TINCD(8) BSD System Manager's Manual TINCD(8)NAMEtincd — tinc VPN daemon
SYNOPSIStincd [-cdDkKnoLRU] [--config=DIR] [--no-detach] [--debug[=LEVEL]]
[--kill[=SIGNAL]] [--net=NETNAME] [--generate-keys[=BITS]]
[--option=[HOST.]KEY=VALUE] [--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 deter‐
mine 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
/usr/local/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. This will let tinc read all configura‐
tion files from /usr/local/etc/tinc/ NETNAME. Specifying . for
NETNAME is the same as not specifying any NETNAME.
-K, --generate-keys[=BITS]
Generate public/private RSA keypair and exit. If BITS is omit‐
ted, 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.
-o, --option=[HOST.]KEY=VALUE
Without specifying a HOST, this will set server configuration
variable KEY to VALUE. If specified as HOST.KEY=VALUE, this will
set the host configuration variable KEY of the host named HOST to
VALUE. This option can be used more than once to specify multi‐
ple configuration variables.
-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.
-R, --chroot
With this option tinc chroots into the directory where network
config is located (/usr/local/etc/tinc/NETNAME if -n option is
used, or to the directory specified with -c option) after ini‐
tialization.
-U, --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 con‐
nections specified in tinc.conf will be made. If the --logfile
option is used, this will also close and reopen the log file,
useful when log rotation is used.
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 mes‐
sages 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 connec‐
tion 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
/usr/local/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.
SEE ALSOtinc.conf(5), http://www.tinc-vpn.org/, http://www.cabal.org/.
The full documentation for tinc is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If
the info and tinc programs are properly installed at your site, the com‐
mand info tinc should give you access to the complete manual.
tinc comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you
are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; see the file
COPYING for details.
AUTHORS
Ivo Timmermans
Guus Sliepen ⟨guus@tinc-vpn.org⟩
And thanks to many others for their contributions to tinc!
April 29, 2024
