1 The server uses a protocol provided by libassuan to communicate with a client.
2 An OK response is returned when a command succeeds or ERR along with an error
3 code and description, if not. When a command requests data for retrieval
4 (e.g., GET) the output is prefixed with D then a single SPACE then the actual
5 data followed by an OK response. Read the libassuan docs for more info about
12 OPEN <filename> [<key>]
13 Opens <filename> using <key>. If file is not found on the file-system, then
14 a new document will be created. If the file is found, it is looked for in
15 the file cache for an existing key. When found, the existing key will be
16 used for decryption. When not found, pinentry(1) will be used to retrieve
17 the key (see OPTIONS below). You can also open another file using the
22 Writes the XML document to disk. The file written to is the file that was
23 opened using the OPEN command. If <key> is not specified then the
24 currently cached key will be used. If the file is a new file or the file
25 isn't found in the file cache, <key> may be used. If <key> is not
26 specified then pinentry(1) will be used to retrieve the key (see OPTIONS
29 When the SAVE command is sent and a key is found in the file cache, the
30 cached key will be used. To reset the key to a new value, send the
31 CLEARCACHE command followed by the filename, then send the SAVE command to
36 An OK response is returned if the specified file is in the file cache.
39 CLEARCACHE [<filename>]
40 Clears a file cache entry. This will forget the timeout and key for all or
44 CACHETIMEOUT <seconds> <filename>
45 Specify the number of seconds the specified file will be cached. -1 will
46 keep the cache entry forever, 0 will require the key each time the OPEN or
47 SAVE commands are used. Also see the "cache_timeout" configuration option.
50 LIST [[!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]]
51 If no element path is given then a list of root elements is returned with
52 the data response code. If given, then all reachable elements for the
53 specified element path are returned. Each element in the path is prefixed
54 with the literal '!' character when the element contains no "target"
55 attribute (See THE TARGET ATTRIBUTE below).
57 If only a single element is specified and without the literal '!' prefix,
58 both the literal element tree and the element target (if any) tree will be
62 REALPATH [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
63 Resolves all "target" attributes of the specified element path and returns
64 the result with a data response.
67 STORE [!]element[[<TAB>[!]element[...]]<TAB>[content]]
68 Creates a new element tree or modifies the content of an existing element
69 path. If only a single element is specified, a new root element is
70 created. Otherwise, elements are TAB delimited and the content will be set
71 to the last TAB delimited argument. If no content is specified after the
72 last TAB then the content for the last specified element will be removed
73 or the content will be empty when creating a new element.
75 The only restriction of element names is that they not begin with a
76 punctuation character (the literal '!' character is an exception) or digit
77 and not contain any whitespace. There is no whitespace between the TAB
78 delimited elements. It is recommended that the value be base 64 encoded to
79 prevent libXML and pwmd parsing errors.
81 PWMD reads the element path from the client via the Assuan INQUIRE
82 protocol response. The STORE command is sent by itself without arguments,
83 then the server responds with INQUIRE. The client then sends the element
84 path prefixed by a "D " data response. When finished, the client
85 sends "END" on an empty line. This is needed so an element path and value
86 can be more than 1000 bytes long, the Assuan protocol line limit.
89 DELETE [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
90 Removes an element tree from the specified element path.
93 GET [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
94 Retrieves the content of the specified element path. The data is returned
98 ATTR SET|GET|DELETE|LIST [<attribute>] [!]<arg1> [!][arg2]
99 ATTR SET attribute [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]] attribute_value
100 Stores or updates an attribute value to an element path.
102 ATTR DELETE attribute [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
103 Removes an attribute from an element path.
105 ATTR LIST [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
106 Gets a list of attributes from an element path.
108 ATTR GET attribute [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
109 Gets the value of an attribute from an element path.
111 The "name" attribute (case sensitive) cannot be removed with ATTR DELETE
112 if the element path is only a root element. Although it can be SET to
113 change the root element name.
115 Also see THE TARGET ATTRIBUTE below.
119 Shows the in memory XML document with indenting.
122 GETCONFIG <parameter>
123 Returns the value of a pwmd configuration variable with a data response.
124 If no file is open then the default value will be returned. The "key" and
125 "key_file" variables are ignored.
129 Sets an option NAME to VALUE. See OPTIONS below.
133 Closes the connection. Use the SAVE command before this command as any
134 changes will be lost.
137 If a command fails then the ERR response is returned followed by a protocol
138 error code and description. See src/pwmd_error.h or libpwmd/libpwmd.h for
144 Commands that require a key that is neither cached or specified will use
145 pinentry(1) to retrieve the key. Pinentry options can be set with the OPTION
146 command followed by the option name and value. Below are the available
149 NAME VALUE Description
150 ---------|----------|----------------------------------------------------
151 PINENTRY 0|1 When 0, disable use of pinentry. The default is 1.
152 PATH <string> Full path to the pinentry binary. The default is
153 specified at compile time (/usr/bin/pinentry).
154 TTYNAME <string> Same as the --ttyname option to pinentry(1).
155 TTYTYPE <string> Same as the --ttytype option to pinentry(1).
156 DISPLAY <string> Same as the --display option to pinentry(1).
157 TITLE <string> Sets the title string of the dialog.
158 PROMPT <string> Sets the prompt string of the dialog.
159 DESC <string> Sets the error or description string of the dialog.
160 TIMEOUT <N> Terminates pinentry(1) after the elapsed number of
163 When pinentry is used with the SAVE command the key will be asked for
164 confirmation. If the confirmation fails, the process is started over again
165 until either the keys match or until Cancel is selected. The OPEN command will
166 only ask for the key once without retrying on failure. It is up to the client
167 to retry the OPEN command. Empty keys are allowed.
169 There is also a CLIENT option that contains other sub-options. The format is
170 OPTION CLIENT NAME=VALUE, where NAME is one of:
172 NAME VALUE Description
173 ---------|----------|----------------------------------------------------
174 NAME <string> Associates the thread ID of the connection with the
175 specified textual representation. Useful for
176 debugging log messages.
181 Some commands send a status message to the client when successful or as a
182 progress indicator. Status messages begin with a KEYWORD (see below) followed
183 by the status description. What messages are sent, and how often, depend on
184 configuration settings:
187 --------------------------------
207 KEYWORD OUTPUT FORMAT
208 ---------------------------------
209 CACHE <slots used> <slots available>
210 ENCRYPT <iterations so far>
211 DECRYPT <iterations so far>
212 COMPRESS <bytes so far> <total bytes>
213 DECOMPRESS <bytes so far> <total bytes>
214 LOCKED When another thread owns the file/key cache lock,
215 this is sent once and the thread blocks until the
216 lock can be obtained and the command completes.
217 KEEPALIVE Sent the after every configured amount of seconds.
218 This lets the client know that the connection is still
219 active for commands that take a while to complete.
224 There is a special attribute "target" (case sensitive) that can be set with
225 ATTR SET. The value of this attribute is an element path somewhere else in the
228 ATTR SET target [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[..]] [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[..]]
229 arg1^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ arg2^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
231 If the element path of the "target" attribute (arg1) doesn't exist, it is
232 created. This is the only time the ATTR command will create elements.
234 When a protocol command requests <arg1> as the element path, the remaining
235 elements after the element with the "target" attribute will be appended to
236 <arg2>. This is useful if you have elements that share the same data. If the
237 target is modified, the other elements "pointing" to the target will have the
238 same content. To get the real or literal element and ignore any "target"
239 attributes, prefix an element with a '!' character. Here's an example:
243 C> D host1<TAB>username<TAB>original username
248 C> D host2<TAB>smtp<TAB>username<TAB>someuser
251 C> ATTR SET target host1<TAB>username host2<TAB>smtp<TAB>username
254 Now host1's "target" attribute will be used:
256 C> GET host1<TAB>username
260 If you want host1's username, prefix the element of the "target" attribute
263 C> GET host1<TAB>!username
264 S> D original username
267 The target value (arg2) element can also have a "target" attribute:
269 C> ATTR SET target new_account host1
271 C> GET new_account<TAB>username
275 The value of the "target" attribute may also be prefixed with a '!' to set the
276 target to the actual element path and not a target of the element path:
278 C> ATTR DELETE target !new_account
280 C> ATTR SET target new_account<TAB>username host1<TAB>!username
282 C> GET new_account<TAB>username
283 S> D original username
286 The "target" attribute is considered for all commands that support an element
287 path. If the target element has been renamed or deleted afterwards, the
290 Clients should be careful of creating target loops. See the "recursion_depth"
291 configuration parameter for details.
294 XML DOCUMENT STRUCTURE
295 ----------------------
296 When importing an XML data file with the -I command line option, the document
297 should have the following DTD:
299 <?xml version="1.0"?>
301 <!ELEMENT accounts (account*)>
302 <!ATTLIST account name CDATA #REQUIRED>
305 "accounts" is the document root element while each root element mentioned in
306 the protocol commands use the "account" element. So if you have a root element
307 "isp" to be shown with the LIST command ("LIST isp"), the document structure
316 The DUMP command can be useful to show the current document structure.
319 Questions, bugs or feature requests can be sent to Ben Kibbey