KRB5-CONFIG(1)

✨ KRB5-CONFIG ✨ (the manual page, bestie edition)

okay so real talk — this is the manual page for krb5-config from the MIT Kerberos suite, and it is genuinely one of those tiny tools that saves your whole entire build. let's get into it 💖

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🌸 NAME 🌸

krb5-config — the tool for linking against MIT Kerberos libraries, no cap. it is literally the "hey compiler, here's where the Kerberos stuff lives" girlie. 👑

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

krb5-config [--help | --all | --version | --vendor | --prefix |
--exec-prefix | --defccname | --defktname | --defcktname | --cflags |
--libs [libraries]]

like… you pick one of these, she prints something at you, you go build your thing. that's the whole vibe check. ✨

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so krb5-config is the friend who always knows where everything is. she tells the application programmer — that's you, bestie 🫶 — what flags to use to compile and link programs against the installed Kerberos libraries.

that's it. that's the job. and she does it flawlessly. iconic behavior, honestly. 💅

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💜 OPTIONS 💜

• --help — prints a usage message. and btw? this is the default behavior when no options are specified. so if you just run her bare, she'll hand you the help. no judgment. 🙈
• --all — prints the version, vendor, prefix, and exec-prefix. the whole bundle. the deluxe. the everything bagel. 🥯✨
• --version — prints the version number of the Kerberos installation. the "what era are we in" option. ⭐
• --vendor — prints the name of the vendor of the Kerberos installation. who made this?? now you know. 👀
• --prefix — prints the prefix for which the Kerberos installation was built. that's the base directory energy. 🏠
• --exec-prefix — prints the prefix for executables for which the Kerberos installation was built. the executables prefix specifically, don't mix them up bestie. 🎯
• --defccname — prints the built-in default credentials cache location. your creds gotta live somewhere, and this is where. 🗝️
• --defktname — prints the built-in default keytab location. 🔑
• --defcktname — prints the built-in default client (initiator) keytab location. yes it's different from the one above, they are sisters not twins. 👯
• --cflags — prints the compilation flags used to build the Kerberos installation. feed these straight to your compiler, mwah. 😘
• --libs [library] — prints the compiler options needed to link against library. now, allowed values for library are a whole little menu, so here it is laid out for you 🍽️:
  • krb5 — Kerberos 5 applications. and this one is the default, iykyk. 💖
  • gssapi — GSSAPI applications with Kerberos 5 bindings. 🌈
  • kadm-client — Kadmin client. 🧚
  • kadm-server — Kadmin server. 👑
  • kdb — applications that access the Kerberos database. 🗄️

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🌟 EXAMPLES 🌟

krb5-config is particularly useful for compiling against a Kerberos installation that was installed in a non-standard location. like, that is her moment. that is her era. ✨

for example — a Kerberos installation that is installed in /opt/krb5/ but uses libraries in /usr/local/lib/ for text localization would produce the following output:

shell% krb5-config --libs krb5
-L/opt/krb5/lib -Wl,-rpath -Wl,/opt/krb5/lib -L/usr/local/lib -lkrb5 -lk5crypto -lcom_err

look at that. two different library paths in one clean line. she ate and left no crumbs. 😭🔥

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👀 SEE ALSO 👀

• kerberos
• cc(1)

go read those too, bestie. cross-referencing is self care. 📚💅

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💖 AUTHOR 💖

MIT

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📜 COPYRIGHT 📜

1985-2025, MIT

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also quick reminder: the whole Kerberos-installation-flags situation is exactly why you check --prefix and --exec-prefix separately, bestie. they can be different. don't assume. 🫶

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so yeah — that's krb5-config, and that was MIT Kerberos version 1.22.1, written up for you with love. now go forth and link some libraries, you main character. 🌈💅✨