MECH(5)

💖 MECH(5) — the file formats page, but make it cute 💖

okay bestie, pull up a chair 🎀 this is the File Formats Manual entry for mech and qop — the two little config files that tell your system which GSS-API security mechanisms and Quality of Protection values it's got installed. lowkey iconic, highkey essential, fr fr. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

mech, qop — GSS-API Mechanism and QOP files 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

/etc/gss/mech /etc/gss/qop

two files, two vibes, one directory. 💅

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

🫶 the /etc/gss/mech file

The /etc/gss/mech file holds a whole list of the GSS-API security mechanisms that are installed on your system. every line is either:

• a comment — and it's a comment if the very first character is '#', no debate, that's the rule 💀
• or a real entry with five fields, and here's what they mean:
• Name — the name of this GSS-API mechanism. just its name, that's it. 🌸
• Object identifier — the OID for this mechanism. yes, the long dotted number situation. 🔢
• Library — a shared library containing the implementation of this mechanism. 📚
• Kernel module (optional) — a kernel module containing the implementation of this mechanism. ⚠️ heads up: not yet supported in FreeBSD. so if you're on FreeBSD, this field is giving "reserved for later" energy. 🫠
• Library options (optional) — optional parameters interpreted by the mechanism. 🎀 important detail: library options must be enclosed in brackets ([ ]) so they don't get confused with the optional kernel module entry. like, they literally need the bracket outfit to be recognisable. 👑

🧚 the /etc/gss/qop file

The /etc/gss/qop file is a list of Quality of Protection values for use with GSS-API. same deal as before — each line is either:

• a comment if the first character is '#' 💅
• or an entry with three fields:
• QOP string — the name of this Quality of Protection algorithm. 🍓
• QOP value — the numeric value used to select this algorithm for use with GSS-API functions such as gss_get_mic(3). 🔥
• Mechanism name — the GSS-API mechanism name that corresponds to this algorithm. 🌈

🌟 EXAMPLES 🌟

here's a typical entry from /etc/gss/mech — look at it, it's so tidy:

kerberosv5      1.2.840.113554.1.2.2    /usr/lib/libgssapi_krb5.so.8    -

and here's a typical entry from /etc/gss/qop:

GSS_KRB5_CONF_C_QOP_DES         0x0100  kerberosv5

ate. no crumbs. 👑

📜 HISTORY 📜

the mech manual page example first appeared in FreeBSD 7.0. a lil legend from way back. 🫶

💌 AUTHORS 💌

this manual page was written by Doug Rabson <dfr@FreeBSD.org>. thank you for your service, king. 🎀

and that's the whole page, bestie!! this came from the Debian flavour of things, dated November 14, 2005 — yes, old enough to be a vintage icon, and it still eats. 💅✨ 🦋 mwah, go configure responsibly. 💖