KRB5-CONFIG(1)

💖 KRB5-CONFIG ✨

okay bestie, gather round, because this little tool is the unsung hero of your build system and nobody ever talks about it 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

krb5-config — it's literally the tool for linking against MIT Kerberos libraries. that's the whole job. no notes. 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

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

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so, krb5-config is the friend who tells the application programmer what flags to use to compile and link programs against the installed Kerberos libraries. that's it, that's the vibe. it's giving helpful. it's giving "here's exactly what you need, no guessing" 🌈

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• --help — prints a usage message. and plot twist, this is the default behavior when you pass no options at all. so if you just run it with nothing, it's like "hey bestie here's how to use me" 🫶
• --all — prints the version, vendor, prefix, and exec-prefix. all of it. the whole info dump. slay.
• --version — prints the version number of the Kerberos installation. number goes here ⭐
• --vendor — prints the name of the vendor of the Kerberos installation.
• --prefix — prints the prefix for which the Kerberos installation was built.
• --exec-prefix — prints the prefix for executables for which the Kerberos installation was built. (yes it's a different prefix. yes it matters. iykyk 💜)
• --defccname — prints the built-in default credentials cache location. 🎀
• --defktname — prints the built-in default keytab location.
• --defcktname — prints the built-in default client (initiator) keytab location.
• --cflags — prints the compilation flags used to build the Kerberos installation.
• --libs [library] — prints the compiler options needed to link against library. and here's the menu of allowed values for library, bestie, take notes 📝
  • krb5 — Kerberos 5 applications (this is the default, so if you don't say anything it just assumes this one 💖)
  • 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 🌟

ngl this is where it pops off. krb5-config is particularly useful for compiling against a Kerberos installation that was installed in a non-standard location. like, that's its moment. that's its main character energy 👑

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

see how it's pulling from both places?? the way that it just knows 😭💖 iconic behavior, honestly.

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👀 SEE ALSO 👀

• kerberos <#kerberos-7>
• cc(1)

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🧚 Author 🧚

MIT

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⭐ Copyright ⭐

1985-2026, MIT

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! go forth and link against Kerberos with confidence, you absolute legend 🌸💜✨

mwah 💋 this was KRB5-CONFIG(1), brought to you by MIT Kerberos, version 1.22.2 — no cap, that's the actual version, go check 🎀