security(1) BSD General Commands Manual security(1)NAMEsecurity — Command line interface to keychains and Security framework
SYNOPSISsecurity [-hilqv] [-p prompt] [command] [command_options] [command_args]
DESCRIPTION
A simple command line interface which lets you administer keychains,
manipulate keys and certificates, and do just about anything the Security
framework is capable of from the command line.
By default security will execute the command supplied and report if any‐
thing went wrong.
If the -i or -p options are provided, security will enter interactive
mode and allow the user to enter multiple commands on stdin. When EOF is
read from stdin security will exit.
Here is a complete list of the options available:
-h If no arguments are specified, show a list of all commands. If
arguments are provided, show usage for each the specified com‐
mands. This option is essentially the same as the help command.
-i Run security in interactive mode. A prompt (security> by
default) will be displayed and the user will be able to type
commands on stdin until an EOF is encountered.
-l Before security exits, run
/usr/bin/leaks -nocontext
on itself to see if the command(s) you executed had any leaks.
-p prompt
This option implies the -i option but changes the default prompt
to the argument specified instead.
-q Will make security less verbose.
-v Will make security more verbose.
SECURITY COMMAND SUMMARYsecurity provides a rich variety of commands (command in the SYNOPSIS),
each of which often has a wealth of options, to allow access to the broad
functionality provided by the Security framework. However, you don't
have to master every detail for security to be useful to you.
Here are brief descriptions of all the security commands:
help Show all commands, or show usage for a com‐
mand.
list-keychains Display or manipulate the keychain search
list.
default-keychain Display or set the default keychain.
login-keychain Display or set the login keychain.
create-keychain Create keychains.
delete-keychain Delete keychains and remove them from the
search list.
lock-keychain Lock the specified keychain.
unlock-keychain Unlock the specified keychain.
set-keychain-settings Set settings for a keychain.
set-keychain-password Set password for a keychain.
show-keychain-info Show the settings for keychain.
dump-keychain Dump the contents of one or more keychains.
create-keypair Create an asymmetric key pair.
add-generic-password Add a generic password item.
add-internet-password Add an internet password item.
add-certificates Add certificates to a keychain.
find-generic-password Find a generic password item.
delete-generic-password Delete a generic password item.
find-internet-password Find an internet password item.
delete-internet-password Delete an internet password item.
find-certificate Find a certificate item.
find-identity Find an identity (certificate + private key).
delete-certificate Delete a certificate from a keychain.
set-identity-preference Set the preferred identity to use for a ser‐
vice.
get-identity-preference Get the preferred identity to use for a ser‐
vice.
create-db Create a db using the DL.
export Export items from a keychain.
import Import items into a keychain.
cms Encode or decode CMS messages.
install-mds Install (or re-install) the MDS database.
add-trusted-cert Add trusted certificate(s).
remove-trusted-cert Remove trusted certificate(s).
dump-trust-settings Display contents of trust settings.
user-trust-settings-enable Display or manipulate user-level trust set‐
tings.
trust-settings-export Export trust settings.
trust-settings-import Import trust settings.
verify-cert Verify certificate(s).
authorize Perform authorization operations.
authorizationdb Make changes to the authorization policy
database.
execute-with-privileges Execute tool with privileges.
leaks Run /usr/bin/leaks on this process.
error Display a descriptive message for the given
error code(s).
COMMON COMMAND OPTIONS
This section describes the command_options that are available across all
security commands.
-h Show a usage message for the specified command. This option is
essentially the same as the help command.
SECURITY COMMANDS
Here (finally) are details on all the security commands and the options
each accepts.
help [-h]
Show all commands, or show usage for a command.
list-keychains [-h] [-d user|system|common|dynamic] [-s [keychain...]]
Display or manipulate the keychain search list.
-d user|system|common|dynamic
Use the specified preference domain.
-s Set the search list to the specified keychains.
default-keychain [-h] [-d user|system|common|dynamic] [-s [keychain]]
Display or set the default keychain.
-d user|system|common|dynamic
Use the specified preference domain.
-s Set the default keychain to the specified keychain.
Unset it if no keychain is specified.
login-keychain [-h] [-d user|system|common|dynamic] [-s [keychain]]
Display or set the login keychain.
-d user|system|common|dynamic
Use the specified preference domain.
-s Set the login keychain to the specified keychain. Unset
it if no keychain is specified.
create-keychain [-hP] [-p password] [keychain...]
Create keychains.
-P Prompt the user for a password using the Secu‐
rityAgent.
-p password Use password as the password for the keychains
being created.
If neither -P or -p password are specified, the user is prompted
for a password on the command line.
delete-keychain [-h] [keychain...]
Delete keychains and remove them from the search list.
lock-keychain [-h] [-a|keychain]
Lock keychain, or the default keychain if none is specified. If
the -a option is specified, all keychains are locked.
unlock-keychain [-hu] [-p password] [keychain]
Unlock keychain, or the default keychain if none is specified.
set-keychain-settings [-hlu] [-t timeout] [keychain]
Set settings for keychain, or the default keychain if none is
specified.
-l Lock keychain when the system sleeps.
-u Lock keychain after timeout interval.
-t timeout Specify timeout interval in seconds (omitting this
option specifies "no timeout").
set-keychain-password [-h] [-o oldPassword] [-p newPassword] [keychain]
Set password for keychain, or the default keychain if none is
specified.
-o oldPassword Old keychain password (if not provided, will
prompt)
-p newPassword New keychain password (if not provided, will
prompt)
show-keychain-info [-h] [keychain]
Show the settings for keychain.
dump-keychain [-adhir]
Dump the contents of one or more keychains.
-a Dump access control list of items
-d Dump (decrypted) data of items
-i Interactive access control list editing mode
-r Dump raw (encrypted) data of items
create-keypair [-h] [-a alg] [-s size] [-f date] [-t date] [-d days] [-k
keychain] [-A|-T appPath] [name]
Create an asymmetric key pair.
-a alg Use alg as the algorithm, can be rsa, dh, dsa or
fee (default rsa)
-s size Specify the keysize in bits (default 512)
-f date Make a key valid from the specified date
-t date Make a key valid to the specified date
-d days Make a key valid for the number of days specified
from today
-k keychain Use the specified keychain rather than the default
-A Allow any application to access this key without
warning (insecure, not recommended!)
-T appPath Specify an application which may access this key
(multiple -T options are allowed)
add-generic-password [-h] [-a account] [-s service] [-w password]
[options...] [keychain]
Add a generic password item.
-a account Specify account name (required)
-c creator Specify item creator (optional four-character
code)
-C type Specify item type (optional four-character code)
-D kind Specify kind (default is "application password")
-G value Specify generic attribute value (optional)
-j comment Specify comment string (optional)
-l label Specify label (if omitted, service name is used as
default label)
-s service Specify service name (required)
-p password Specify password to be added (legacy option,
equivalent to -w)
-w password Specify password to be added
-A Allow any application to access this item without
warning (insecure, not recommended!)
-T appPath Specify an application which may access this item
(multiple -T options are allowed)
-U Update item if it already exists (if omitted, the
item cannot already exist)
By default, the application which creates an item is trusted to
access its data without warning. You can remove this default
access by explicitly specifying an empty app pathname: -T "". If
no keychain is specified, the password is added to the default
keychain.
add-internet-password [-h] [-a account] [-s server] [-w password]
[options...] [keychain]
Add an internet password item.
-a account Specify account name (required)
-c creator Specify item creator (optional four-character
code)
-C type Specify item type (optional four-character code)
-d domain Specify security domain string (optional)
-D kind Specify kind (default is "application password")
-j comment Specify comment string (optional)
-l label Specify label (if omitted, service name is used as
default label)
-p path Specify path string (optional)
-P port Specify port number (optional)
-r protocol Specify protocol (optional four-character SecPro‐
tocolType, e.g. "http", "ftp ")
-s server Specify server name (required)
-t authenticationType
Specify authentication type (as a four-character
SecAuthenticationType, default is "dflt")
-w password Specify password to be added
-A Allow any application to access this item without
warning (insecure, not recommended!)
-T appPath Specify an application which may access this item
(multiple -T options are allowed)
-U Update item if it already exists (if omitted, the
item cannot already exist)
By default, the application which creates an item is trusted to
access its data without warning. You can remove this default
access by explicitly specifying an empty app pathname: -T "". If
no keychain is specified, the password is added to the default
keychain.
add-certificates [-h] [-k keychain] file...
Add certficates contained in the specified files to the default
keychain. The files must contain one DER encoded X509 certificate
each.
-k keychain Use keychain rather than the default keychain.
find-generic-password [-h] [-a account] [-s service] [-options...] [-g]
[-keychain...]
Find a generic password item.
-a account Match account string
-c creator Match creator (four-character code)
-C type Match type (four-character code)
-D kind Match kind string
-G value Match value string (generic attribute)
-j comment Match comment string
-l label Match label string
-s service Match service string
-g Display the password for the item found
-w Display the password(only) for the item found
delete-generic-password [-h] [-a account] [-s service] [-options...]
[-keychain...]
Delete a generic password item.
-a account Match account string
-c creator Match creator (four-character code)
-C type Match type (four-character code)
-D kind Match kind string
-G value Match value string (generic attribute)
-j comment Match comment string
-l label Match label string
-s service Match service string
delete-internet-password [-h] [-a account] [-s server] [options...]
[keychain...]
Delete an internet password item.
-a account Match account string
-c creator Match creator (four-character code)
-C type Match type (four-character code)
-d securityDomain
Match securityDomain string
-D kind Match kind string
-j comment Match comment string
-l label Match label string
-p path Match path string
-P port Match port number
-r protocol Match protocol (four-character code)
-s server Match server string
-t authenticationType
Match authenticationType (four-character code)
find-internet-password [-h] [-a account] [-s server] [options...] [-g]
[keychain...]
Find an internet password item.
-a account Match account string
-c creator Match creator (four-character code)
-C type Match type (four-character code)
-d securityDomain
Match securityDomain string
-D kind Match kind string
-j comment Match comment string
-l label Match label string
-p path Match path string
-P port Match port number
-r protocol Match protocol (four-character code)
-s server Match server string
-t authenticationType
Match authenticationType (four-character code)
-g Display the password for the item found
-w Display the password(only) for the item found
find-certificate [-h] [-a] [-c name] [-e emailAddress] [-m] [-p] [-Z]
[keychain...]
Find a certificate item. If no keychain arguments are provided,
the default search list is used.
Options:
-a Find all matching certificates, not just the first
one
-c name Match on name when searching (optional)
-e emailAddress
Match on emailAddress when searching (optional)
-m Show the email addresses in the certificate
-p Output certificate in pem format. Default is to
dump the attributes and keychain the cert is in.
-Z Print SHA-1 hash of the certificate
Examples
security> find-certificate -a -p > allcerts.pem
Exports all certificates from all keychains into a pem
file called allcerts.pem.
security> find-certificate -a -e me@foo.com -p > certs.pem
Exports all certificates from all keychains with the
email address me@foo.com into a pem file called
certs.pem.
security> find-certificate -a -c MyName -Z login.keychain | grep
^SHA-1
Print the SHA-1 hash of every certificate in 'login.key‐
chain' whose common name includes 'MyName'
find-identity [-h] [-p policy] [-s string] [-v] [keychain...]
Find an identity (certificate + private key) satisfying a given
policy. If no policy arguments are provided, the X.509 basic pol‐
icy is assumed. If no keychain arguments are provided, the default
search list is used.
Options:
-p policy Specify policy to evaluate (multiple -p options
are allowed). Supported policies: basic, ssl-
client, ssl-server, smime, eap, ipsec, ichat,
codesigning, sys-default, sys-kerberos-kdc
-s string Specify optional policy-specific string (e.g. a
DNS hostname for SSL, or RFC822 email address for
S/MIME)
-v Show valid identities only (default is to show all
identities)
Examples
security> find-identity -v -p ssl-client
Display valid identities that can be used for SSL client
authentication
security> find-identity -p ssl-server -s www.domain.com
Display identities for a SSL server running on the host
'www.domain.com'
security> find-identity -p smime -s user@domain.com
Display identities that can be used to sign a message
from 'user@domain.com'
delete-certificate [-h] [-c name] [-Z hash] [-t] [keychain...]
Delete a certificate from a keychain. If no keychain arguments
are provided, the default search list is used.
-c name Specify certificate to delete by its common name
-Z hash Specify certificate to delete by its SHA-1 hash
-t Also delete user trust settings for this certifi‐
cate
The certificate to be deleted must be uniquely specified either by
a string found in its common name, or by its SHA-1 hash.
set-identity-preference [-h] [-n] [-c identity] [-s service] [-u
keyUsage] [-Z hash] [keychain...]
Set the preferred identity to use for a service.
-n Specify no identity (clears existing preference
for the given service)
-c identity Specify identity by common name of the certificate
-s service Specify service (may be a URL, RFC822 email
address, DNS host, or other name) for which this
identity is to be preferred
-u keyUsage Specify key usage (optional)
-Z hash Specify identity by SHA-1 hash of certificate
(optional)
The identity is located by searching the specified keychain(s) for
a certificate whose common name contains the given identity
string. If no keychains are specified to search, the default
search list is used. Different identity preferences can be set for
individual key usages. You can differentiate between two identi‐
ties which contain the same string by providing a SHA-1 hash of
the certificate (in addition to, or instead of, the name.)
PARTIAL PATHS AND WILDCARDS
Prior to 10.5.4, identity preferences for SSL/TLS client authenti‐
cation could only be set on a per-URL basis. The URL being visited
had to match the service name exactly for the preference to be in
effect.
In 10.5.4, it became possible to specify identity preferences on a
per-server basis, by using a service name with a partial path URL
to match more specific paths on the same server. For example, if
an identity preference for "https://www.apache-ssl.org/" exists,
it will be in effect for "https://www.apache-ssl.org/cgi/cert-
export", and so on. Note that partial path URLs must end with a
trailing slash character.
Starting with 10.6, it is possible to specify identity preferences
on a per-domain basis, by using the wildcard character '*' as the
leftmost component of the service name. Unlike SSL wildcards, an
identity preference wildcard can match more than one subdomain.
For example, an identity preference for the name "*.army.mil" will
match "server1.subdomain1.army.mil" or "server2.subdo‐
main2.army.mil". Likewise, a preference for "*.mil" will match
both "server.army.mil" and "server.navy.mil".
KEY USAGE CODES
0 - preference is in effect for all possible key usages
(default)
1 - encryption only
2 - decryption only
4 - signing only
8 - signature verification only
16 - signing with message recovery only
32 - signature verification with message recovery only
64 - key wrapping only
128 - key unwrapping only
256 - key derivation only
To specify more than one usage, add values together.
get-identity-preference [-h] [-s service] [-u keyUsage] [-p] [-c] [-Z]
Get the preferred identity to use for a service.
-s service Specify service (may be a URL, RFC822 email
address, DNS host, or other name)
-u keyUsage Specify key usage (optional)
-p Output identity certificate in pem format
-c Print common name of the preferred identity cer‐
tificate
-Z Print SHA-1 hash of the preferred identity cer‐
tificate
create-db [-aho0] [-g dl|cspdl] [-m mode] [name]
Create a db using the DL. If name isn't provided security will
prompt the user to type a name.
Options:
-a Turn off autocommit
-g dl|cspdl Use the AppleDL (default) or AppleCspDL
-m mode Set the file permissions to mode.
-o Force using openparams argument
-0 Force using version 0 openparams
Examples
security> create-db -m 0644 test.db
security> create-db -g cspdl -a test2.db
export [-k keychain] [-t type] [-f format] [-w] [-p format] [-P
passphrase] [-o outfile]
Export one or more items from a keychain to one of a number of
external representations. If keychain isn't provided, items will
be exported from the user's default keychain.
Options:
-k keychain Specify keychain from which item(s) will be
exported.
-t type Specify the type of items to export. Possible
types are certs, allKeys, pubKeys, privKeys, iden‐
tities, and all. The default is all. An identity
consists of both a certificate and the correspond‐
ing provate key.
-f format Specify the format of the exported data. Possible
formats are openssl, bsafe, pkcs7, pkcs8, pkcs12,
x509, openssh1, openssh2, and pemseq. The default
is pemseq if more than one item is being exported.
The default is openssl if one key is being
exported. The default is x509 if one certificate
is being exported.
-w Specifies that private keys are to be wrapped on
export.
-p Specifies that PEM armour is to be applied to the
output data.
-P passphrase Specify the wrapping passphrase immediately. The
default is to obtain a secure passphrase via GUI.
-o outfile Write the output data to outfile. Default is to
write data to stdout.
Examples
security> export -k login.keychain -t certs -o /tmp/certs.pem
security> export -k newcert.keychain -t identities -f pkcs12 -o
/tmp/mycerts.p12
import inputfile [-k keychain] [-t type] [-f format] [-w] [-P passphrase]
[options...]
Import one or more items from inputfile into a keychain. If
keychain isn't provided, items will be imported into the user's
default keychain.
Options:
-k keychain Specify keychain into which item(s) will be
imported.
-t type Specify the type of items to import. Possible
types are cert, pub, priv, session, cert, and agg.
Pub, priv, and session refer to keys; agg is one
of the aggregate types (pkcs12 and PEM sequence).
The command can often figure out what item_type an
item contains based in the filename and/or
item_format.
-f format Specify the format of the exported data. Possible
formats are openssl, bsafe, raw, pkcs7, pkcs8,
pkcs12, x509, openssh1, openssh2, and pemseq. The
command can often figure out what format an item
is in based in the filename and/or item_type.
-w Specify that private keys are wrapped and must be
unwrapped on import.
-x Specify that private keys are non-extractable
after being imported.
-P passphrase Specify the unwrapping passphrase immediately. The
default is to obtain a secure passphrase via GUI.
-a attrName attrValue
Specify optional extended attribute name and
value. Can be used multiple times. This is only
valid when importing keys.
-A Allow any application to access the imported key
without warning (insecure, not recommended!)
-T appPath Specify an application which may access the
imported key (multiple -T options are allowed)
Examples
security> import /tmp/certs.pem -k
security> import /tmp/mycerts.p12 -t agg -k newcert.keychain
security> import /tmp/mycerts.p12 -f pkcs12 -k newcert.keychain
cms [-C|-D|-E|-S] [options...]
Encode or decode CMS messages.
-C create a CMS encrypted message
-D decode a CMS message
-E create a CMS enveloped message
-S create a CMS signed message
Decoding options:
-c content use this detached content file
-h level generate email headers with info about CMS message
(output level >= 0)
-n suppress output of content
Encoding options:
-r id,... create envelope for comma-delimited list of recip‐
ients, where id can be a certificate nickname or
email address
-G include a signing time attribute
-H hash hash = MD2|MD4|MD5|SHA1|SHA256|SHA384|SHA512
(default: SHA1)
-N nick use certificate named "nick" for signing
-P include a SMIMECapabilities attribute
-T do not include content in CMS message
-Y nick include an EncryptionKeyPreference attribute with
certificate (use "NONE" to omit)
-Z hash find a certificate by subject key ID
Common options:
-e envelope specify envelope file (valid with -D or -E)
-k keychain specify keychain to use
-i infile use infile as source of data (default: stdin)
-o outfile use outfile as destination of data (default: std‐
out)
-p password use password as key db password (default: prompt)
-s pass data a single byte at a time to CMS
-u certusage set type of certificate usage (default: cer‐
tUsageEmailSigner)
-v print debugging information
Cert usage codes:
0 - certUsageSSLClient
1 - certUsageSSLServer
2 - certUsageSSLServerWithStepUp
3 - certUsageSSLCA
4 - certUsageEmailSigner
5 - certUsageEmailRecipient
6 - certUsageObjectSigner
7 - certUsageUserCertImport
8 - certUsageVerifyCA
9 - certUsageProtectedObjectSigner
10 - certUsageStatusResponder
11 - certUsageAnyCA
install-mds
Install (or re-install) the Module Directory Services (MDS) data‐
base. This is a system tool which is not normally used by users.
There are no options.
add-trusted-cert [-d] [-r resultType] [-p policy] [-a appPath] [-s
policyString] [-e allowedError] [-u keyUsage] [-k keychain] [-i
settingsFileIn] [-o settingsFileOut] [-D] certFile
Add certificate (in DER or PEM format) from certFile to per-user
or local Admin Trust Settings. When modifying per-user Trust Set‐
tings, user authentication is required via an authentication dia‐
log. When modifying admin Trust Settings, the process must be run‐
ning as root, or admin authentication is required.
Options:
-d Add to admin cert store; default is user.
-r resultType resultType = trustRoot|trustAsRoot|deny|unspeci‐
fied; default is trustRoot.
-p policy Specify policy constraint (ssl, smime, codeSign,
IPSec, iChat, basic, swUpdate, pkgSign, pkinit‐
Client, pkinitServer, eap).
-r resultType resultType = trustRoot|trustAsRoot|deny|unspeci‐
fied; default is trustRoot.
-a appPath Specify application constraint.
-s policyString
Specify policy-specific string.
-e allowedError
Specify allowed error (an integer value, or one
of: certExpired, hostnameMismatch)
-u keyUsage Specify key usage, an integer.
-k keychain Specify keychain to which cert is added.
-i settingsFileIn
Input trust settings file; default is user domain.
-o settingsFileOut
Output trust settings file; default is user
domain.
-D Add default setting instead of per-cert setting.
No certFile is specified when using this option
Examples
security> add-trusted-cert /tmp/cert.der
security> add-trusted-cert -d .tmp/cert.der
remove-trusted-cert [-d] [-D] certFile
Remove certificate (in DER or PEM format) in certFile from per-user
or local Admin Trust Settings. When modifying per-user Trust Set‐
tings, user authentication is required via an authentication dialog.
When modifying admin Trust Settings, the process must be running as
root, or admin authentication is required.
Options:
-d Remove from admin cert store; default is user.
-D Remove Default Root Cert setting instead of an
actual cert setting. No certFile is specified when
using this option.
dump-trust-settings [-s] [-d]
Display Trust Settings.
Options:
-s Display trusted system certs; default is user.
-d Display trusted admin certs; default is user.
user-trust-settings-enable [-d] [-e]
Display or manipulate user-level Trust Settings. With no arguments,
shows the current state of the user-level Trust Settings enable.
Otherwise enables or disables user-level Trust Settings.
Options:
-d Disable user-level Trust Settings.
-e Enable user-level Trust Settings.
trust-settings-export [-s] [-d] settings_file
Export Trust Settings to the specified file.
Options:
-s Export system Trust Settings; default is user.
-d Export admin Trust Settings; default is user.
trust-settings-import [-d] settings_file
Import Trust Settings from the specified file. When modifying per-
user Trust Settings, user authentication is required via an authen‐
tication dialog. When modifying admin Trust Settings, the process
must be running as root, or admin authentication is required.
Options:
-d Import admin Trust Settings; default is user.
verify-cert [-c certFile] [-r rootCertFile] [-p policy] [-k keychain] [-n]
[-L] [-l] [-e emailAddress] [-s sslHost] [-q]
Verify one or more certificates.
Options:
-c certFile Certificate to verify, in DER or PEM format. Can be
specified more than once; leaf certificate has to be
specified first.
-r rootCertFile
Root certificate, in DER or PEM format. Can be spec‐
ified more than once. If not specified, the system
anchor certificates are used. If one root certifi‐
cate is specified, and zero (non-root) certificates
are specified, the root certificate is verified
against itself.
-p policy Specify verification policy (ssl, smime, codeSign,
IPSec, iChat, basic, swUpdate, pkgSign, pkinit‐
Client, pkinitServer, eap, appleID, macappstore,
timestamping). Default is basic.
-k keychain Keychain to search for intermediate certs. Can be
specified multiple times. Default is the current
user's keychain search list.
-n Avoid searching any keychains.
-L Use local certificates only. If an issuing CA cer‐
tificate is missing, this option will avoid access‐
ing the network to fetch it.
-l Specifies that the leaf certificate is a CA cert. By
default, a leaf certificate with a Basic Constraints
extension with the CA bit set fails verification.
-e emailAddress
Specify email address for the smime policy.
-s sslHost Specify SSL host name for the ssl policy.
-q Quiet, no stdout or stderr.
Examples
security> verify-cert -c applestore0.cer -c applestore1.cer -p ssl
-s store.apple.com
security> verify-cert -r serverbasic.crt
authorize [-updPiew] [right...]
Authorize requested right(s). The extend-rights flag will be passed
by default.
Options:
-u Allow user interaction.
-p Allow returning partial rights.
-d Destroy acquired rights.
-P Pre-authorize rights only.
-l Operate authorization in least privileged mode.
-i Internalize authref passed on stdin.
-e Externalize authref to stdout
-w Wait while holding AuthorizationRef until stdout is
closed. This will allow client to read externalized
AuthorizationRef from pipe.
Examples
security> security authorize -ud my-right
Basic authorization of my-right.
security> security-q authorize -uew my-right | security-q
authorize -i my-right
Authorizing a right and passing it to another command as a
way to add authorization to shell scripts.
authorizationdb read <right-name>
authorizationdb write <right-name> [allow|deny|<rulename>]
authorizationdb remove <right-name>
Read/Modify authorization policy database. Without a rulename write
will read a dictionary as a plist from stdin.
Examples
security> security authorizationdb read system.privilege.admin >
/tmp/aewp-def
Read definition of system.privilege.admin right.
security> security authorizationdb write system.preferences <
/tmp/aewp-def
Set system.preferences to definition of system.privi‐
lege.admin right.
security> security authorizationdb write system.preferences
authenticate-admin
Every change to preferences requires an Admin user to
authenticate.
execute-with-privileges <program> [args...]
Execute tool with privileges. On success stdin will be read and
forwarded to the tool.
leaks [-h] [-cycles] [-nocontext] [-nostacks] [-exclude symbol]
Run /usr/bin/leaks on this process. This can help find memory leaks
after running certain commands.
Options:
-cycles Use a stricter algorithm (See leaks(1) for details).
-nocontext Withhold the hex dumps of the leaked memory.
-nostacks Don't show stack traces of leaked memory.
-exclude symbol
Ignore leaks called from symbol.
error [-h] [<error code(s)...>]
Display an error string for the given security-related error code.
The error can be in decimal or hex, e.g. 1234 or 0x1234. Multiple
errors can be separated by spaces.
ENVIRONMENT
MallocStackLogging
When using the leaks command or the -l option it's probably a
good idea to set this environment variable before security is
started. Doing so will allow leaks to display symbolic back‐
traces.
FILES
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist
Property list file containing the current user's default key‐
chain and keychain search list.
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist
Property list file containing the system default keychain and
keychain search list. This is used by processes started at boot
time, or those requesting to use the system search domain, such
as system daemons.
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.security-common.plist
Property list file containing the common keychain search list,
which is appended to every user's search list and to the system
search list.
SEE ALSOcerttool(1), leaks(1)HISTORYsecurity was first introduced in Mac OS X version 10.3.
BUGSsecurity still needs more commands before it can be considered complete.
In particular, it should someday supersede both the certtool and
systemkeychain commands.
Darwin March 1, 2012 Darwin
