.TH linux-pax-flags 8 "" 2013-02-18
.SH NAME
\fBlinux-pax-flags\fR \- Configure PaX flags for several binaries
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBlinux-pax-flags\fR [options] [filter]
.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBlinux-pax-flags\fR is written to configure PaX flags for a set of binaries.
It is intended to ease the usage of PaX (linux-pax) or grsecurity (linux-grsec,
linux-grsec-lts) enabled kernel on Arch Linux.
.P
PaX flags for a set of binaries are collected in YAML format configuration
files. By default, every .conf file from /etc/pax-flags and
/usr/share/linux-pax-flags is read. See the CONFIGURATION section for the file
format.
.P
Root privileges are needed. If you set a value to $PAX_FLAGS_SUDO,
\fBlinux-pax-flags\fR will be called with sudo.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
\-c, \-\-config  <path>
Override default configuration paths. Requires one path argument. Can contain
globs (escape them in some shells (zsh for example)).
.TP
\-h, \-\-help
Displays a short usage message and option summary.
.TP
\-p, \-\-prepend
Do not actually change anything.
.TP
\-x, \-\-xattr
Sets the PaX flags through setfattr, underlying filesystems need xattr support.
.TP
\-y, \-\-yes
Non-interactive mode. Assume yes on any question.
.SH FILES
.TP
/etc/pax-flags/*.conf
Files for overriding the standard flag set and path pattern configuration.
.TP
/usr/share/linux-pax-flags/*.conf
The shipped configuration.
.SH CONFIGURATION
There are \fBsimple\fR configuration entries and \fBcomplex\fR ones. Complex
configuration for a certain flag set and path pattern overrides simple. To
override a simple entry with a complex one, the flag sets and path patterns have
to match exactly.
.SS "Simple entries"
Simple configuration entries just set the PaX flags for a set of binaries. The
format is as follows:
.P
PSmXER:
.br
  \- /usr/bin/ruby
  \- /usr/bin/glx*
.P
\fBPSmXER\fR is the set of flags. Every letter represents a PaX flag. Uppercase
enables the flag, lowercase disables it. See paxctl(1) for more details. This
example disables MPROTECT on /usr/bin/ruby and /usr/bin/glx*.
.SS "Complex entries"
With complex entries it is possible to stop a daemon before setting the flags
and starting it afterwards. The format is as follows:
.P
PSmXER:
.br
  \- /usr/sbin/clamd:
    type: systemd
.P
This would stop clamd, disable MPROTECT for the binary and start the daemon
again. The \fBtype\fR option values correspond to presets of status, start, stop
actions. Currently there exists only "systemd". By default the systemd unit file
would be "clamd" in this case or the basename of the path in general.
.P
PSmXEr:
.br
  \- /usr/lib/polkit-1/polkitd:
    type: systemd
    systemd_name: polkit
.P
The \fBsystemd_name\fR option can be used to configure a differing systemd unit
name.
.P
PSmXEr:
.br
  \- /usr/lib/firefox/firefox:
    status: "pidof firefox"
    start: "firefox &"
    stop: "killall firefox"
.P
This would configure custom actions for \fBstatus\fR, \fBstart\fR and
\fBstop\fR.
.P
PSmXER:
.br
  \- /usr/bin/ruby:
    skip: true
.P
This would override a simple entry for the same flag set and path pattern and
cause it to be skipped.
.P
PSmXER:
.br
  \- /usr/lib32/skype/skype:
    header: create
.P
This would cause paxctl to not convert the old binary header, but create a new
one. See paxctl(1) for more details.
.SH AUTHOR
henning mueller <henning@orgizm.net>
.SH SEE ALSO
\- paxctl(1)
.br
\- http://www.yaml.org