Running the TinyIDS Client¶

This page contains information to assist you running tinyids, the TinyIDS client.

If you haven't completed the TinyIDS installation and the creation of a client configuration file, please do so before continuing any further.

Client Modes¶

The TinyIDS client talks the TinyIDS Protocol and provides a convenient command line interface to interact with TinyIDS servers.

TEST Mode¶

This mode is activated by using the --test command line switch. For instance:

tinyids --test

In this mode, tinyids performs the following operations:

1. Tests communications with all configured TinyIDS servers.

CHECK Mode¶

This mode is activated by using the --check command line switch. For instance:

tinyids --check

In this mode, tinyids performs the following operations:

1. Runs its collector backends and hashes all the collected information.
2. Sends the calculated hash to all configured TinyIDS servers and awaits the comparison result.

UPDATE Mode¶

This mode is activated by using the --update command line switch. For instance:

tinyids --update

In this mode, tinyids performs the following operations:

1. Runs its collector backends and hashes all the collected information.
2. Prompts the user for a passphrase
3. Contacts all configured TinyIDS servers:
   • If a hash for the specific client does not exist on a remote server, the server stores the hash the client sent together with the passphrase.
   • If a hash for the specific client exists on a remote server, the server:
     1. Authenticates the client comparing the passphrase the client sent with the one that had been set by the client in a previous session.
     2. Upon successful authentication, the server replaces the stored hash for the specific client with the new one.

DELETE Mode¶

This mode is activated by using the --delete command line switch. For instance:

tinyids --delete

In this mode, tinyids performs the following operations:

1. Prompts the user for a passphrase
2. Contacts all configured TinyIDS servers:
   • If a hash for the specific client exists on a remote server, the server:
     1. Authenticates the client comparing the passphrase the client sent with the one that had been set by the client in a previous session in the server database.
     2. Upon successful authentication, the server deletes all information (hash + passphrase) it had in its database for the specific client.

CHANGEPHRASE Mode¶

This mode is activated by using the --changephrase command line switch. For instance:

tinyids --changephrase

In this mode, tinyids performs the following operations:

1. Prompts the user for the old passphrase
2. Prompts the user for the new passphrase
3. Contacts all configured TinyIDS servers:
   • If data for the specific client exists on a remote server, the server:
     1. Authenticates the client comparing the old passphrase the client sent with the one that had been set by the client in a previous session in the server database.
     2. Upon successful authentication, the server replaces the stored passphrase for the specific client with the new passphrase.

Running the client in debug mode¶

The client can run in debug mode if it is invoked using the --debug switch. For example:

tinyids --debug --test