1 The server uses a protocol provided by libassuan to communicate with the
2 client. An OK response is returned when a command succeeds or ERR along with
3 an error code and description, if not. When a command requests data for
4 retrieval (e.g., GET) the output is prefixed with D then a single SPACE then
5 the actual data followed by a response. Read the libassuan docs for more info
11 OPEN [--lock] [--inquire | --pinentry=[0|1]] [--base64] <filename> [<key>]
12 Opens <filename> using <key>. If the filename is not found on the
13 file-system, then a new document will be created. If the file is found, it
14 is looked for in the file cache for an existing key. When found and no key
15 was specified, the cached key will be used for decryption (if encrypted).
16 When not found, pinentry(1) will be used to retrieve the key (see OPTIONS
17 below). When using an empty or NULL key and you want to avoid the pinentry
18 dialog, set ENABLE_PINENTRY to 0 (see OPTIONS below). You may also open a
19 different file using the same connection.
21 When the --lock option is passed then the file mutex will be locked as if
22 the LOCK command had been sent after the file had been opened.
24 The --inquire option disables pinentry usage and uses an inquire to
25 retrieve the filename and key arguments.
27 Using pinentry for passphrase retrieval can be enabled or disabled by
28 specifying the --pinentry option with the value 1 or 0 respectively. When
29 no value is specified then the configuration file value will be used. If
30 the passphrase is invalid then it is up to the client whether to retry or
31 not. To decrypt an encrypted file with an empty passphrase and avoid the
32 pinentry dialog, disable pinentry.
34 When a "key_file" configuration parameter has been set for the current
35 file and there is no cache entry, then an --inquire must be used for both
36 the OPEN and SAVE commands to retrieve or set the passphrase.
38 The --base64 option specifies that the key is Base64 encoded.
41 SAVE [--reset] [--inquire | --pinentry=[0|1]] [--cipher=[<string>]]
42 [--iterations=[N]] [--base64] [<key>]
43 Writes the XML document to disk. The file written to is the file that was
44 opened using the OPEN command. If <key> is not specified then the
45 currently cached key will be used. If the file is a new file or the file
46 isn't found in the file cache then <key> will be used. If both <key> is
47 not specified and the file is not cached then pinentry(1) will be used to
48 retrieve the key (see below) unless the configured number of iterations is
49 0 in which case the file will be saved unencrypted.
51 Note that when both <key> is specified and the configured number of
52 iterations is 0 the iterations for the current filename will be reset to
53 1. This is to be on the safe side and prevent misuse.
55 The --iterations option can be used to change the number of encryption
56 iterations for the opened file. When 0, then no encryption will be
57 performed. When this option is either not passed or is specified without a
58 value then previous setting obtained from the file header will be used.
60 You can specify an alternate cipher to encrypt with by specifying a cipher
61 string with the --cipher option. Omitting the string uses the current
62 cipher of the opened file or the default if the file is a new one. The
63 default is specified in the configuration file. See pwmd(1) for available
66 Using pinentry for passphrase retrieval can be enabled or disabled by
67 specifying the --pinentry option with the value 1 or 0, respectively. When
68 no value is specified then the configuration file value will be used.
69 When enabled and the passphrase confirmation fails, the pinentry process
70 is started over again until either the passphrases match or until the
71 input is canceled by the user. To save with encryption and with an empty
72 passphrase, disable pinentry.
74 When --reset is specified then the cached passphrase for the opened file
75 will be cleared before doing the actual SAVE as if the CLEARCACHE command
78 The --inquire option disables pinentry usage and uses an inquire to
81 When a "key_file" configuration parameter has been set for the current
82 file and there is no cache entry, then an --inquire must be used for both
83 the OPEN and SAVE commands to retrieve or set the passphrase.
85 The --base64 option specifies that the key is Base64 encoded.
89 An OK response is returned if the specified file is found in the file
90 cache. If not found in the cache but exists on the filesystem,
91 GPG_ERR_NOT_FOUND is returned. Otherwise a filesystem error is returned.
94 CLEARCACHE [<filename>]
95 Clears a file cache entry. This will forget the timeout and key for all or
96 the specified file. Always returns an OK response.
99 CACHETIMEOUT <filename> <seconds>
100 Specify the number of seconds the specified file will be cached. -1 will
101 keep the cache entry forever, 0 will require the key each time the OPEN or
102 SAVE commands are used. Also see the "cache_timeout" configuration
103 parameter. Returns ERR if the filename isn't cached or if the timeout is
104 invalid. OK otherwise.
107 LIST [--no-recurse] [--verbose] [[!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]]
108 If no element path is given then a newline separated list of root elements
109 is returned with the data response. If given, then all reachable elements
110 for the specified element path are returned unless the --no-recurse option
111 is specified. If specified, only the child elements of the element path
112 are returned without recursing into grandchildren. Each element in the
113 path is prefixed with the literal '!' character when the element contains
114 no "target" attribute. See THE TARGET ATTRIBUTE below.
116 When the --verbose option is passed then each element path returned in the
117 list will have a single space character followed by either a 0 or 1
118 appended to it. When 0, the element path has no children, otherwise it
119 does have children. When used with the --no-recurse option this may be
120 useful to limit the amount of data transferred to the client.
123 REALPATH [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
124 Resolves all "target" attributes of the specified element path and returns
125 the result with a data response.
128 STORE [!]element[[<TAB>[!]element[...]]<TAB>[content]]
129 Creates a new element tree or modifies the content of an existing element
130 path. If only a single element is specified, a new root element is
131 created. Otherwise, elements are TAB delimited and the content will be set
132 to the last TAB delimited argument. If no content is specified after the
133 last TAB then the content for the last specified element will be removed
134 or empty when creating a new element.
136 The only restriction of an element name is that it not contain whitespace
137 or begin with the literal element character '!' unless specifying a
138 literal element. There is no whitespace between the TAB delimited
139 elements. It is recommended that the value or content be base 64 encoded
140 when it contains control or TAB characters to prevent XML and pwmd parsing
143 PWMD reads the element path from the client via the Assuan INQUIRE
144 protocol response: the STORE command is sent by itself without arguments,
145 then the server responds with INQUIRE. The client then sends the element
146 path prefixed with a "D " data response. The element path may extend
147 multiple lines but each must be prefixed with the data "D " response. When
148 finished, the client sends "END" on an empty line. This is needed so an
149 element path and value can be more than 1000 bytes long, the Assuan
153 RENAME [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]] <value>
154 Renames the specified element to the new value. If an element of the same
155 name as the value exists then it will be overwritten.
158 COPY [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]] [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
159 Copies the entire element tree starting from the child node of the source
160 element path, to the destination element path. If the destination element
161 path doesn't exist then it is created; otherwise it is overwritten.
163 Note that attributes from the source element path are merged into the
164 destination element path when the destination element path exists. When an
165 attribute of the same name exists in both the source and destination
166 element paths then the destination attribute will be updated to the source
170 MOVE [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]] [[!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]]
171 Moves the source element path to the destination element path. If the
172 destination is not specified then it will be moved to the root of the
173 document. If the destination is specified and exists then it will be
174 overwritten; otherwise it will be created.
177 DELETE [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
178 Removes the specified element path from the XML document.
181 GET [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
182 Retrieves the content or XML text node of the specified element path. The
183 data is returned with a data response.
186 ATTR SET|GET|DELETE|LIST [<attribute>] [!]<arg1> [!][arg2]
187 ATTR SET attribute [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]] [attribute_value]
188 Stores or updates an attribute name and optional value of an element
191 ATTR DELETE attribute [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
192 Removes an attribute from an element path.
194 ATTR LIST [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
195 Gets a newline separated list of attributes from an element path.
197 ATTR GET attribute [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]
198 Gets the value of an attribute from an element path.
200 The "_name" attribute (case sensitive) cannot be removed with ATTR DELETE
201 if the element path is the root element. Although it can be SET to change
202 the element name but only if the destination element name doesn't exist.
203 Use the RENAME command for that instead.
205 There is another special attribute "_mtime" which is updated each time an
206 element is modified: either by storing content, editing attributes or
207 deleting a child element.
209 Also see THE TARGET ATTRIBUTE below.
212 XPATH <expression>[<TAB>[value]]
213 Evaluates an XPath expression. If no value argument is specified, it is
214 assumed the expression is a request to return a result. Otherwise, the
215 result is set to the value argument and the document is updated. If there
216 is no value after the <TAB> character, the value is assumed to be empty
217 and the document is updated.
220 XPATHATTR SET|DELETE <name> <expression>[<TAB>[<value>]]
221 Like the XPATH command but operates on element attributes and won't return
222 a result. For the SET operation the <value> is optional but the field is
223 required in which case the value will be empty.
226 IMPORT <content>[<TAB>[!]element[<TAB>[!]element[...]]]
227 Like the STORE command (an INQUIRE), but the content argument is raw XML
228 data. The content is created as a child of the specified element path. If
229 an element of the element path does not exist then it is created. If no
230 element path is specified then the content must begin with an pwmd DTD
233 Note that the new content must begin with an XML element node. Also note
234 that an existing child node of the same element name as the root node of
235 the imported content will be overwritten.
239 Shows the in memory XML document with indenting. To dump a specific
240 element tree, use the XPATH command.
244 Locks the mutex associated with the opened file. This prevents other
245 clients from sending commands to the same opened file until the client
246 that sent this command either disconnects or sends the UNLOCK command.
250 Unlocks the file mutex which was locked with the LOCK command.
254 Retrieves the process id of the server.
257 GETCONFIG [filename] <parameter>
258 Returns the value of a pwmd configuration variable with a data response.
259 If no file has been opened then the value for the specified file or the
260 default from the "global" section will be returned. If a file has been
261 opened and no filename is specified, the value previously set with the SET
262 command, if any, will be returned.
264 If there is no such configuration parameter defined, GPG_ERR_NO_VALUE is
269 Returns the server version number with a data response.
273 Sets an option NAME to VALUE. See OPTIONS below for available options.
277 Resets option NAME to the value specified in the server configuration
278 file. Some options have no default and will be reset to NULL or 0
279 depending on the type.
283 Lists the contents of the configured data_directory. The result is a
284 newline separated list of filenames.
288 Closes the connection disconnecting the client. Unless the SAVE command
289 had been sent, any changes to the document will be lost.
294 Below are the available client options:
296 NAME |VALUE |Description
297 -----------------|----------|----------------------------------------------
298 ENABLE_PINENTRY 0|1 When 0, disable use of pinentry. The default
299 is 1. Deprecated. Use --pinentry instead.
300 PINENTRY_TIMEOUT <integer> The number of seconds before the pinentry
301 process will terminate while waiting for a
302 passphrase. The default is 20, 0 disables.
303 PINENTRTY_PATH <string> Full path to the pinentry binary. The default
304 is specified at compile time.
305 TTYNAME <string> Same as the --ttyname option to pinentry(1).
306 TTYTYPE <string> Same as the --ttytype option to pinentry(1).
307 DISPLAY <string> Same as the --display option to pinentry(1).
308 TITLE <string> Sets the title string of the pinentry dialog.
309 PROMPT <string> Sets the prompt string of the pinentry dialog.
310 DESC <string> Sets the error or description string of the
312 LC_CTYPE <string> Same as the --lc-ctype option to pinentry(1).
313 LC_MESSAGES <string> Same as the --lc-messages option to
315 NAME <string> Associates the thread ID of the connection
316 with the specified textual representation.
317 Useful for debugging log messages.
318 CIPHER <string> The cipher to use for the next SAVE.
319 Deprecated. Use --cipher instead.
320 ITERATIONS <integer> The number of encryption iterations to do
321 when the SAVE command is sent. An opened file
322 is needed when setting this option. The
323 CONFIG status message is sent after receiving
324 this command. Deprecated. Use --iterations
326 LOCK_ON_OPEN 0|1 If enabled then the file mutex will be locked
327 after a successful OPEN as if the LOCK
328 command had been sent. Deprecated. Use --lock
330 RC_ON_LOCKED 0|1 If enabled then return an error code instead
331 of a status message when the file mutex is
334 To reset an option to its default value, use the UNSET command.
339 Some commands send a status message to the client when successful or as a
340 progress indicator. Status messages begin with a KEYWORD followed by the
341 status description. What messages are sent, when, and how often, depend on
342 configuration settings:
345 -------------|-------------
369 KEYWORD |OUTPUT FORMAT
370 -----------|--------------------
372 Sent to each client after the file cache changes.
373 ENCRYPT <iterations so far> <total iterations>
374 DECRYPT <iterations so far> <total iterations>
375 COMPRESS <bytes so far> <total bytes>
376 DECOMPRESS <bytes so far> <total bytes>
377 XFER <bytes so far> <total bytes>
378 LOCKED When another thread owns a mutex lock that the current thread
379 needs, this is status message is sent and the thread will
380 block until the lock can be obtained.
381 KEEPALIVE Sent to each client after every configured amount of
382 seconds. It is important that this status message be sent to
383 test for client connectivity.
384 CONFIG Sent to each client after the configuration file has
385 been reloaded or has had a value changed that may affect other
388 Sent to each client after a client connects or disconnects.
393 There is a special attribute "target" (case sensitive) that can be set with
394 ATTR SET. The value of this attribute is an element path that is located
395 somewhere else in the XML document and are alot like how XPath treats
396 entities, but is needed do to how pwmd commands are implemented. The syntax
399 ATTR SET target [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[..]] [!]element[<TAB>[!]element[..]]
400 arg1^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ arg2^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
402 If the element path of where the "target" attribute (arg1) is to be stored
403 doesn't exist then it will be created. This is the only time the ATTR command
404 will create elements.
406 When a protocol command requests <arg1> as the element path then the path will
407 be modified to use <arg2>. This is useful if you need elements to share the
408 same data. If the target is modified, the other elements "pointing" to the
409 target will have the same content. To get the real or literal element and
410 ignore any "target" attributes, prefix the element with a '!' character.
411 Another way to think of this attribute is that it's like a symbolic link in a
412 filesystem. Here's an example XML document:
416 <element _name="child">value a</element>
418 <element _name="b" target="a">
419 <element _name="element_b">value b</element>
421 <element _name="c" target="b"/>
422 <element name="d" target="!b"/>
430 Notice that there is not an <element_b> listed. This is because of the
431 "target" attribute. The target attribute is recursive too, meaning that it can
432 point to other elements with a "target" attibute:
438 To get the value of an element with a "target" attribute without resolving the
439 target, prefix the element with the literal element character '!':
445 A "target" attribute value may also contain the literal element character:
451 The value of the "target" attribute isn't limited to only one element. It can
452 be a full element path with literal element characters placed where needed.
453 Use the REALPATH command to resolve all "target" attributes.
455 The "target" attribute is considered for all commands that support an element
456 path. If the target element has been renamed or deleted afterwards, the
459 Clients should be careful of creating target loops or targets which resolve to
460 themselves. See the "recursion_depth" configuration parameter for details.
463 XML DOCUMENT STRUCTURE
464 ----------------------
465 When importing an XML data file with the -I command line option, the document
466 should have the following DTD:
468 <?xml version="1.0"?>
470 <!ELEMENT pwmd (element*)>
471 <!ATTLIST element _name CDATA #REQUIRED>
474 The "pwmd" element is the document root node while all other elements of the
475 document have the name "element" with an attribute "_name" which is used as
476 the reference to the current "element". It's done this way so commonly used
477 characters that would normally cause the XML parser to throw an error while
478 parsing an XML element won't because the element name is stored as an XML
479 attribute which has more loose restrictions in their values. See THE TARGET
480 ATTRIBUTE for an example document.
483 Ben Kibbey <bjk@luxsci.net>
484 http://bjk.sourceforge.net/pwmd/