3 .\" Manual for the administration protocol
5 .\" (c) 2008 Straylight/Edgeware
8 .\"----- Licensing notice ---------------------------------------------------
10 .\" This file is part of Trivial IP Encryption (TrIPE).
12 .\" TrIPE is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
13 .\" the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
14 .\" Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your
15 .\" option) any later version.
17 .\" TrIPE is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
18 .\" ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
19 .\" FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
22 .\" You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
23 .\" along with TrIPE. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
25 .\"--------------------------------------------------------------------------
26 .so ../common/defs.man \" @@@PRE@@@
28 .\"--------------------------------------------------------------------------
29 .TH tripe-admin 5tripe "18 February 2001" "Straylight/Edgeware" "TrIPE: Trivial IP Encryption"
31 .\"--------------------------------------------------------------------------
34 tripe-admin \- administrator commands for TrIPE
36 .\"--------------------------------------------------------------------------
39 This manual page describes the administration interface provided by the
45 program can be used either interactively or in scripts to communicate
46 with the server using this interface. Alternatively, simple custom
47 clients can be written in scripting languages such as Perl, Python or
48 Tcl, or more advanced clients such as GUI monitors can be written in C
49 with little difficulty.
51 Administration commands use a textual protocol. Each client command or
52 server response consists of a line of ASCII text terminated by a single
53 linefeed character. No command may be longer than 255 characters.
54 .SS "General structure"
55 Each command or response line consists of a sequence of
56 whitespace-separated tokens. The number and nature of whitespace
57 characters separating two tokens in a client command is not significant;
58 the server always uses a single space character. The first token in a
61 identifying the type of command or response contained. Keywords in
62 client commands are not case-sensitive; the server always uses uppercase
65 In order to allow tokens to contain internal whitespace, a quoting
66 mechanism is provided. Whitespace within matched pairs of quotes \(en
71 \(en is considered to be internal. Any character (other than newline)
72 may be escaped by preceding it with a backslash
74 in particular, this can be used to include quote characters. It is
75 impossible for a token to contain a newline character.
77 On output, the server will use double quotes when necessary.
79 For simple client command, the server responds with zero or more
81 lines, followed by either an
87 provides information requested in the command. An
89 response contains no further data. A
91 code is followed by a machine-readable explanation of why the command
94 Simple command processing is strictly synchronous: the server reads a
95 command, processes it, and responds, before reading the next command.
96 All commands can be run as simple commands. Long-running commands
101 block the client until they finish, but the rest of the server continues
103 .B "Background commands"
104 to find out how to issue long-running commands without blocking.
105 .SS "Asynchronous broadcasts"
106 There are three types of asynchronous broadcast messages which aren't
107 associated with any particular command. Clients can select which
108 broadcast messages they're interested in using the
114 message contains a machine-readable message warning of an error
115 encountered while processing a command, unexpected or unusual behaviour
116 by a peer, or a possible attack by an adversary. Under normal
117 conditions, the server shouldn't emit any warnings.
121 message contains a human-readable tracing message containing diagnostic
122 information. Trace messages are controlled using the
124 command-line option to the server, or the
126 administration command (see below). Support for tracing can be disabled
127 when the package is being configured, and may not be available in your
132 message is a machine-readable notification about some routine but
133 interesting event such as creation or destruction of peers.
134 .SS "Background commands"
139 take a long time to complete. To prevent these long-running commands
140 from tying up a server connection, they can be run in the background.
141 Not all commands can be run like this: the ones that can provide a
143 option, which must be supplied with a
146 A command may fail before it starts running in the background. In this
147 case, the server emits a
149 response, as usual. To indicate that a command has started running in
150 the background, the server emits a response of the form
151 .BI "BGDETACH " tag \fR,
154 is the value passed to the
156 option. From this point on, the server is ready to process more
157 commands and reply to them.
159 Responses to background commands are indicated by a line beginning with
165 followed by the command tag. These correspond to the
170 responses for simple commands:
172 indicates information from a background command which has not completed
177 indicates that a background command succeeded or failed, respectively.
179 A background command will never issue an
183 response: it will always detach and then issue any
188 .SS "Client-provided services"
189 .\"* 25 Service-related messages
190 An administration client can provide services to other clients.
191 Services are given names and versions. A client can attempt to
193 a particular service by issuing the
195 command. This may fail, for example, if some other client already
196 provides the same or later version of the service.
198 Other clients can issue
199 .I "service commands"
202 command; the service provider is expected to handle these commands and
205 There are three important asynchronous messages which will be sent to
208 .BI "SVCCANCEL " jobid
209 The named job has been cancelled, either because the issuing client has
210 disconnected or explicitly cancelled the job using the
214 .BI "SVCCLAIM " service " " version
215 Another client has claimed a later version of the named
217 The recipient is no longer the provider of this service.
219 .BI "SVCJOB " jobid " " service " " command " " args \fR...
220 Announces the arrival of a new job. The
222 is a simple token consisting of alphanumeric characters which
224 uses to identify this job.
226 The service provider can reply to the job using the commands
231 The first of these sends an
233 response and leaves the job active; the other two send an
237 response respectively, and mark the job as being complete.
241 is a potentially long-running command, it can be run in the background.
242 This detail is hidden from service providers:
244 will issue the corresponding
246 responses when appropriate.)
247 .SS "Network addresses"
248 A network address is a sequence of tokens. The first is a token
249 identifying the network address family. The length of an address and
250 the meanings of the subsequent tokens depend on the address family.
251 Address family tokens are not case-sensitive on input; on output, they
252 are always in upper-case.
254 The following address families are recognized.
256 .BI "ANY " address " \fR[" port \fR]
257 An address and port number for any supported address family. On output,
259 never uses this form. On input, the
261 is examined: if it is a numeric address for some recognized address
262 family, then it is interpreted as such; otherwise it is looked up using
263 the DNS (in the background). The background resolver's address-sorting
266 simply takes the first address in the returned list which is of a
267 supported address family. Symbolic port numbers are permitted; if
268 omitted, the default port 4070 is used.
270 .BI "INET " address " \fR[" port \fR]
271 An Internet socket, naming an IPv4 address and UDP port. On output, the
273 is always in numeric dotted-quad form, and the
275 is given as a plain decimal number. On input, DNS hostnames and
276 symbolic port names are permitted; if omitted, the default port 4070 is
279 If, on input, no recognized address family token is found, the following
280 tokens are assumed to represent an
282 address. Addresses output by the server always have an address family
283 token, and do not use
286 Name resolution never blocks the main server, but will block the
287 requesting client, unless the command is run in the background.
288 .SS "Key-value output"
293 produce output in the form of
295 pairs, one per token. Neither the
301 Commands which enable or disable kinds of output (e.g.,
305 work in similar ways. They take a single optional argument, which
306 consists of a string of letters selecting message types, optionally
311 to disable, the subsequently listed types.
313 If the argument is omitted, the available message types are displayed,
316 line, in a fixed-column format. Column zero contains the key letter for
317 selecting that message type; column one contains either a space or a
319 sign, if the message type is disabled or enabled respectively; and a
320 textual description of the message type begins at column 3 and continues
321 to the end of the line.
323 Lowercase key letters control individual message types. Uppercase key
324 letters control collections of message types.
326 .\"--------------------------------------------------------------------------
327 .SH "COMMAND REFERENCE"
330 The commands provided are:
332 .BI "ADD \fR[" options "\fR] " peer " " address "\fR..."
333 Adds a new peer. The peer is given the name
335 the peer's public key is assumed to be in the file
337 (or whatever alternative file was specified in the
339 option on the command line). The
341 is the network address (see above for the format) at which the peer can
342 be contacted. The following options are recognized.
346 .BI "\-background " tag
347 Run the command in the background, using the given
351 Don't send an immediate challenge to the peer; instead, wait until it
352 sends us something before responding.
354 .BI "\-keepalive " time
355 Send a no-op packet if we've not sent a packet to the peer in the last
357 interval. This is useful for persuading port-translating firewalls to
358 believe that the `connection' is still active. The
360 is expressed as a nonnegative integer followed optionally by
366 for days, hours, minutes, or seconds respectively; if no suffix is
367 given, seconds are assumed.
372 to authenticate the peer. The default is to use the key tagged
376 The peer is a mobile device, and is likely to change address rapidly.
377 If a packet arrives from an unknown address, the server's usual response
378 is to log a warning and discard it. If the server knows of any mobile
379 peers, however, it will attempt to decrypt the packet using their keys,
380 and if one succeeds, the server will update its idea of the peer's
388 to authenticate to the peer. The default is to use the key named in the
390 command-line option, or a key with type
398 .BI "\-tunnel " tunnel
399 Use the named tunnel driver, rather than the default.
406 line reporting the IP address and port number stored for
409 .BI "ALGS \fR[" peer \fR]
410 Emits information about the cryptographic algorithms in use, in
413 is given, then describe the algorithms used in the association with that
414 peer; otherwise describe the default algorithms.
417 The keys are as follows.
420 Type of key-exchange group in use, currently either
425 .B kx-group-order-bits
426 Length of the group order, in bits. This gives an approximate measure
427 of the group strength.
430 Length of a group element, in bits. This may be useful when analyzing
434 The hash function in use, e.g.,
438 The mask-generating function in use, e.g.,
442 The size of the hash function's output, in octets.
445 The name of the bulk-crypto transform.
448 The amount of overhead, in bytes, caused by the crypto transform.
451 The name of the bulk data cipher in use, e.g.,
455 The length of key used by the bulk data cipher, in octets.
458 The block size of the bulk data cipher, or zero if it's not based on a
462 The maximum amount of data to be encrypted using a single key. (A new
463 key exchange is instigated well before the limit is reached, in order to
464 allow for a seamless changeover of keys.)
467 The message authentication algorithm in use, e.g.,
471 The length of the key used by the message authentication algorithm, in
475 The length of the message authentication tag, in octets.
478 The block cipher in use, e.g.,
482 The length of key used by the block cipher, in octets.
485 The block size of the block cipher.
487 The various sizes are useful, for example, when computing the MTU for a
490 is the MTU of the path to the peer, then the tunnel MTU should be
496 allowing 20 bytes of IP header, 8 bytes of UDP header, a packet type
497 octet, and the bulk-crypto transform overhead (which includes the
502 Cancels the background job with the named
505 .BI "CHECKCHAL " challenge
506 Verifies a challenge as being one earlier issued by
508 and not previously either passed to
510 or in a greeting message.
513 Causes the server to disassociate itself from its terminal and become a
514 background task. This only works once. A notification is issued.
516 .BI "EPING \fR[" options "\fR] " peer
517 Sends an encrypted ping to the peer, and expects an encrypted response.
518 This checks that the peer is running (and not being impersonated), and
519 that it can encrypt and decrypt packets correctly. Options and
520 responses are the same as for the
525 Requests the server to begin a new key exchange with
530 Requests a challenge. The challenge is returned in an
532 line, as a base64-encoded string. See
535 .BI "GREET " peer " " challenge
536 Sends a greeting packet containing the
538 (base-64 encoded) to the named
540 The expectation is that this will cause the peer to recognize us and
541 begin a key-exchange.
544 Causes the server to emit an
546 line for each command it supports. Each line lists the command name,
547 followed by the names of the arguments. This may be helpful as a memory
548 aid for interactive use, or for program clients probing for features.
553 line containing the name of the network interface used to collect IP
554 packets which are to be encrypted and sent to
556 Used by configuration scripts so that they can set up routing tables
557 appropriately after adding new peers.
562 line giving the tag for each outstanding background job.
565 Causes the server to forget all about
567 All keys are destroyed, and no more packets are sent. No notification
568 is sent to the peer: if it's important that the peer be notified, you
569 must think of a way to do that yourself.
572 For each currently-known peer, an
574 line is written containing the peer's name, as given to
577 .BI "NOTIFY " tokens\fR...
580 notification to all interested administration clients.
583 Returns information about a peer, in key-value form. The following keys
588 The tunnel driver used for this peer.
591 The keepalive interval, in seconds, or zero if no keepalives are to be
595 The (short) key tag being used for the peer, as passed to the
600 The full key tag of the peer's public key currently being used. This
601 may change during the life of the association.
604 The private key tag being used for the peer, as passed to the
608 command-line option. If neither of these was given explicitly, the
609 private key tag is shown as
611 since there is no fixed tag used under these circumstances.
613 .B current-private-key
614 The full key tag of the private key currently being used for this
615 association. This may change during the life of the association.
622 depending on whether or not (respectively) key-exchange is waiting for
623 the peer to initiate.
630 depending on whether or not (respectively) the peer is expected to
631 change its address unpredictably.
634 .BI "PING \fR[" options "\fR] " peer
635 Send a transport-level ping to the peer. The ping and its response are
636 not encrypted or authenticated. This command, possibly in conjunction
637 with tracing, is useful for ensuring that UDP packets are actually
638 flowing in both directions. See also the
644 line is printed describing the outcome:
647 .BI "ping-ok " millis
648 A response was received
650 after the ping was sent.
653 No response was received within the time allowed.
656 The peer was killed (probably by another admin connection) before a
657 response was received.
660 Options recognized for this command are:
664 .BI "\-background " tag
665 Run the command in the background, using the given
668 .BI "\-timeout " time
671 seconds before giving up on a response. The default is 5 seconds. The
673 is expressed as a nonnegative integer followed optionally by
679 for days, hours, minutes, or seconds respectively; if no suffix is
680 given, seconds are assumed.
688 line containing just the number of the UDP port used by the
690 server, for the given address
692 (or one chosen arbitrarily if omitted -- though
694 tries to use the same port number consistently so this is not a likely
695 problem in practice). If you've allowed your server to allocate a port
696 dynamically, this is how to find out which one it chose.
699 Instructs the server to recheck its keyring files. The server checks
700 these periodically anyway but it may be necessary to force a recheck,
701 for example after adding a new peer key.
704 Instructs the server to exit immediately. A warning is sent.
707 Returns information about the server, in the form of key-value pairs.
708 The following keys are used.
712 A keyword naming the implementation of the
714 server. The current implementation is called
718 The server's version number, as reported by
726 if the server has or hasn't (respectively) become a daemon.
729 .BI "SETIFNAME " peer " " new-name
730 Informs the server that the
732 tunnel-interface name has been changed to
734 This is useful if firewalling decisions are made based on interface
735 names: a setup script for a particular peer can change the name, and
736 then update the server's records so that they're accurate.
741 lines, each containing one or more statistics in the form
742 .IB name = value \fR.
743 The statistics-gathering is experimental and subject to change.
745 .BI "SVCCLAIM " service " " version
746 Attempts to claim the named
750 The claim is successful if the service is currently unclaimed, or if
751 a version earlier than
753 is provided; otherwise the command fails with the error
754 .BR "service-exists" .
756 .BI "SVCENSURE " service " \fR[" version \fR]
759 is provided, and (if specified) to at least the given
761 An error is reported if these conditions are not met; otherwise the
762 command succeeds silently.
764 .BI "SVCFAIL " jobid " " tokens \fR...
769 response to the service job with the given
773 as the reason for failure. The job is closed.
775 .BI "SVCINFO " jobid " " tokens \fR...
780 response to the service job with the given
784 as the info message. The job remains open.
787 Output a line of the form
794 for each service currently provided.
802 response to the service job with the given
806 .BI "SVCQUERY " service
809 lines in key-value format, describing the named
811 The following keys are used.
818 The service's version string.
821 .BI "SVCRELEASE " service
822 Announce that the client no longer wishes to provide the named
825 .BI "SVCSUBMIT \fR[" options "\fR] " service " " command " " arguments \fR...
826 Submit a job to the provider of the given
832 The following options are accepted.
836 .BI "\-background " tag
837 Run the command in the background, using the given
840 .BI "\-version " version
841 Ensure that at least the given
843 of the service is available before submitting the job.
847 .BR "TRACE " [\fIoptions\fP]
848 Selects trace outputs: see
850 above. Message types provided are:
853 Currently, the following tracing options are supported:
856 Tunnel events: reception of packets to be encrypted, and injection of
857 successfully-decrypted packets.
860 Peer management events: creation and destruction of peer attachments,
861 and arrival of messages.
864 Administration interface: acceptance of new connections, and handling of
865 the backgroud name-resolution required by the
870 Handling of symmetric keysets: creation and expiry of keysets, and
871 encryption and decryption of messages.
874 Key exchange: reception, parsing and emission of key exchange messages.
877 Key management: loading keys and checking for file modifications.
880 Display information about challenge issuing and verification.
883 Display contents of packets sent and received by the tunnel and/or peer
887 Display inputs, outputs and intermediate results of cryptographic
888 operations. This includes plaintext and key material. Use with
900 outputs provide extra detail for other outputs. Specifying
906 isn't useful; neither is specifying
917 For each available tunnel driver, an
919 line is printed giving its name.
922 Causes the server to emit an
924 line stating its software version, as two tokens: the server name, and
925 its version string. The server name
927 is reserved to the Straylight/Edgeware implementation.
929 .BR "WATCH " [\fIoptions\fP]
930 Enables or disables asynchronous broadcasts
931 .IR "for the current connection only" .
934 above. The default watch state for the connection the server opens
935 automatically on stdin/stdout is to show warnings and trace messages;
936 other connections show no asynchronous broadcast messages. (This is
937 done in order to guarantee that a program reading the server's stdout
938 does not miss any warnings.)
941 Message types provided are:
959 .BI "WARN " tokens\fR...
962 warning to all interested administration clients.
964 .\"--------------------------------------------------------------------------
967 .\"* 20 Error messages (FAIL codes)
972 messages are sent to clients as a result of errors during command
980 server is already running as a daemon.
982 .BI "bad-addr-syntax " message
983 (For commands accepting socket addresses.) The address couldn't be
986 .BI "bad-base64 " message
987 (For commands accepting Base64-encoded input.) The Base64-encoded
990 .BI "bad-syntax " cmd " " message
991 (For any command.) The command couldn't be understood: e.g., the number
992 of arguments was wrong.
994 .BI "bad-time-spec " token
997 is not a valid time interval specification. Acceptable time
998 specifications are nonnegative integers followed optionally by
1004 for days, hours, minutes, or seconds, respectively.
1006 .BI "bad-trace-option " char
1009 An unknown trace option was requested.
1011 .BI "bad-watch-option " char
1014 An unknown watch option was requested.
1016 .BI "daemon-error " ecode " " message
1019 An error occurred during the attempt to become a daemon, as reported by
1022 .BI "invalid-port " number
1025 The given port number is out of range.
1027 .BI "not-service-provider " service
1030 The invoking client is not the current provider of the named
1032 and is therefore not allowed to release it.
1034 .BI "peer-create-fail " peer
1039 failed for some reason. A warning should have been emitted explaining
1042 .BI "peer-addr-exists " address\fR...
1045 There is already a peer with the given
1048 .BI "peer-exists " peer
1051 There is already a peer named
1054 .B "ping-send-failed"
1055 The attempt to send a ping packet failed, probably due to lack of
1058 .B "provider-failed"
1061 The service provider disconnected without sending back a final reply to
1064 .B "provider-overloaded"
1067 The service provider has too many jobs queued up for it already.
1069 .BI "resolve-error " hostname
1074 could not be resolved.
1076 .BI "resolver-timeout " hostname
1081 took too long to resolve.
1083 .BI "service-exists " service " " version
1086 Another client is already providing the stated
1091 .BI "service-too-old " service " " version
1100 is available, which does not meet the stated requirements.
1102 .BI "tag-exists " tag
1103 (For long-running commands.) The named
1105 is already the tag of an outstanding job.
1107 .BI "unknown-address-family " afam
1114 .BI "unknown-command " token
1119 .BI "unknown-jobid " jobid
1127 is not recognized as identifying an outstanding job. It may have just
1130 .BI "unknown-peer " name
1138 There is no peer called
1141 .BI "unknown-port " port
1146 couldn't be found in
1149 .BI "unknown-service " service
1158 is not recognized as the name of a client-provided service.
1160 .BI "unknown-tag " tag
1165 is not the tag for any outstanding background job. It may have just
1168 .BI "unknown-tunnel " tun
1173 is not the name of any known tunnel driver.
1175 .\"--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1178 .\"* 30 Notification broadcasts (NOTE codes)
1179 The following notifications are sent to clients who request them.
1181 .BI "ADD " peer " " ifname " " address \fR...
1182 A new peer has been added. The peer's name is
1184 its tunnel is network interface
1186 and its network address is
1190 The server has forked off into the sunset and become a daemon.
1192 .BI "GREET " challenge " " address \fR...
1193 A valid greeting was received, with the given challenge (exactly as it
1206 finished successfully.
1211 has begun or restarted. If key exchange keeps failing, this message
1212 will be repeated periodically.
1214 .BI "NEWADDR " peer " " address
1217 IP address has been changed to
1220 .BI "NEWIFNAME " peer " " old-name " " new-name
1223 tunnel interface name has been changed from
1231 .BI "SVCCLAIM " service " " version
1234 is now available, at the stated
1237 .BI "SVCRELEASE " service
1240 is no longer available.
1242 .BI "USER " tokens\fR...
1243 An administration client issued a notification using the
1247 .\"--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1250 .\"* 40 Warning broadcasts (WARN codes)
1252 There are many possible warnings. They are categorized according to
1255 Many of these warnings report system errors. These are reported as a
1256 pair of tokens, described below as
1262 is a string of the form
1266 value of the error; the
1268 is the `human-readable' form of the message, as reported by
1270 .SS "ABORT warnings"
1271 These all indicate that the
1273 server has become unable to continue. If enabled, the server will dump
1274 core in its configuration directory.
1276 .BI "ABORT repeated-select-errors"
1277 The main event loop is repeatedly failing. If the server doesn't quit,
1278 it will probably waste all available CPU doing nothing.
1279 .SS "ADMIN warnings"
1280 These indicate a problem with the administration socket interface.
1282 .BI "ADMIN accept-error " ecode " " message
1283 There was an error while attempting to accept a connection from a new
1286 .BI "ADMIN client-write-error " ecode " " message
1287 There was an error sending data to a client. The connection to the
1288 client has been closed.
1290 These indicate errors in challenges, either in the
1292 command or in greeting packets.
1294 .B "CHAL impossible-challenge"
1295 The server hasn't issued any challenges yet. Quite how anyone else
1296 thought he could make one up is hard to imagine.
1298 .B "CHAL incorrect-tag"
1299 Challenge received contained the wrong authentication data. It might be
1300 very stale, or a forgery.
1302 .B "CHAL invalid-challenge"
1303 Challenge received was the wrong length. We might have changed MAC
1304 algorithms since the challenge was issued, or it might just be rubbish.
1306 .B "CHAL replay duplicated-sequence"
1307 Challenge received was a definite replay of an old challenge. Someone's
1310 .B "CHAL replay old-sequence"
1311 Challenge received was old, but maybe not actually a replay. Try again.
1312 .SS "KEYMGMT warnings"
1313 These indicate a problem with the keyring files, or the keys stored in
1314 them. The first token is either
1320 in the descriptions below) indicating which keyring file is problematic,
1321 and the second token is the filename of the keyring. Frequently a key
1322 tag may be given next, preceded by the token
1325 .BI "KEYMGMT private-keyring " file " key " tag " incorrect-public-key"
1326 The private key doesn't record the correct corresponding public key.
1328 .BI "KEYMGMT public-keyring " file " key " tag " algorithm-mismatch"
1329 A peer's public key doesn't request the same algorithms as our private
1332 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " bad-tag-length " len
1333 The key attributes specify the length of MAC tag as
1335 but this is an invalid value \(en either too large or not a multiple of
1338 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " bad-tag-length-string " str
1339 The key attributes contain
1341 where a MAC tag length was expected. The key was generated wrongly.
1343 .BI "KEYMGMT private-keyring " file " key " tag " changed-group"
1344 The private keyring has been changed, but the new private key can't be
1345 used because it uses a different group for Diffie\(enHellman key
1348 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " io-error " ecode " " message
1349 A system error occurred while opening or reading the keyring file.
1351 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " unknown-bulk-transform " bulk
1352 The key specifies the use of an unknown bulk-crypto transform
1354 Maybe the key was generated wrongly, or maybe the version of Catacomb
1355 installed is too old.
1357 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " unknown-cipher " cipher
1358 The key specifies the use of an unknown symmetric encryption algorithm
1360 Maybe the key was generated wrongly, or maybe the version of
1361 Catacomb installed is too old.
1363 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " unknown-group-type " type
1364 The key specifies the use of a Diffie\(enHellman group of an unknown
1366 Maybe the key was generated wrongly, or maybe the version of
1370 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " unknown-hash " hash
1371 The key specifies the use of an unknown hash function
1373 Maybe the key was generated wrongly, or maybe the version of Catacomb
1374 installed is too old.
1376 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " unknown-mac " mac
1377 The key specifies the use of an unknown message authentication code
1379 Maybe the key was generated wrongly, or maybe the version of Catacomb
1380 installed is too old.
1382 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " unknown-mgf-cipher " mgf
1383 The key specifies the use of an unknown symmetric encryption function
1385 for mask generation. Maybe the key was generated wrongly, or maybe the
1386 version of Catacomb installed is too old.
1388 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " unknown-serialization-format " ser
1389 The key specifies the use of an unknown serialization format
1391 for hashing group elements. Maybe the key was generated wrongly, or
1392 maybe the version of Catacomb installed is too old.
1394 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " no-hmac-for-hash " hash
1395 No message authentication code was given explicitly, and there's no
1396 implementation of HMAC for the selected hash function
1399 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " " alg " " name " no-key-size " hashsz
1406 The named algorithm requires more key material than the hash function
1407 can provide. You must change either the hash function, or the cipher or
1410 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key " tag " mgf " mgf " restrictive-key-schedule"
1411 The cipher selected for mask-generation is unsuitable because it can't
1412 accept arbitrary-sized keys.
1414 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " key-not-found " tag
1417 couldn't be found in the keyring.
1419 .BI "KEYMGMT " which "-keyring " file " line " line " " message
1420 The contents of the keyring file are invalid. There may well be a bug
1425 These indicate problems during key-exchange. Many indicate either a bug
1426 in the server (either yours or the remote one), or some kind of attack
1427 in progress. All name a
1429 as the second token: this is the peer the packet is apparently from,
1430 though it may have been sent by an attacker instead.
1432 In the descriptions below,
1434 is one of the tokens
1443 .BI "KX " peer " algorithms-mismatch local-private-key " privtag " peer-public-key " pubtag
1444 The algorithms specified in the peer's public key
1446 don't match the ones described in the private key
1449 .BI "KX " peer " bad-expected-reply-log"
1452 uses in its protocol contain a check value which proves that the
1453 challenge is honest. This message indicates that the check value
1454 supplied is wrong: someone is attempting to use bogus challenges to
1457 server to leak private key information. No chance!
1459 .BI "KX " peer " decrypt-failed reply\fR|\fBswitch-ok"
1460 A symmetrically-encrypted portion of a key-exchange message failed to
1463 .BI "KX " peer " invalid " msgtoken
1464 A key-exchange message was malformed. This almost certainly indicates a
1467 .BI "KX " peer " incorrect cookie\fR|\fBswitch-rq\fR|\fBswitch-ok"
1468 A message didn't contain the right magic data. This may be a replay of
1469 some old exchange, or random packets being sent in an attempt to waste
1472 .BI "KX " peer " " which "-key-expired"
1473 The local private key or the peer's public key (distinguished by
1475 has expired. Either you or the peer's maintainer should have arranged
1476 for a replacement before now.
1478 .BI "KX " peer " sending-cookie"
1479 We've received too many bogus pre-challenge messages. Someone is trying
1480 to flood us with key-exchange messages and make us waste CPU on doing
1481 hard asymmetric crypto sums.
1483 .BI "KX " peer " unexpected " msgtoken
1484 The message received wasn't appropriate for this stage of the key
1485 exchange process. This may mean that one of our previous packets got
1488 it may simply mean that the peer has recently restarted.
1490 .BI "KX " peer " unknown-challenge"
1491 The peer is asking for an answer to a challenge which we don't know
1492 about. This may mean that we've been inundated with challenges from
1493 some malicious source
1494 .I who can read our messages
1495 and discarded the valid one.
1497 .BI "KX " peer " unknown-message 0x" nn
1498 An unknown key-exchange message arrived.
1500 These are largely concerned with management of peers and the low-level
1501 details of the network protocol. The second token is usually the name of
1504 if none is relevant.
1506 .BI "PEER " peer " bad-packet no-type"
1507 An empty packet arrived. This is very strange.
1509 .BI "PEER " peer " bad-packet unknown-category 0x" nn
1510 The message category
1512 (in hex) isn't understood. Probably a strange random packet from
1513 somewhere; could be an unlikely bug.
1515 .BI "PEER " peer " bad-packet unknown-type 0x" nn
1518 (in hex) isn't understood. Probably a strange random packet from
1519 somewhere; could be an unlikely bug.
1521 .BI "PEER " peer " corrupt-encrypted-ping"
1522 The peer sent a ping response which matches an outstanding ping, but its
1523 payload is wrong. There's definitely a bug somewhere.
1525 .BI "PEER " peer " corrupt-transport-ping"
1526 The peer (apparently) sent a ping response which matches an outstanding
1527 ping, but its payload is wrong. Either there's a bug, or the bad guys
1528 are playing tricks on you.
1530 .BI "PEER " peer " decrypt-failed"
1531 An encrypted IP packet failed to decrypt. It may have been mangled in
1532 transit, or may be a very old packet from an expired previous session
1533 key. There is usually a considerable overlap in the validity periods of
1534 successive session keys, so this shouldn't occur unless the key exchange
1535 takes ages or fails.
1537 .BI "PEER " peer " malformed-encrypted-ping"
1538 The peer sent a ping response which is hopelessly invalid. There's
1539 definitely a bug somewhere.
1541 .BI "PEER " peer " malformed-transport-ping"
1542 The peer (apparently) sent a ping response which is hopelessly invalid.
1543 Either there's a bug, or the bad guys are playing tricks on you.
1545 .BI "PEER " peer " packet-build-failed"
1546 There wasn't enough space in our buffer to put the packet we wanted to
1547 send. Shouldn't happen.
1549 .BI "PEER \- socket-read-error " ecode " " message
1550 An error occurred trying to read an incoming packet.
1552 .BI "PEER " peer " socket-write-error " ecode " " message
1553 An error occurred attempting to send a network packet. We lost that
1556 .BI "PEER " peer " unexpected-encrypted-ping 0x" id
1557 The peer sent an encrypted ping response whose id doesn't match any
1558 outstanding ping. Maybe it was delayed for longer than the server was
1559 willing to wait, or maybe the peer has gone mad.
1561 .BI "PEER \- unexpected-source " address\fR...
1562 A packet arrived from
1564 (a network address \(en see above), but no peer is known at that
1565 address. This may indicate a misconfiguration, or simply be a result of
1566 one end of a connection being set up before the other.
1568 .BI "PEER " peer " unexpected-transport-ping 0x" id
1569 The peer (apparently) sent a transport ping response whose id doesn't
1570 match any outstanding ping. Maybe it was delayed for longer than the
1571 server was willing to wait, or maybe the peer has gone mad; or maybe
1572 there are bad people trying to confuse you.
1573 .SS "PRIVSEP warnings"
1574 These indicate problems with the privilege-separation helper process.
1575 (The server tries to drop its privileges when it starts up, leaving a
1576 privileged helper process behind which will create and hand over tunnel
1577 descriptors on request, but hopefully not do anything else especially
1578 dangerous. Tunnel descriptors are not completely safe, but this is
1579 probably better than nothing.)
1581 .BI "PRIVSEP child-exited " rc
1582 The helper process exited normally with status
1584 Status 0 means that it thought the server didn't want it any more; 1
1585 means that it was invoked incorrectly; 127 means that some system call
1588 .BI "PRIVSEP child-killed " sig
1589 The helper process was killed by signal number
1592 .BI "PRIVSEP child-died " status
1593 The helper process died in some unexpected way;
1594 .I status is the raw status code returned by
1596 because the server didn't understand how to decode it.
1598 .BI "PRIVSEP helper-died"
1599 A tunnel driver requires a tunnel descriptor from the helper, but the
1600 helper isn't running so this won't work.
1602 .BI "PRIVSEP helper-read-error " ecode " " message
1603 The server failed to read a response from the helper process.
1605 .BI "PRIVSEP helper-short-read"
1606 The helper process didn't send back enough data, and has likely crashed.
1608 .BI "PRIVSEP helper-write-error " ecode " " message
1609 The server failed to send a message to the helper process.
1611 .BI "PRIVSEP no-fd-from-helper"
1612 The helper process sent back a positive response, but didn't include the
1613 requested tunnel descriptor.
1615 .BI "PRIVSEP unknown-response-code"
1616 The helper process sent back an incomprehensible reply. It's probably
1617 very confused and may crash.
1618 .SS "SERVER warnings"
1619 These indicate problems concerning the server process as a whole.
1621 .BI "SERVER ignore signal " name
1622 A signal arrived, but the server ignored it. Currently this happens for
1624 because that's a popular way of telling daemons to re-read their
1625 configuration files. Since
1627 re-reads its keyrings automatically and has no other configuration
1628 files, it's not relevant, but it seemed better to ignore the signal than
1631 .BI "SERVER quit signal " \fR[\fInn\fR|\fIname\fR]
1632 A signal arrived and
1636 .BI "SERVER quit admin-request"
1637 A client of the administration interface issued a
1641 .BI "SERVER quit foreground-eof"
1642 The server is running in foreground mode (the
1644 option), and encountered end-of-file on standard input.
1646 .BI "SERVER select-error " ecode " " message
1647 An error occurred in the server's main event loop. This is bad: if it
1648 happens too many times, the server will abort.
1650 .BI "SERVER waitpid-error " ecode " " message
1651 The server was informed that one of its child processes had exited, but
1652 couldn't retrieve the child's status.
1654 These are concerned with the symmetric encryption and decryption
1657 .BI "SYMM replay old-sequence"
1658 A packet was received with an old sequence number. It may just have
1659 been delayed or duplicated, or it may have been an attempt at a replay
1662 .BI "SYMM replay duplicated-sequence"
1663 A packet was received with a sequence number we've definitely seen
1664 before. It may be an accidental duplication because the 'net is like
1665 that, or a deliberate attempt at a replay.
1667 These concern the workings of the system-specific tunnel driver. The
1668 second token is the name of the tunnel interface in question, or
1672 .BI "TUN \- bsd no-tunnel-devices"
1673 The driver couldn't find an available tunnel device. Maybe if you
1676 files, it will work.
1678 .BI "TUN \- " tun-name " open-error " device " " ecode " " message
1679 An attempt to open the tunnel device file
1683 .BI "TUN \- linux config-error " ecode " " message
1684 Configuring the Linux TUN/TAP interface failed.
1686 .BI "TUN " ifname " " tun-name " read-error " ecode " " message
1687 Reading from the tunnel device failed.
1689 .BI "TUN " ifname " " tun-name " write-error " ecode " " message
1690 Writing from the tunnel device failed.
1692 .BI "TUN " ifname " slip bad-escape"
1693 The SLIP driver encountered a escaped byte it wasn't expecting to see.
1694 The erroneous packet will be ignored.
1696 .BI "TUN " ifname " slip eof"
1697 The SLIP driver encountered end-of-file on its input descriptor.
1698 Pending data is discarded, and no attempt is made to read any more data
1699 from that interface ever.
1701 .BI "TUN " ifname " slip escape-end"
1702 The SLIP driver encountered an escaped `end' marker. This probably
1703 means that someone's been sending it junk. The erroneous packet is
1704 discarded, and we hope that we've rediscovered synchronization.
1706 .BI "TUN \- slip fork-error " ecode " " message
1707 The SLIP driver encountered an error forking a child process while
1708 allocating a new dynamic interface.
1710 .BI "TUN \- slip no-slip-interfaces"
1711 The driver ran out of static SLIP interfaces. Either preallocate more,
1712 or use dynamic SLIP interface allocation.
1714 .BI "TUN " ifname " slip overflow"
1715 The SLIP driver gave up reading a packet because it got too large.
1717 .BI "TUN \- slip pipe-error " ecode " " message
1718 The SLIP driver encountered an error creating pipes while allocating a
1719 new dynamic interface.
1721 .BI "TUN \- slip read-ifname-failed " ecode " " message
1722 The SLIP driver encountered an error reading the name of a dynamically
1723 allocated interface. Maybe the allocation script is broken.
1725 .BI "TUN \- unet config-error " ecode " " message
1726 Configuring the Linux Unet interface failed. Unet is obsolete and
1727 shouldn't be used any more.
1729 .BI "TUN \- unet getinfo-error " ecode " " message
1730 Reading information about the Unet interface failed. Unet is obsolete
1731 and shouldn't be used any more.
1733 These are issued by administration clients using the
1737 .BI "USER " tokens\fR...
1738 An administration client issued a warning.
1741 .\"--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1744 .SS "Command responses"
1747 .BI "BGFAIL " tag " " tokens \fR...
1748 .BI "BGINFO " tag " " tokens \fR...
1750 .BI "FAIL " tokens \fR...
1751 .BI "INFO " tokens \fR...
1756 .\"--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1762 .IR "The Trivial IP Encryption Protocol" .
1764 .\"--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1767 Mark Wooding, <mdw@distorted.org.uk>
1769 .\"----- That's all, folks --------------------------------------------------
~mdw / tripe / blob