NAME¶

scdaemon - Smartcard daemon for the GnuPG system

SYNOPSIS¶

scdaemon [--homedir dir] [--options file] [options] --server
scdaemon [--homedir dir] [--options file] [options] --daemon [command_line]

DESCRIPTION¶

The scdaemon is a daemon to manage smartcards. It is usually invoked by gpg-agent and in general not used directly.

COMMANDS¶

Commands are not distinguished from options except for the fact that only one command is allowed.

--version

Print the program version and licensing information. Note that you cannot abbreviate this command.

--help, -h

Print a usage message summarizing the most useful command-line options. Note that you cannot abbreviate this command.

--dump-options

Print a list of all available options and commands. Note that you cannot abbreviate this command.

--server

Run in server mode and wait for commands on the stdin. The default mode is to create a socket and listen for commands there.

--multi-server

Run in server mode and wait for commands on the stdin as well as on an additional Unix Domain socket. The server command GETINFO may be used to get the name of that extra socket.

--daemon

Run the program in the background. This option is required to prevent it from being accidentally running in the background.

OPTIONS¶

--options file

Reads configuration from file instead of from the default per-user configuration file. The default configuration file is named ‘scdaemon.conf’ and expected in the ‘.gnupg’ directory directly below the home directory of the user.

--homedir dir

Set the name of the home directory to dir. If this option is not used, the home directory defaults to ‘~/.gnupg’. It is only recognized when given on the command line. It also overrides any home directory stated through the environment variable ‘GNUPGHOME’ or (on Windows systems) by means of the Registry entry HKCU\Software\GNU\GnuPG:HomeDir.

On Windows systems it is possible to install GnuPG as a portable application. In this case only this command line option is considered, all other ways to set a home directory are ignored.

To install GnuPG as a portable application under Windows, create an empty file named ‘gpgconf.ctl’ in the same directory as the tool ‘gpgconf.exe’. The root of the installation is then that directory; or, if ‘gpgconf.exe’ has been installed directly below a directory named ‘bin’, its parent directory. You also need to make sure that the following directories exist and are writable: ‘ROOT/home’ for the GnuPG home and ‘ROOT/var/cache/gnupg’ for internal cache files.

-v

--verbose

Outputs additional information while running. You can increase the verbosity by giving several verbose commands to gpgsm, such as ‘-vv’.

--debug-level level

Select the debug level for investigating problems. level may be a numeric value or a keyword:

How these messages are mapped to the actual debugging flags is not specified and may change with newer releases of this program. They are however carefully selected to best aid in debugging.

--debug flags

This option is only useful for debugging and the behavior may change at any time without notice. FLAGS are bit encoded and may be given in usual C-Syntax. The currently defined bits are:

--debug-all

Same as --debug=0xffffffff

--debug-wait n

When running in server mode, wait n seconds before entering the actual processing loop and print the pid. This gives time to attach a debugger.

--debug-ccid-driver

Enable debug output from the included CCID driver for smartcards. Using this option twice will also enable some tracing of the T=1 protocol. Note that this option may reveal sensitive data.

--debug-disable-ticker

This option disables all ticker functions like checking for card insertions.

--debug-allow-core-dump

For security reasons we won't create a core dump when the process aborts. For debugging purposes it is sometimes better to allow core dump. This option enables it and also changes the working directory to ‘/tmp’ when running in --server mode.

--debug-log-tid

This option appends a thread ID to the PID in the log output.

--debug-assuan-log-cats cats

Changes the active Libassuan logging categories to cats. The value for cats is an unsigned integer given in usual C-Syntax. A value of 0 switches to a default category. If this option is not used the categories are taken from the environment variable ASSUAN_DEBUG. Note that this option has only an effect if the Assuan debug flag has also been with the option --debug. For a list of categories see the Libassuan manual.

--no-detach

Don't detach the process from the console. This is mainly useful for debugging.

--listen-backlog n

Set the size of the queue for pending connections. The default is 64. This option has an effect only if --multi-server is also used.

--log-file file

Append all logging output to file. This is very helpful in seeing what the agent actually does. Use ‘socket://’ to log to socket.

--pcsc-shared

Use shared mode to access the card via PC/SC. This is a somewhat dangerous option because Scdaemon assumes exclusive access to the card and for example caches certain information from the card. Use this option only if you know what you are doing.

--pcsc-driver library

Use library to access the smartcard reader. The current default on Unix is ‘libpcsclite.so’ and on Windows ‘winscard.dll’. Instead of using this option you might also want to install a symbolic link to the default file name (e.g. from ‘libpcsclite.so.1’). A Unicode file name may not be used on Windows.

--ctapi-driver library

Use library to access the smartcard reader. The current default is ‘libtowitoko.so’. Note that the use of this interface is deprecated; it may be removed in future releases.

--disable-ccid

Disable the integrated support for CCID compliant readers. This allows falling back to one of the other drivers even if the internal CCID driver can handle the reader. Note, that CCID support is only available if libusb was available at build time.

--reader-port number_or_string

This option may be used to specify the port of the card terminal. A value of 0 refers to the first serial device; add 32768 to access USB devices. The default is 32768 (first USB device). PC/SC or CCID readers might need a string here; run the program in verbose mode to get a list of available readers. The default is then the first reader found.

To get a list of available CCID readers you may use this command:

  echo scd getinfo reader_list \


    | gpg-connect-agent --decode | awk '/^D/ {print $2}'

--card-timeout n

If n is not 0 and no client is actively using the card, the card will be powered down after n seconds. Powering down the card avoids a potential risk of damaging a card when used with certain cheap readers. This also allows applications that are not aware of Scdaemon to access the card. The disadvantage of using a card timeout is that accessing the card takes longer and that the user needs to enter the PIN again after the next power up.

Note that with the current version of Scdaemon the card is powered down immediately at the next timer tick for any value of n other than 0.

--enable-pinpad-varlen

Please specify this option when the card reader supports variable length input for pinpad (default is no). For known readers (listed in ccid-driver.c and apdu.c), this option is not needed. Note that if your card reader doesn't supports variable length input but you want to use it, you need to specify your pinpad request on your card.

--disable-pinpad

Even if a card reader features a pinpad, do not try to use it.

--deny-admin

This option disables the use of admin class commands for card applications where this is supported. Currently we support it for the OpenPGP card. This option is useful to inhibit accidental access to admin class command which could ultimately lock the card through wrong PIN numbers. Note that GnuPG versions older than 2.0.11 featured an --allow-admin option which was required to use such admin commands. This option has no more effect today because the default is now to allow admin commands.

--disable-application name

This option disables the use of the card application named name. This is mainly useful for debugging or if a application with lower priority should be used by default.

All the long options may also be given in the configuration file after stripping off the two leading dashes.

CARD APPLICATIONS¶

scdaemon supports the card applications as described below.

EXAMPLES¶

$ scdaemon --server -v

FILES¶

There are a few configuration files to control certain aspects of scdaemons's operation. Unless noted, they are expected in the current home directory (see: [option --homedir]).

scdaemon.conf

This is the standard configuration file read by scdaemon on startup. It may contain any valid long option; the leading two dashes may not be entered and the option may not be abbreviated. This default name may be changed on the command line (see: [option --options]).

scd-event

If this file is present and executable, it will be called on every card reader's status change. An example of this script is provided with the distribution

reader_n.status

This file is created by scdaemon to let other applications now about reader status changes. Its use is now deprecated in favor of ‘scd-event’.

SEE ALSO¶

gpg-agent(1), gpgsm(1), gpg2(1)

The full documentation for this tool is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If GnuPG and the info program are properly installed at your site, the command

info gnupg

should give you access to the complete manual including a menu structure and an index.