KDB5_UTIL(8)

NAME
kdb5_util - Kerberos database maintenance utility

SYNOPSIS

kdb5_util [-r realm] [-d dbname] [-k mkeytype] [-kv mkeyVNO] [-M mkeyname] [-m] [-sf stashfilename] [-P password] [-x db_args] command [command_options]

DESCRIPTION

kdb5_util allows an administrator to perform maintenance procedures on the KDC database. Databases can be created, destroyed, and dumped to or loaded from ASCII files. kdb5_util can create a Kerberos master key stash file or perform live rollover of the master key.

When kdb5_util is run, it attempts to acquire the master key and open the database. However, execution continues regardless of whether or not kdb5_util successfully opens the database, because the database may not exist yet or the stash file may be corrupt.

Note that some KDC database modules may not support all kdb5_util commands.

COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS

-r realm
    specifies the Kerberos realm of the database.

-d dbname
    specifies the name under which the principal database is stored; by default the database is that listed in kdc.conf. The password policy database and lock files are also derived from this value.

-k mkeytype
    specifies the key type of the master key in the database. The default is given by the master_key_type variable in kdc.conf.

-kv mkeyVNO
    Specifies the version number of the master key in the database; the default is 1. Note that 0 is not allowed.

-M mkeyname
    principal name for the master key in the database. If not specified, the name is determined by the master_key_name variable in kdc.conf.

-m  specifies that the master database password should be read from the keyboard rather than fetched from a file on disk.

-sf stash_file
    specifies the stash filename of the master database password. If not specified, the filename is determined by the key_stash_file variable in kdc.conf.

-P password
    specifies the master database password. Using this option may expose the password to other users on the system via the process list.

-x db_args
    specifies database-specific options. See kadmin for supported options.

COMMANDS

  create
create [-s]

Creates a new database. If the -s option is specified, the stash file is also created. This command fails if the database already exists. If the command is successful, the database is opened just as if it had already existed when the program was first run.

  destroy
destroy [-f]

Destroys the database, first overwriting the disk sectors and then unlinking the files, after prompting the user for confirmation. With the -f argument, does not prompt the user.

  stash
stash [-f keyfile]

Stores the master principal's keys in a stash file. The -f argument can be used to override the keyfile specified in kdc.conf.

  dump
dump [-b7|-r13|-r18] [-verbose] [-mkey_convert] [-new_mkey_file mkey_file] [-rev] [-recurse] [filename [principals...]]

Dumps the current Kerberos and KADM5 database into an ASCII file. By default, the database is dumped in current format, "kdb5_util load_dump version 7". If filename is not specified, or is the string "-", the dump is sent to standard output. Options:

-b7 causes the dump to be in the Kerberos 5 Beta 7 format ("kdb5_util load_dump version 4"). This was the dump format produced on releases prior to 1.2.2.

-r13
    causes the dump to be in the Kerberos 5 1.3 format ("kdb5_util load_dump version 5"). This was the dump format produced on releases prior to 1.8.

-r18
    causes the dump to be in the Kerberos 5 1.8 format ("kdb5_util load_dump version 6"). This was the dump format produced on releases prior to 1.11.

-verbose
    causes the name of each principal and policy to be printed as it is dumped.

-mkey_convert
    prompts for a new master key. This new master key will be used to re-encrypt principal key data in the dumpfile. The principal keys themselves will not be changed.

-new_mkey_file mkey_file
    the filename of a stash file. The master key in this stash file will be used to re-encrypt the key data in the dumpfile. The key data in the database will not be changed.

-rev
    dumps in reverse order. This may recover principals that do not dump normally, in cases where database corruption has occurred.

-recurse
    causes the dump to walk the database recursively (btree only). This may recover principals that do not dump normally, in cases where database corruption has occurred. In cases of such corruption, this option will probably retrieve more principals than the -rev option will.

    Changed in version 1.15: Release 1.15 restored the functionality of the -recurse option.

    Changed in version 1.5: The -recurse option ceased working until release 1.15, doing a normal dump instead of a recursive traversal.

  load
load [-b7|-r13|-r18] [-hash] [-verbose] [-update] filename

Loads a database dump from the named file into the named database. If no option is given to determine the format of the dump file, the format is detected automatically and handled as appropriate. Unless the -update option is given, load creates a new database containing only the data in the dump file, overwriting the contents of any previously existing database. Note that when using the LDAP KDC database module, the -update flag is required.

Options:

-b7 requires the database to be in the Kerberos 5 Beta 7 format ("kdb5_util load_dump version 4"). This was the dump format produced on releases prior to 1.2.2.

-r13
    requires the database to be in Kerberos 5 1.3 format ("kdb5_util load_dump version 5"). This was the dump format produced on releases prior to 1.8.

-r18
    requires the database to be in Kerberos 5 1.8 format ("kdb5_util load_dump version 6"). This was the dump format produced on releases prior to 1.11.

-hash
    stores the database in hash format, if using the DB2 database type. If this option is not specified, the database will be stored in btree format. This option is not recommended, as databases stored in hash format are known to corrupt data and lose principals.

-verbose
    causes the name of each principal and policy to be printed as it is dumped.

-update
    records from the dump file are added to or updated in the existing database. Otherwise, a new database is created containing only what is in the dump file and the old one destroyed upon successful completion.

  ark
ark [-e enc:salt,...] principal

Adds new random keys to principal at the next available key version number. Keys for the current highest key version number will be preserved. The -e option specifies the list of encryption and salt types to be used for the new keys.

  add_mkey
add_mkey [-e etype] [-s]

Adds a new master key to the master key principal, but does not mark it as active. Existing master keys will remain. The -e option specifies the encryption type of the new master key; see Encryption types in kdc.conf for a list of possible values. The -s option stashes the new master key in the stash file, which will be created if it doesn't already exist.

After a new master key is added, it should be propagated to replica servers via a manual or periodic invocation of kprop. Then, the stash files on the replica servers should be updated with the kdb5_util stash command. Once those steps are complete, the key is ready to be marked active with the kdb5_util use_mkey command.

  use_mkey
use_mkey mkeyVNO [time]

Sets the activation time of the master key specified by mkeyVNO. Once a master key becomes active, it will be used to encrypt newly created principal keys. If no time argument is given, the current time is used, causing the specified master key version to become active immediately. The format for time is getdate time string.

After a new master key becomes active, the kdb5_util update_princ_encryption command can be used to update all principal keys to be encrypted in the new master key.

  list_mkeys
list_mkeys

List all master keys, from most recent to earliest, in the master key principal. The output will show the kvno, enctype, and salt type for each mkey, similar to the output of kadmin getprinc. A * following an mkey denotes the currently active master key.

  purge_mkeys
purge_mkeys [-f] [-n] [-v]

Delete master keys from the master key principal that are not used to protect any principals. This command can be used to remove old master keys all principal keys are protected by a newer master key.

-f  does not prompt for confirmation.

-n  performs a dry run, showing master keys that would be purged, but not actually purging any keys.

-v  gives more verbose output.

  update_princ_encryption
update_princ_encryption [-f] [-n] [-v] [princ-pattern]

Update all principal records (or only those matching the princ-pattern glob pattern) to re-encrypt the key data using the active database master key, if they are encrypted using a different version, and give a count at the end of the number of principals updated. If the -f option is not given, ask for confirmation before starting to make changes. The -v option causes each principal processed to be listed, with an indication as to whether it needed updating or not. The -n option performs a dry run, only showing the actions which would have been taken.

  tabdump
tabdump [-H] [-c] [-e] [-n] [-o outfile] dumptype

Dump selected fields of the database in a tabular format suitable for reporting (e.g., using traditional Unix text processing tools) or importing into relational databases. The data format is tab-separated (default), or optionally comma-separated (CSV), with a fixed number of columns. The output begins with a header line containing field names, unless suppression is requested using the -H option.

The dumptype parameter specifies the name of an output table (see below).

Options:

-H  suppress writing the field names in a header line

-c  use comma separated values (CSV) format, with minimal quoting, instead of the default tab-separated (unquoted, unescaped) format

-e  write empty hexadecimal string fields as empty fields instead of as "-1".

-n  produce numeric output for fields that normally have symbolic output, such as enctypes and flag names. Also requests output of time stamps as decimal POSIX time_t values.

-o outfile
    write the dump to the specified output file instead of to standard output

    Dump types:

alias
    principal alias information

aliasname
    the name of the alias

targetname
    the target of the alias

keydata
    principal encryption key information, including actual key data (which is still encrypted in the master key)

name
    principal name

keyindex
    index of this key in the principal's key list

kvno
    key version number

enctype
    encryption type

key key data as a hexadecimal string

salttype
    salt type

salt
    salt data as a hexadecimal string

keyinfo
    principal encryption key information (as in keydata above), excluding actual key data

princ_flags
    principal boolean attributes. Flag names print as hexadecimal numbers if the -n option is specified, and all flag positions are printed regardless of whether or not they are set. If -n is not specified, print all known flag names for each principal, but only print hexadecimal flag names if the corresponding flag is set.

name
    principal name

flag
    flag name

value
    boolean value (0 for clear, or 1 for set)

princ_lockout
    state information used for tracking repeated password failures

name
    principal name

last_success
    time stamp of most recent successful authentication

last_failed
    time stamp of most recent failed authentication

fail_count
    count of failed attempts

princ_meta
    principal metadata

name
    principal name

modby
    name of last principal to modify this principal

modtime
    timestamp of last modification

lastpwd
    timestamp of last password change

policy
    policy object name

mkvno
    key version number of the master key that encrypts this principal's key data

hist_kvno
    key version number of the history key that encrypts the key history data for this principal

princ_stringattrs
    string attributes (key/value pairs)

name
    principal name

key attribute name

value
    attribute value

princ_tktpolicy
    per-principal ticket policy data, including maximum ticket lifetimes

name
    principal name

expiration
    principal expiration date

pw_expiration
    password expiration date

max_life
    maximum ticket lifetime

max_renew_life
    maximum renewable ticket lifetime

    Examples:

        $ kdb5_util tabdump -o keyinfo.txt keyinfo
        $ cat keyinfo.txt
        name        keyindex        kvno    enctype salttype        salt
        K/M@EXAMPLE.COM     0       1       aes256-cts-hmac-sha384-192      normal  -1
        foo@EXAMPLE.COM     0       1       aes128-cts-hmac-sha1-96 normal  -1
        bar@EXAMPLE.COM     0       1       aes128-cts-hmac-sha1-96 normal  -1
        $ sqlite3
        sqlite> .mode tabs
        sqlite> .import keyinfo.txt keyinfo
        sqlite> select * from keyinfo where enctype like 'aes256-%';
        K/M@EXAMPLE.COM     1       1       aes256-cts-hmac-sha384-192      normal  -1
        sqlite> .quit
        $ awk -F'\t' '$4 ~ /aes256-/ { print }' keyinfo.txt
        K/M@EXAMPLE.COM     1       1       aes256-cts-hmac-sha384-192      normal  -1

ENVIRONMENT

See kerberos for a description of Kerberos environment variables.

SEE ALSO

kadmin, kerberos

AUTHOR
MIT

COPYRIGHT
1985-2025, MIT