseudo-interface such as <quote>br0</quote>
223
or <quote>tun0</quote>; such interfaces will not exist
224
until much later in the boot process, and can not be used
228
<replaceable>NAME</replaceable> can be the string
229
<quote><literal>none</literal></quote>; this will not use
230
any specific interface, and will not bring up an interface
231
on startup. This is not recommended, and only meant for
286
<term><option>--delay=<replaceable
287
>SECONDS</replaceable></option></term>
290
After bringing the network interface up, the program waits
291
for the interface to arrive in a <quote>running</quote>
292
state before proceeding. During this time, the kernel log
293
level will be lowered to reduce clutter on the system
294
console, alleviating any other plugins which might be
295
using the system console. This option sets the upper
296
limit of seconds to wait. The default is 2.5 seconds.
302
<term><option>--retry=<replaceable
303
>SECONDS</replaceable></option></term>
306
All Mandos servers servers are tried repeatedly until a
307
password is received. This value specifies, in seconds,
308
how long between each successive try <emphasis>for the
309
same server</emphasis>. The default is 10 seconds.
274
315
<term><option>--debug</option></term>
330
371
This program could, theoretically, be used as a keyscript in
331
372
<filename>/etc/crypttab</filename>, but it would then be
332
impossible to enter the encrypted root disk password at the
333
console, since this program does not read from the console at
334
all. This is why a separate plugin does that, which will be run
335
in parallell to this one.
373
impossible to enter a password for the encrypted root disk at
374
the console, since this program does not read from the console
375
at all. This is why a separate plugin runner (<citerefentry>
376
<refentrytitle>plugin-runner</refentrytitle>
377
<manvolnum>8mandos</manvolnum></citerefentry>) is used to run
378
both this program and others in in parallel,
379
<emphasis>one</emphasis> of which will prompt for passwords on
407
<refsect1 id="files">
363
408
<title>FILES</title>
411
<term><filename>/conf/conf.d/mandos/pubkey.txt</filename
413
<term><filename>/conf/conf.d/mandos/seckey.txt</filename
417
OpenPGP public and private key files, in <quote>ASCII
418
Armor</quote> format. These are the default file names,
419
they can be changed with the <option>--pubkey</option> and
420
<option>--seckey</option> options.
427
<!-- <refsect1 id="bugs"> -->
428
<!-- <title>BUGS</title> -->
374
433
<refsect1 id="example">
375
434
<title>EXAMPLE</title>
436
Note that normally, command line options will not be given
437
directly, but via options for the Mandos <citerefentry
438
><refentrytitle>plugin-runner</refentrytitle>
439
<manvolnum>8mandos</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
443
Normal invocation needs no options, if the network interface
444
is <quote>eth0</quote>:
447
<userinput>&COMMANDNAME;</userinput>
452
Search for Mandos servers (and connect to them) using another
456
<!-- do not wrap this line -->
457
<userinput>&COMMANDNAME; --interface eth1</userinput>
462
Run in debug mode, and use a custom key:
466
<!-- do not wrap this line -->
467
<userinput>&COMMANDNAME; --debug --pubkey keydir/pubkey.txt --seckey keydir/seckey.txt</userinput>
473
Run in debug mode, with a custom key, and do not use Zeroconf
474
to locate a server; connect directly to the IPv6 link-local
475
address <quote><systemitem class="ipaddress"
476
>fe80::aede:48ff:fe71:f6f2</systemitem></quote>, port 4711,
477
using interface eth2:
481
<!-- do not wrap this line -->
482
<userinput>&COMMANDNAME; --debug --pubkey keydir/pubkey.txt --seckey keydir/seckey.txt --connect fe80::aede:48ff:fe71:f6f2:4711 --interface eth2</userinput>
380
488
<refsect1 id="security">
381
489
<title>SECURITY</title>
491
This program is set-uid to root, but will switch back to the
492
original (and presumably non-privileged) user and group after
493
bringing up the network interface.
496
To use this program for its intended purpose (see <xref
497
linkend="purpose"/>), the password for the root file system will
498
have to be given out to be stored in a server computer, after
499
having been encrypted using an OpenPGP key. This encrypted data
500
which will be stored in a server can only be decrypted by the
501
OpenPGP key, and the data will only be given out to those
502
clients who can prove they actually have that key. This key,
503
however, is stored unencrypted on the client side in its initial
504
<acronym>RAM</acronym> disk image file system. This is normally
505
readable by all, but this is normally fixed during installation
506
of this program; file permissions are set so that no-one is able
510
The only remaining weak point is that someone with physical
511
access to the client hard drive might turn off the client
512
computer, read the OpenPGP keys directly from the hard drive,
513
and communicate with the server. To safeguard against this, the
514
server is supposed to notice the client disappearing and stop
515
giving out the encrypted data. Therefore, it is important to
516
set the timeout and checker interval values tightly on the
517
server. See <citerefentry><refentrytitle
518
>mandos</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
521
It will also help if the checker program on the server is
522
configured to request something from the client which can not be
523
spoofed by someone else on the network, unlike unencrypted
524
<acronym>ICMP</acronym> echo (<quote>ping</quote>) replies.
527
<emphasis>Note</emphasis>: This makes it completely insecure to
528
have <application >Mandos</application> clients which dual-boot
529
to another operating system which is <emphasis>not</emphasis>
530
trusted to keep the initial <acronym>RAM</acronym> disk image
386
535
<refsect1 id="see_also">
387
536
<title>SEE ALSO</title>
538
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>cryptsetup</refentrytitle>
539
<manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
540
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>crypttab</refentrytitle>
541
<manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
389
542
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>mandos</refentrytitle>
390
543
<manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
391
544
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>password-prompt</refentrytitle>
393
546
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>plugin-runner</refentrytitle>
394
547
<manvolnum>8mandos</manvolnum></citerefentry>
398
<ulink url="http://www.zeroconf.org/">Zeroconf</ulink>
402
<ulink url="http://www.avahi.org/">Avahi</ulink>
407
url="http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/">GnuTLS</ulink>
412
url="http://www.gnupg.org/related_software/gpgme/"
417
<citation>RFC 4880: <citetitle>OpenPGP Message
418
Format</citetitle></citation>
422
<citation>RFC 5081: <citetitle>Using OpenPGP Keys for
423
Transport Layer Security</citetitle></citation>
427
<citation>RFC 4291: <citetitle>IP Version 6 Addressing
428
Architecture</citetitle>, section 2.5.6, Link-Local IPv6
429
Unicast Addresses</citation>
552
<ulink url="http://www.zeroconf.org/">Zeroconf</ulink>
556
Zeroconf is the network protocol standard used for finding
557
Mandos servers on the local network.
563
<ulink url="http://www.avahi.org/">Avahi</ulink>
567
Avahi is the library this program calls to find Zeroconf
574
<ulink url="http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/"
579
GnuTLS is the library this client uses to implement TLS for
580
communicating securely with the server, and at the same time
581
send the public OpenPGP key to the server.
587
<ulink url="http://www.gnupg.org/related_software/gpgme/"
592
GPGME is the library used to decrypt the OpenPGP data sent
599
RFC 4291: <citetitle>IP Version 6 Addressing
600
Architecture</citetitle>
605
<term>Section 2.2: <citetitle>Text Representation of
606
Addresses</citetitle></term>
607
<listitem><para/></listitem>
610
<term>Section 2.5.5.2: <citetitle>IPv4-Mapped IPv6
611
Address</citetitle></term>
612
<listitem><para/></listitem>
615
<term>Section 2.5.6, <citetitle>Link-Local IPv6 Unicast
616
Addresses</citetitle></term>
619
This client uses IPv6 link-local addresses, which are
620
immediately usable since a link-local addresses is
621
automatically assigned to a network interfaces when it
631
RFC 4346: <citetitle>The Transport Layer Security (TLS)
632
Protocol Version 1.1</citetitle>
636
TLS 1.1 is the protocol implemented by GnuTLS.
642
RFC 4880: <citetitle>OpenPGP Message Format</citetitle>
646
The data received from the server is binary encrypted
653
RFC 5081: <citetitle>Using OpenPGP Keys for Transport Layer
658
This is implemented by GnuTLS and used by this program so
659
that OpenPGP keys can be used.
435
667
<!-- Local Variables: -->
436
668
<!-- time-stamp-start: "<!ENTITY TIMESTAMP [\"']" -->
437
669
<!-- time-stamp-end: "[\"']>" -->