1TINCD(8) BSD System Manager's Manual TINCD(8)
2
4 tincd — tinc VPN daemon
5
7 tincd [-cdDkKnoLRU] [--config=DIR] [--no-detach] [--debug[=LEVEL]]
8 [--kill[=SIGNAL]] [--net=NETNAME] [--generate-keys[=BITS]]
9 [--option=[HOST.]KEY=VALUE] [--mlock] [--logfile[=FILE]]
10 [--pidfile=FILE] [--bypass-security] [--chroot] [--user=USER]
11 [--help] [--version]
12
14 This is the daemon of tinc, a secure virtual private network (VPN)
15 project. When started, tincd will read it's configuration file to deter‐
16 mine what virtual subnets it has to serve and to what other tinc daemons
17 it should connect. It will connect to the ethertap or tun/tap device and
18 set up a socket for incoming connections. Optionally a script will be
19 executed to further configure the virtual device. If that succeeds, it
20 will detach from the controlling terminal and continue in the background,
21 accepting and setting up connections to other tinc daemons that are part
22 of the virtual private network. Under Windows (not Cygwin) tinc will
23 install itself as a service, which will be restarted automatically after
24 reboots.
25
27 -c, --config=DIR
28 Read configuration files from DIR instead of /etc/tinc/.
29 -D, --no-detach
31 Don't fork and detach. This will also disable the automatic
32 restart mechanism for fatal errors. If not mentioned otherwise,
33 this will show log messages on the standard error output.
34 -d, --debug[=LEVEL]
36 Increase debug level or set it to LEVEL (see below).
37 -k, --kill[=SIGNAL]
39 Attempt to kill a running tincd (optionally with the specified
40 SIGNAL instead of SIGTERM) and exit. Under Windows (not Cygwin)
41 the optional argument is ignored, the service will always be
42 stopped and removed.
43 -n, --net=NETNAME
45 Connect to net NETNAME. This will let tinc read all configura‐
46 tion files from /etc/tinc/ NETNAME. Specifying . for NETNAME is
47 the same as not specifying any NETNAME.
48 -K, --generate-keys[=BITS]
50 Generate public/private RSA keypair and exit. If BITS is omit‐
51 ted, the default length will be 2048 bits. When saving keys to
52 existing files, tinc will not delete the old keys, you have to
53 remove them manually.
54 -o, --option=[HOST.]KEY=VALUE
56 Without specifying a HOST, this will set server configuration
57 variable KEY to VALUE. If specified as HOST.KEY=VALUE, this will
58 set the host configuration variable KEY of the host named HOST to
59 VALUE. This option can be used more than once to specify multi‐
60 ple configuration variables.
61 -L, --mlock
63 Lock tinc into main memory. This will prevent sensitive data
64 like shared private keys to be written to the system swap
65 files/partitions.
66 --logfile[=FILE]
68 Write log entries to a file instead of to the system logging
69 facility. If FILE is omitted, the default is
70 /var/log/tinc.NETNAME.log.
71 --pidfile=FILE
73 Write PID to FILE instead of /var/run/tinc.NETNAME.pid. Under
74 Windows this option will be ignored.
75 --bypass-security
77 Disables encryption and authentication of the meta protocol.
78 Only useful for debugging.
79 -R, --chroot
81 With this option tinc chroots into the directory where network
82 config is located (/etc/tinc/NETNAME if -n option is used, or to
83 the directory specified with -c option) after initialization.
84 -U, --user=USER
86 setuid to the specified USER after initialization.
87 --help Display short list of options.
89 --version
91 Output version information and exit.
92
94 ALRM Forces tincd to try to connect to all uplinks immediately. Usu‐
95 ally tincd attempts to do this itself, but increases the time it
96 waits between the attempts each time it failed, and if tincd
97 didn't succeed to connect to an uplink the first time after it
98 started, it defaults to the maximum time of 15 minutes.
99 HUP Partially rereads configuration files. Connections to hosts
101 whose host config file are removed are closed. New outgoing con‐
102 nections specified in tinc.conf will be made. If the --logfile
103 option is used, this will also close and reopen the log file,
104 useful when log rotation is used.
105 INT Temporarily increases debug level to 5. Send this signal again
107 to revert to the original level.
108 USR1 Dumps the connection list to syslog.
110 USR2 Dumps virtual network device statistics, all known nodes, edges
112 and subnets to syslog.
113 WINCH Purges all information remembered about unreachable nodes.
115
117 The tinc daemon can send a lot of messages to the syslog. The higher the
118 debug level, the more messages it will log. Each level inherits all mes‐
119 sages of the previous level:
120 0 This will log a message indicating tincd has started along with a
122 version number. It will also log any serious error.
123 1 This will log all connections that are made with other tinc dae‐
125 mons.
126 2 This will log status and error messages from scripts and other
128 tinc daemons.
129 3 This will log all requests that are exchanged with other tinc
131 daemons. These include authentication, key exchange and connec‐
132 tion list updates.
133 4 This will log a copy of everything received on the meta socket.
135 5 This will log all network traffic over the virtual private net‐
137 work.
138
140 /etc/tinc/
141 Directory containing the configuration files tinc uses. For more
142 information, see tinc.conf(5).
143 /var/run/tinc.NETNAME.pid
145 The PID of the currently running tincd is stored in this file.
146
148 The BindToInterface option may not work correctly.
149 The cryptography in tinc is not well tested yet. Use it at your own risk!
151 If you find any bugs, report them to tinc@tinc-vpn.org.
153
155 A lot, especially security auditing.
156
158 tinc.conf(5), https://www.tinc-vpn.org/, http://www.cabal.org/.
159 The full documentation for tinc is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If
161 the info and tinc programs are properly installed at your site, the com‐
162 mand info tinc should give you access to the complete manual.
163 tinc comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. This is free software, and you
165 are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; see the file
166 COPYING for details.
167
169 Ivo Timmermans
170 Guus Sliepen <guus@tinc-vpn.org>
171 And thanks to many others for their contributions to tinc!
173 June 20, 2019