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PKSD(8)                DragonFly System Manager's Manual               PKSD(8)


NAME

       pksd - OpenPGP Public Key Server Daemon


SYNOPSIS

       pksd FILE


DESCRIPTION

       pksd is a daemon which implements the functions of an OpenPGP public
       key server.  It supports key searches, requests, additions, and
       modifications via web and e-mail interfaces.

       The server takes a single argument, which is the name of the
       configuration file.  The format of this file is documented in
       pksd.conf(5).

       The server supports queries via a modified version of HTTP known as HKP
       (which allows for queries via web browsers), MRHKP (the machine-
       readable HKP format), and an e-mail interface. HKP is implemented by a
       few form URI's which are described in the accompanying design document.
       MRHKP has its own design document. The e-mail interface is described in
       the pks_help documents.

       In order to control the running daemon, the pksdctl(8) program is used
       to send messages to the running server via a unix domain socket.  The
       type and syntax of these messages is documented in the pksdctl(8) man
       page.


INCREMENTAL MESSAGES

       The mail server is also used for incremental distribution of
       modifications between peer key servers.  When a key server receives an
       update (meaning new keys, signatures, revocations, etc.), this update
       is forwarded to the servers listed as peers (with the syncsite keyword)
       in the pksd.conf(5) file.  In order to avoid updates looping forever,
       the servers which have processed the update are listed in the message.

       To improve performance, when an incremental or add is received, only
       the part(s) of that request which are not already part of the key
       server database are included.  If an incremental or add contains no new
       data, no incremental is generated at all.


DISABLED KEYS

       It is not useful to remove a key from the key server database. Keys in
       use will likely be sent to a key server again. Keys not in use are best
       left on the key server for archival purposes.  In the future, someone
       might need to verify a signature from such a key, for example.  In
       order to remove a key from circulation for whatever reason, the key can
       be made "disabled". This server uses the disabled flag in the OpenPGP
       file format.  To prevent this flag from being misused, the disabled
       flag is treated as a special case.  When a keyring is merged into the
       database, the disabled flags are ignored.  Disabled keys in the
       database cannot be retrieved from the database, but they are returned
       by searches.


FILES

       pksd.conf


AUTHOR

       Marc Horowitz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology


BUGS

       Visit the bug tracking system linked from
       http://sourceforge.net/projects/pks to view or report bugs.


COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, Marc Horowitz.  All rights
       reserved.

       This software doesn't have a warranty, express or implied. See the
       LICENSE file in the source distribution for full conditions.


SEE ALSO

       pksclient(8), pksd.conf(5), pksdctl(8), pks-intro(8)

                               17 November 1996                        PKSD(8)

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