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<title>s6: the s6-fdholderd program</title>
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<a href="index.html">s6</a><br />
<a href="http://skarnet.org/software/">Software</a><br />
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<h1> The <tt>s6-fdholderd</tt> program </h1>
<p>
<tt>s6-fdholderd</tt> is the serving part of the
<a href="s6-fdholder-daemon.html">s6-fdholder-daemon</a>
fd-holding server.
It assumes that its stdin is a bound and listening Unix
domain socket;
it accepts connections from clients connecting to that socket,
and stores and retrieves file descriptors on their behalf.
</p>
<h2> Interface </h2>
<pre>
s6-fdholderd [ -1 ] [ -v verbosity ] [ -c <em>maxconn</em> ] [ -n <em>maxfds</em> ] [ -i <em>rulesdir</em> | -x <em>rulesfile</em> ]
</pre>
<ul>
<li> s6-fdholderd accepts connections from clients to an already
bound and listening SOCK_STREAM Unix domain socket which is its
standard input. </li>
<li> Depending on the verbosity level, it logs what it does to stderr. </li>
<li> It runs until killed by a signal (normally SIGTERM).
When s6-fdholderd is killed, all the fds it is currently holding are
lost; if they need to be preserved, the admin should make sure to
<a href="s6-fdholder-transferdump.html">transfer them</a> beforehand. </li>
<li> Client connections are short-lived. Clients generally perform
one operation, then disconnect. </li>
<li> Possible operations include:
<ul>
<li> <a href="s6-fdholder-storec.html">Storing a file descriptor</a> </li>
<li> <a href="s6-fdholder-retrievec.html">Retrieving a file descriptor</a> </li>
<li> <a href="s6-fdholder-deletec.html">Deleting a file descriptor</a> </li>
<li> <a href="s6-fdholder-listc.html">Listing stored file descriptor
identifiers</a> </li>
<li> <a href="s6-fdholder-getdumpc.html">Getting the whole server state</a> </li>
<li> <a href="s6-fdholder-setdumpc.html">Setting the whole server state</a>,
or more accurately adding a set of file descriptors to the already existing
state </li>
</ul> </li>
</ul>
<h2> Options </h2>
<ul>
<li> <tt>-1</tt> : write a newline to stdout, and close stdout,
right before entering the client-accepting loop.
If stdout is suitably redirected, this can be used by monitoring
programs to check when the server is accepting connections. See
The <a href="notifywhenup.html">this page</a> for more information on
readiness notification. </li>
<li> <tt>-v <em>verbosity</em></tt> : be more or less
verbose. <em>verbosity</em> can be 0 (quiet), 1 (normal), or 2 or more
(verbose). </li>
<li> <tt>-c <em>maxconn</em></tt> : accept at most
<em>maxconn</em> concurrent connections. Default is 16. It is
impossible to set it higher than the value of the S6_FDHOLDER_MAX macro,
i.e. 256. Client connections to this server are short-lived, so this
number needs not be too high. Every client connection eats up
one available file descriptor, so it is best for <em>maxconn</em> to be
as small as possible. </li>
<li> <tt>-n <em>maxfds</em></tt> : store at most
<em>maxfds</em> file descriptors. Default is 1000.
It is impossible to set it higher than the number of files that can
be opened by the s6-fdholderd process, minus a few descriptors
needed for correct operation. Before running s6-fdholderd, make sure to
<a href="s6-softlimit.html">properly adjust</a> the
<a href="http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/sys_resource.h.html">number
of openable files</a> of the current process. </li>
<li> <tt>-t <em>clienttimeout</em></tt> : disconnect a client
if it's in the middle of an operation and it has not written or read any
data in <em>clienttimeout</em> milliseconds. By default, <em>clienttimeout</em>
is 0, which means infinite. </li>
<li> <tt>-T <em>lameducktimeout</em></tt> : give clients
<em>lameducktimeout</em> milliseconds to finish their current operation
before exiting after receiving a SIGTERM. By default, <em>lameducktimeout</em>
is 0, which means infinite. </li>
<li> <tt>-x <em>rulesfile</em></tt> : read access rights
configuration from
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cdb_%28software%29">CDB</a>
file <em>rulesfile</em>. </li>
<li> <tt>-i <em>rulesdir</em></tt> : read access rights
configuration from the filesystem in directory <em>rulesdir</em>. </li>
</ul>
<h2> Signals </h2>
<ul>
<li> SIGTERM: enter lameduck mode, then exit when no more operation
is pending. </li>
<li> SIGHUP: reopen <em>rulesfile</em>, if s6-fdholderd has been run
with the <tt>-x</tt> option. It is not necessary to send s6-fdholderd
a SIGHUP when the <tt>-i</tt> option is used instead: configuration
changes in the filesystem are automatically picked up. </li>
</ul>
<h2> Identifiers </h2>
<ul>
<li> Every file descriptor is stored in the s6-fdholderd daemon via the
<a href="s6-fdholder-storec.html">s6-fdholder-storec</a> program, with
an <em>identifier</em>. That identifier is a zero-terminated character
string, containing 1 to 255 characters. </li>
<li> Any non-null character can be used in an identifier. Non-printable or
special characters will be quoted when printed by
<a href="s6-fdholder-listc.html">s6-fdholder-listc</a>. However, it is
recommended to only use reasonable characters in identifiers: clients
should be able to know at a glance what file descriptor is represented by
an identifier. Identifiers have no special meaning to the server. </li>
<li> A good convention is to use <tt>unix:/<em>path</em>/<em>to</em>/<em>socket</em></tt> for
Unix domain sockets and <tt><em>protocol</em>:<em>ip</em>:</em><em>port</em></tt>
for INET domain sockets. </li>
<li> An identifier is chosen by the storing client, within the limits of
what the server authorizes it to use. </li>
<li> The retrieving client must know the exact identifier corresponding to
a descriptor to be able to retrieve that descriptor. It must also be
authorized by the server. </li>
<li> When an identifier is in use, it cannot be used again to store another
descriptor. However, once the descriptor has been deleted or has expired,
it is possible to reuse the same identifier. </li>
</ul>
<a name="configuration">
<h2> Configuration </h2>
</a>
<p>
Before running s6-fdholderd (or its wrapper
<a href="s6-fdholder-daemon.html">s6-fdholder-daemon</a>), it is necessary
to configure it. This is done by a series of rules, or <em>ruleset</em>,
stored in either a <em>rulesfile</em> in the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cdb_%28software%29">CDB</a> format,
or in a <em>rulesdir</em>, i.e. a directory in the filesystem following a
certain format. s6-fdholderd will refuse to run if neither the <tt>-i</tt>
nor the <tt>-x</tt> option has been provided.
</p>
<p>
Rulesets can be converted between the <em>rulesdir</em> and
<em>rulesfile</em> formats with the
<a href="s6-accessrules-cdb-from-fs.html">s6-accessrules-cdb-from-fs</a> and
<a href="s6-accessrules-fs-from-cdb.html">s6-accessrules-fs-from-cdb</a>
conversion tools.
</p>
<h3> Rules format </h3>
<p>
The rules file, or rules directory, follows the
<a href="libs6/accessrules.html">s6 accessrules format</a> for uid and
gid checking. For every connecting client, s6-fdholderd matches the uid
and gid of the client against the provided ruleset, and determines what
the client is authorized to do.
</p>
<p>
By default, no client is allowed to do anything - not even
connect to the server. Even <tt>root</tt>, the super-user, will be denied
access. That is why
it is essential to create a sensible ruleset prior to running the server
in order to do anything useful.
</p>
<p>
The various rights that a client can have are the following (using a
rulesdir as an example, but a rulesfile works the same way):
</p>
<ul>
<li> Connect to the server. This is a prerequisite for
doing anything. It will allow a client to perform "public" operations,
ones that do not require specific access rights other than connecting.
(There are no such operations for now, but it could change in the
future; for now, when you allow a client to connect to the server,
make sure to give him other rights too.)
This right is given if an
<tt>allow</tt> file is found in one of the subdirectories checked by
<a href="libs6/accessrules.html#uidgid">s6_accessrules_keycheck_uidgid</a>.
For instance, to allow everyone to connect, touch
<tt><em>rulesdir</em>/uid/default/allow</tt>. </li>
</ul>
<p>
The other rights are defined in the "environment" part of the ruleset:
</p>
<ul>
<li> File descriptor storage rights. This will be checked for storage and
deletion of individual file descriptors. This right is given if a non-empty
file named <tt>S6_FDHOLDER_STORE_REGEX</tt> is found is the <tt>env/</tt>
subdirectory of one of the subdirectories checked by
<a href="libs6/accessrules.html#uidgid">s6_accessrules_keycheck_uidgid</a>.
This file should contain a single line, which will be interpreted as an
<a href="http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/V1_chap09.html#tag_09_04">extended
regular expression</a> by s6-fdholderd; the regular expression describes the
set of identifiers that the client is allowed to use to store file
descriptors. For instance, <tt>^unix:/tmp/</tt> indicates that a client
that matches this rule will be allowed to store or delete file descriptors
using any identifier starting with <tt>unix:/tmp/</tt>. </li>
<li> File descriptor retrieval rights. This will be checked for retrieval
of individual file descriptors. This right is given if a non-empty
file named <tt>S6_FDHOLDER_RETRIEVE_REGEX</tt> is found is the <tt>env/</tt>
subdirectory of one of the subdirectories checked by
<a href="libs6/accessrules.html#uidgid">s6_accessrules_keycheck_uidgid</a>.
This file should contain a single line, which will be interpreted as an
<a href="http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/V1_chap09.html#tag_09_04">extended
regular expression</a> by s6-fdholderd; the regular expression describes the
set of identifiers that the client is allowed to use to retrieve file
descriptors. For instance, <tt>^unix:/tmp/</tt> indicates that a client
that matches this rule will be allowed to retrieve file descriptors that are
identified by strings starting with <tt>unix:/tmp/</tt>. </li>
<li> Listing rights. This will be checked for clients wanting to list
the identifiers of the descriptors currently stored in the server. This
right is given if a non-empty file named <tt>S6_FDHOLDER_LIST</tt> is
found in the <tt>env/</tt> subdirectory of one of the subdirectories checked by
<a href="libs6/accessrules.html#uidgid">s6_accessrules_keycheck_uidgid</a>. </li>
<li> Dump reading rights. This will be checked for clients wanting to
copy the whole state of the server. This right is given if a non-empty
file named <tt>S6_FDHOLDER_GETDUMP</tt> is found is the <tt>env/</tt>
subdirectory of one of the subdirectories checked by
<a href="libs6/accessrules.html#uidgid">s6_accessrules_keycheck_uidgid</a>.
This is very powerful: you should only give this right to <tt>root</tt>,
or to a dedicated uid that is only used to perform dump transfers. </li>
<li> Dump writing rights. This will be checked for clients wanting to
copy an entire set of file descriptors into the server.
This right is given if a non-empty
file named <tt>S6_FDHOLDER_SETDUMP</tt> is found is the <tt>env/</tt>
subdirectory of one of the subdirectories checked by
<a href="libs6/accessrules.html#uidgid">s6_accessrules_keycheck_uidgid</a>.
This is very powerful: you should only give this right to <tt>root</tt>, or
to a dedicated uid that is only used to perform dump transfers. </li>
</ul>
<h3> Configuration examples </h3>
<p>
Assuming you want to run a s6-fdholderd daemon in the
<tt>/service/fdholder</tt> directory with the <tt>-i rules</tt> option,
you should:
</p>
<ul>
<li> Prepare the rules directory: <tt>mkdir /service/fdholder/rules ;
cd /service/fdholder/rules ; mkdir uid gid</tt> </li>
<li> Allow a few users, or everyone, to connect. To allow root to
connect: <tt>mkdir uid/0 ; touch uid/0/allow</tt>. To allow everyone
to connect: <tt>mkdir uid/default ; touch uid/default/allow</tt>. </li>
</ul>
<p>
Depending on your policy, you should now give certain rights to
certain users or groups. For instance:
</p>
<ul>
<li> To allow user number 50 to perform dump transfers from and to
this server: <tt>mkdir -p uid/50/env ; touch uid/50/allow ;
echo > uid/50/env/S6_FDHOLDER_GETDUMP ; echo >
uid/50/env/S6_FDHOLDER_SETDUMP</tt> </li>
<li> To allow user number 72 to store a descriptor under the name
<tt>foobar</tt> and <em>only</em> this name: <tt>mkdir -p uid/72/env ;
touch uid/72/allow ; echo '^foobar$' >
uid/72/env/S6_FDHOLDER_STORE_REGEX</tt> </li>
<li> To allow users having 23 as their primary group number to retrieve file
descriptors with an identifier containing <tt>foo</tt>, then one
character, then <tt>bar</tt>:
<tt>mkdir -p gid/23/env ; touch gid/23/allow ; echo foo.bar >
gid/23/env/S6_FDHOLDER_RETRIEVE_REGEX</tt> </li>
<li> To allow the same users to list all identifiers:
<tt>echo > gid/23/env/S6_FDHOLDER_LIST</tt> </li>
<li> To allow everyone to dump entire states into the server
(<strong>never do this!</strong> it's only an example):
<tt>mkdir -p uid/default/env ; touch uid/default/allow ;
echo > uid/default/env/S6_FDHOLDER_SETDUMP</tt>. </li>
</ul>
<h2> Notes </h2>
<ul>
<li> s6-fdholderd is meant to be execve'd into by a program that gets
the listening socket. That program is normally
<a href="s6-ipcserver-socketbinder.html">s6-ipcserver-socketbinder</a>,
which creates the socket itself; but it can be a different one if the
socket is to be obtained by another means, for instance if it has
been retrieved from another fd-holding daemon. </li>
<li> s6-fdholderd will store any open file descriptor, without
discriminating on its type. However, it makes more sense to store certain
file descriptor types than others: for instance, Unix domain or INET domain
sockets, or named pipes, are good candidates for fd-holding. On the other
hand, it makes little sense to fd-hold regular files, and if done anyway,
the results can be surprising, because the read/write file offset is
stored with the descriptor, and no automatic rewind is performed by the
daemon. </li>
<li> Despite there being access control for listing, the security of the
system should not depend on a client
not knowing what identifier a certain descriptor is stored under. If you
need to hold descriptors that only a few programs are supposed to access,
you can always run a separate s6-fdholderd instance in a private directory
with a configuration tailored to your needs
- and you can even make the name of the listening socket private.
s6-fdholderd is lightweight, you can start as many instances as you need,
and you can run them as long as you need then kill them with SIGTERM. </li>
<li> s6-fdholderd pre-allocates its storage at start, in the stack. It
uses a small amount of heap memory for communication with a client, but frees
it as soon as the client disconnects. It should never run out of memory in
normal usage, even if used intensively. </li>
</ul>
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