SSH-CERTD(8)                   SSH2                  SSH-CERTD(8)



NAME

       ssh-certd - Secure Shell Certificate Validator on z/OS



SYNOPSIS

       ssh-certd [-d debug_level_spec] [-f config_file]
       [-o options] [-l listener-path] [-F] -v] [-V] [-q]



DESCRIPTION

       ssh-certd (Secure Shell Certificate Validator) is a common
       process  for  validating  certificates,  used primarily by
       sshd2 when validating user certificates. Without a  common
       place  for  the  validations,  all the data needed for the
       validation would need to be duplicated  in  every  process
       doing  the  validations.  This  would  be very inefficient
       especially in cases where very large CRLs are to be  used.
       ssh-certd  allows  CRLs  and  CA certificates to be loaded
       only once and then used for all subsequent validations.

       ssh-certd  is  normally  started   at   boot   time   from
       /etc/rc.local or equivalent. It opens a listener socket by
       default  at  /opt/tectia/var/run/ssh-certd-listener.   The
       location of the listener can be changed with the CertdLis-
       tenerPath keyword of sshd2_config.

       ssh-certd can be configured using command-line options  or
       a  configuration file.  Command-line options override val-
       ues specified in the configuration file.  ssh-certd  reads
       configuration  data  from /opt/tectia/etc/ssh_certd_config
       (or the file specified with -f on the  command  line).  By
       default,  the configuration file contains only the keyword
       UseSSHD2ConfigFile, which instructs ssh-certd to read  the
       specified  sshd2 configuration file in compatibility mode,
       where the configuration  options  of  sshd2  are  silently
       ignored,  and  only the options relating to certificate or
       general daemon configuration are read.




OPTIONS

       -d debug_level_spec
              Debug mode.  The server sends verbose debug  output
              to  stderr. This option is only intended for debug-
              ging for the server.  The debugging level is either
              a  number, or a comma-separated list of assignments
              of the format ModulePattern=debug_level, for  exam-
              ple "*=10,sshd2=2".  This should be the first argu-
              ment on the command line.

       -f configuration_file
              Specifies the name of the configuration file.   The
              default is /opt/tectia/etc/ssh_certd_config.  Note:
              If this is  specified,  the  default  configuration



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              file is not read at all.

       -o 'option'
              Can  be  used to give options in the format used in
              the configuration files.  This is useful for speci-
              fying  options  for which there is no separate com-
              mand-line flag.  The option has the same format  as
              a  line  in  the configuration file.  Comment lines
              are not accepted.  Where  applicable,  egrep  regex
              format is used.

       -l listener-path
              Specifies  the  path where the server will open the
              listener socket.

       -F     Disables daemon mode.  The server does not spawn  a
              new process to the background.

       -v     Enables  verbose  mode.  Displays verbose debugging
              messages.  Equal to -d 2.  This option can also  be
              specified in the configuration file.

       -V     Displays version string.

       -q     Quiet  mode.   Nothing  is  sent to the system log.
              Normally the beginning, authentication, and  termi-
              nation  of  each connection is logged.  This option
              can also be specified in the configuration file.



CONFIGURATION FILE

       ssh-certd  reads   configuration   data   from   /opt/tec-
       tia/etc/ssh_certd_config (or the file specified with -f on
       the command line).  The file contains keyword-value pairs,
       one per line.  Lines starting with '#' and empty lines are
       interpreted as comments.

       For the format  of  ssh_certd_config,  see  ssh_certd_con-
       fig(5).



FILES

       /opt/tectia/etc/ssh_certd_config
              Contains  configuration  data  for ssh-certd.  This
              file should be writable by root  only,  but  it  is
              recommended  (though  not  necessary)  that  it  be
              world-readable.  For ease of migration  from  older
              installations, ssh_certd_config contains by default
              the line "UseSSHD2ConfigFile  sshd2_config",  which
              instructs ssh-certd to read the certificate config-
              uration  from  the  sshd2  configuration  file  and
              ignore the options that are not relevant to it.





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SSH-CERTD(8)                   SSH2                  SSH-CERTD(8)



INSTALLATION

       ssh-certd is normally run as root.



AUTHORS

       SSH Communications Security Corp.

       For more information, see http://www.ssh.com.



SEE ALSO

       ssh_certd_config(5), sshd2(8)













































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