TINCD(8)

NAME

tincd -- tinc VPN daemon

SYNOPSIS

tincd [-cdDkKnLRU] [--config=DIR] [--no-detach] [--debug[=LEVEL]]
      [--kill[=SIGNAL]] [--net=NETNAME] [--generate-keys[=BITS]]
      [--mlock] [--logfile[=FILE]] [--pidfile=FILE] [--bypass-security]
      [--chroot] [--user=USER] [--help] [--version]

DESCRIPTION

This is the daemon of tinc, a secure virtual private network (VPN)
project. When started, tincd will read it's configuration file to determine what virtual subnets it has to serve and to what other tinc daemons it should connect. It will connect to the ethertap or tun/tap device and set up a socket for incoming connections. Optionally a script will be
executed to further configure the virtual device. If that succeeds, it
will detach from the controlling terminal and continue in the background, accepting and setting up connections to other tinc daemons that are part of the virtual private network. Under Windows (not Cygwin) tinc will
install itself as a service, which will be restarted automatically after reboots.

OPTIONS

-c, --config=DIR: Read configuration files from DIR instead of /etc/tinc/.
-D, --no-detach: Don't fork and detach. This will also disable the automatic
restart mechanism for fatal errors. If not mentioned otherwise, this will show log messages on the standard error output.
-d, --debug[=LEVEL]: Increase debug level or set it to LEVEL (see below).
-k, --kill[=SIGNAL]: Attempt to kill a running tincd (optionally with the specified SIGNAL instead of SIGTERM) and exit. Under Windows (not Cygwin) the optional argument is ignored, the service will always be
stopped and removed.
-n, --net=NETNAME: Connect to net NETNAME.
-K, --generate-keys[=BITS]: Generate public/private RSA keypair and exit. If BITS is omitted, the default length will be 2048 bits. When saving keys to
existing files, tinc will not delete the old keys, you have to
remove them manually.
-L, --mlock: Lock tinc into main memory. This will prevent sensitive data
like shared private keys to be written to the system swap
files/partitions.
--logfile[=FILE]: Write log entries to a file instead of to the system logging
facility. If FILE is omitted, the default is
/var/log/tinc.NETNAME.log.
--pidfile=FILE: Write PID to FILE instead of /var/run/tinc.NETNAME.pid. Under Windows this option will be ignored.
--bypass-security: Disables encryption and authentication of the meta protocol.
Only useful for debugging.
--chroot: With this option tinc chroots into the directory where network
config is located (/etc/tinc/NETNAME if -n option is used, or to the directory specified with -c option) after initialization.
--user=USER: setuid to the specified USER after initialization.
--help Display short list of options.
--version: Output version information and exit.

SIGNALS

ALRM Forces tincd to try to connect to all uplinks immediately. Usu: ally tincd attempts to do this itself, but increases the time it waits between the attempts each time it failed, and if tincd didn't succeed to connect to an uplink the first time after it
started, it defaults to the maximum time of 15 minutes.
HUP Partially rereads configuration files. Connections to hosts: whose host config file are removed are closed. New outgoing connections specified in tinc.conf will be made.
INT Temporarily increases debug level to 5. Send this signal again: to revert to the original level.
USR1 Dumps the connection list to syslog.
USR2 Dumps virtual network device statistics, all known nodes, edges: and subnets to syslog.
WINCH Purges all information remembered about unreachable nodes.

DEBUG LEVELS

The tinc daemon can send a lot of messages to the syslog. The higher the debug level, the more messages it will log. Each level inherits all messages of the previous level:

0 This will log a message indicating tincd has started along with a: version number. It will also log any serious error.
1 This will log all connections that are made with other tinc dae: mons.
2 This will log status and error messages from scripts and other: tinc daemons.
3 This will log all requests that are exchanged with other tinc: daemons. These include authentication, key exchange and connection list updates.
4 This will log a copy of everything received on the meta socket.
5 This will log all network traffic over the virtual private net: work.

FILES

/etc/tinc/: Directory containing the configuration files tinc uses. For more information, see tinc.conf(5).
/var/run/tinc.NETNAME.pid: The PID of the currently running tincd is stored in this file.

BUGS

The BindToInterface option may not work correctly.

The cryptography in tinc is not well tested yet. Use it at your own risk!

If you find any bugs, report them to tinc@tinc-vpn.org.

TODO

A lot, especially security auditing.

AUTHORS

Ivo Timmermans
Guus Sliepen <guus@tinc-vpn.org>

And thanks to many others for their contributions to tinc!

docs.sk

comprehensive documentation repository

See also