MUSL-NSCD(8)

📦 version 1.1.1, in alpine 3.22, alpine 3.23, alpine 3.24

✨ MUSL-NSCD 💅

okay so bestie, welcome to the musl-nscd page — it's section 8 of the System Manager's Manual and honestly it's a whole vibe. Let me put you on. 🫶

🌸 NAME 🌸

musl-nscd — it's a daemon that provides nss(5) functionality to applications via the NSCD protocol, which means those apps don't have to load the modules themselves. It can also cache requests made to it. iconic behavior tbh. ✨

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

nscd [-c config] [-s socket] [-C cache_invalidation_time]
     [-n cache_maximum_entries] [-j threads] [-d]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

musl-nscd provides access to the passwd(5) and group(5) databases through standard libc interfaces. no cap, that's the whole job and it does it. 👑

But here's the tea: unlike the GNU nscd(8) implementation, there is only a positive cache for items found, and caching is optional. so we don't do the negative-cache thing. periodt.

💖 OPTIONS 💖

  • -c config — Specifies the path to the configuration file. By default, /etc/nsswitch.conf is used. The syntax is specified in nsswitch.conf(5), though the "merge" action is not supported. (so don't come for us with merge, it's not invited to the party 🙈)
  • -s socket — Specifies the path to the socket where the daemon listens. By default, /var/run/nscd/socket is used. that's the spot bestie, that's where it's at. ⭐
  • -C cache_invalidation_time — This option enables caching functionality: it reduces latency but increases memory consumption. It takes the amount of seconds for which a result is valid as its argument. Heads up though: users should note that a stale entry will be treated as valid for the duration of the invalidation time. That means any changes made to the authentication providers used by musl-nscd can take up to cache_invalidation_time seconds to be updated in musl-nscd, and, therefore, in applications. A suggested value that will provide most of the performance benefits without being too long is 120 seconds (2 minutes). System administrators should set this to fit site-specific policies, or consider not enabling caching at all. ngl that last part is real advice, take it. 💜
  • -n cache_maximum_entries — This option specifies the maximum amount of entries allowed in the cache. This maximum is per cache, therefore specifying 100 entries means there will be 3 separate caches (for each supported query type) with at most 100 entries each. The default is 1000 entries. math is mathing, iykyk. 🔥
  • -j threads — Specifies the number of threads the daemon should use. More threads can reduce latency. slay, more parallel vibes. 🌈
  • -d — This option makes it so musl-nscd daemonizes itself to the background. main character energy: it leaves the chat but keeps working. 💀

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

nss(5), nsswitch.conf(5), nscd(8)

go read those too bestie, it's giving ✨educated✨

🐛 BUGS 🐛

Bugs should be reported to https://github.com/pikhq/musl-nscd — pls do tell, we love a fix. 🍓

lowkey reminder: this page is from the Debian distribution, dated July 19, 2021, and it lives in section 8 (MUSL-NSCD(8)) of the System Manager's Manual. ty for coming to my ted talk, mwah 💅💖
📦 where this page comes from