Provided by: mandos-client_1.7.19-1_amd64 
NAME
mandos-keygen - Generate key and password for Mandos client and server.
SYNOPSIS
mandos-keygen [--dir DIRECTORY | -d DIRECTORY]
[--type KEYTYPE | -t KEYTYPE]
[--length BITS | -l BITS]
[--subtype KEYTYPE | -s KEYTYPE]
[--sublength BITS | -L BITS]
[--name NAME | -n NAME]
[--email ADDRESS | -e ADDRESS]
[--comment TEXT | -c TEXT]
[--expire TIME | -x TIME]
[--force | -f]
mandos-keygen {--password | -p | --passfile FILE | -F FILE}
[--dir DIRECTORY | -d DIRECTORY]
[--name NAME | -n NAME] [--no-ssh | -S]
mandos-keygen {--help | -h}
mandos-keygen {--version | -v}
DESCRIPTION
mandos-keygen is a program to generate the OpenPGP key used by mandos-client(8mandos). The
key is normally written to /etc/mandos for later installation into the initrd image, but
this, and most other things, can be changed with command line options.
This program can also be used with the --password or --passfile options to generate a
ready-made section for clients.conf (see mandos-clients.conf(5)).
PURPOSE
The purpose of this is to enable remote and unattended rebooting of client host computer
with an encrypted root file system. See the section called “OVERVIEW” for details.
OPTIONS
--help, -h
Show a help message and exit
--dir DIRECTORY, -d DIRECTORY
Target directory for key files. Default is /etc/mandos.
--type TYPE, -t TYPE
Key type. Default is “RSA”.
--length BITS, -l BITS
Key length in bits. Default is 4096.
--subtype KEYTYPE, -s KEYTYPE
Subkey type. Default is “RSA” (Elgamal encryption-only).
--sublength BITS, -L BITS
Subkey length in bits. Default is 4096.
--email ADDRESS, -e ADDRESS
Email address of key. Default is empty.
--comment TEXT, -c TEXT
Comment field for key. Default is empty.
--expire TIME, -x TIME
Key expire time. Default is no expiration. See gpg(1) for syntax.
--force, -f
Force overwriting old key.
--password, -p
Prompt for a password and encrypt it with the key already present in either
/etc/mandos or the directory specified with the --dir option. Outputs, on standard
output, a section suitable for inclusion in mandos-clients.conf(8). The host name or
the name specified with the --name option is used for the section header. All other
options are ignored, and no key is created.
--passfile FILE, -F FILE
The same as --password, but read from FILE, not the terminal.
--no-ssh, -S
When --password or --passfile is given, this option will prevent mandos-keygen from
calling ssh-keyscan to get an SSH fingerprint for this host and, if successful, output
suitable config options to use this fingerprint as a checker option in the output.
This is otherwise the default behavior.
OVERVIEW
This is part of the Mandos system for allowing computers to have encrypted root file
systems and at the same time be capable of remote and/or unattended reboots. The computers
run a small client program in the initial RAM disk environment which will communicate with
a server over a network. All network communication is encrypted using TLS. The clients are
identified by the server using an OpenPGP key; each client has one unique to it. The
server sends the clients an encrypted password. The encrypted password is decrypted by the
clients using the same OpenPGP key, and the password is then used to unlock the root file
system, whereupon the computers can continue booting normally.
This program is a small utility to generate new OpenPGP keys for new Mandos clients, and
to generate sections for inclusion in clients.conf on the server.
EXIT STATUS
The exit status will be 0 if a new key (or password, if the --password option was used)
was successfully created, otherwise not.
ENVIRONMENT
TMPDIR
If set, temporary files will be created here. See mktemp(1).
FILES
Use the --dir option to change where mandos-keygen will write the key files. The default
file names are shown here.
/etc/mandos/seckey.txt
OpenPGP secret key file which will be created or overwritten.
/etc/mandos/pubkey.txt
OpenPGP public key file which will be created or overwritten.
/tmp
Temporary files will be written here if TMPDIR is not set.
BUGS
Please report bugs to the Mandos development mailing list: <mandos-dev@recompile.se>
(subscription required). Note that this list is public. The developers can be reached
privately at <mandos@recompile.se> (OpenPGP key fingerprint 153A 37F1 0BBA 0435 987F 2C4A
7223 2973 CA34 C2C4 for encrypted mail).
EXAMPLE
Normal invocation needs no options:
mandos-keygen
Create key in another directory and of another type. Force overwriting old key files:
mandos-keygen --dir ~/keydir --type RSA --force
Prompt for a password, encrypt it with the key in /etc/mandos and output a section
suitable for clients.conf.
mandos-keygen --password
Prompt for a password, encrypt it with the key in the client-key directory and output a
section suitable for clients.conf.
mandos-keygen --password --dir client-key
SECURITY
The --type, --length, --subtype, and --sublength options can be used to create keys of low
security. If in doubt, leave them to the default values.
The key expire time is not guaranteed to be honored by mandos(8).
SEE ALSO
intro(8mandos), gpg(1), mandos-clients.conf(5), mandos(8), mandos-client(8mandos), ssh-
keyscan(1)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2008-2018 Teddy Hogeborn, Björn Påhlsson
This manual page is part of Mandos.
Mandos is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the
GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3
of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
Mandos is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with Mandos. If
not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.