Client/File Daemon Configuration

The Client (or File Daemon) Configuration is one of the simpler ones to specify. Generally, other than changing the Client name so that error messages are easily identified, you will not need to modify the default Client configuration file.

For a general discussion of configuration file and resources including the data types recognized by Bareos, please see the Configuration chapter of this manual. The following Client Resource definitions must be defined:

Client – to define what Clients are to be backed up.
Director – to define the Director’s name and its access password.
Messages – to define where error and information messages are to be sent.

Client Resource

The Client Resource (or FileDaemon) resource defines the name of the Client (as used by the Director) as well as the port on which the Client listens for Director connections.

Start of the Client records. There must be one and only one Client resource in the configuration file, since it defines the properties of the current client program.

configuration directive name	type of data	default value	remark
`Absolute Job Timeout (Fd->Client)`	= PINT32
`Allow Bandwidth Bursting (Fd->Client)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`Allowed Job Command (Fd->Client)`	= STRING_LIST
`Allowed Script Dir (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY_LIST
`Always Use LMDB (Fd->Client)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`Compatible (Fd->Client)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`Description (Fd->Client)`	= STRING
`FD Address (Fd->Client)`	= ADDRESS	9102
`FD Addresses (Fd->Client)`	= ADDRESSES	9102
`FD Port (Fd->Client)`	= PORT	9102
`FD Source Address (Fd->Client)`	= ADDRESS	0
`Heartbeat Interval (Fd->Client)`	= TIME	0
`LMDB Threshold (Fd->Client)`	= PINT32
`Log Timestamp Format (Fd->Client)`	= STRING
`Maximum Bandwidth Per Job (Fd->Client)`	= SPEED
`Maximum Concurrent Jobs (Fd->Client)`	= PINT32	20
`Maximum Connections (Fd->Client)`	= PINT32	42
`Maximum Network Buffer Size (Fd->Client)`	= PINT32
`Messages (Fd->Client)`	= RES
`Name (Fd->Client)`	= NAME		required
`Pid Directory (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY	/var/lib/bareos (platform specific)
`Pki Cipher (Fd->Client)`	= ENCRYPTION_CIPHER	aes128
`Pki Encryption (Fd->Client)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`Pki Key Pair (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY
`Pki Master Key (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY_LIST
`Pki Signatures (Fd->Client)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`Pki Signer (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY_LIST
`Plugin Directory (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY
`Plugin Names (Fd->Client)`	= PLUGIN_NAMES
`Scripts Directory (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY
`SD Connect Timeout (Fd->Client)`	= TIME	1800
`Secure Erase Command (Fd->Client)`	= STRING
`Sub Sys Directory (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY		deprecated
`TLS Allowed CN (Fd->Client)`	= STRING_LIST
`TLS Authenticate (Fd->Client)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`TLS CA Certificate Dir (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS CA Certificate File (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS Certificate (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS Certificate Revocation List (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS Cipher List (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS DH File (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS Enable (Fd->Client)`	= BOOLEAN	yes
`TLS Key (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS Protocol (Fd->Client)`	= STRING
`TLS Require (Fd->Client)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`TLS Verify Peer (Fd->Client)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`Ver Id (Fd->Client)`	= STRING
`Working Directory (Fd->Client)`	= DIRECTORY	/var/lib/bareos (platform specific)

Absolute Job Timeout

Type:: PINT32

Allow Bandwidth Bursting

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

This option sets if there is Bandwidth Limiting in effect if the limiting code can use bursting e.g. when from a certain timeslice not all bandwidth is used this bandwidth can be used in a next timeslice. Which mean you will get a smoother limiting which will be much closer to the actual limit set but it also means that sometimes the bandwidth will be above the setting here.

Allowed Job Command

Type:: STRING_LIST

This directive filters what type of jobs the filedaemon should allow. Until now we had the -b (backup only) and -r (restore only) flags which could be specified at the startup of the filedaemon.

Allowed Job Command can be defined globally for all directors by adding it to the global filedaemon resource or for a specific director when added to the director resource.

You specify all commands you want to be executed by the filedaemon. When you don’t specify the option it will be empty which means all commands are allowed.

The following example shows how to use this functionality:

Director {
  Name = <name>
  Password = <password>
  Allowed Job Command = "backup"
  Allowed Job Command = "runscript"
}

All commands that are allowed are specified each on a new line with the Allowed Job Command keyword.

The following job commands are recognized:

backup: allow backups to be made
restore: allow restores to be done
verify: allow verify jobs to be done
estimate: allow estimate cmds to be executed
runscript: allow runscripts to run

Only the important commands the filedaemon can perform are filtered, as some commands are part of the above protocols and by disallowing the action the other commands are not invoked at all.

If runscripts are not needed it would be recommended as a security measure to disable running those or only allow the commands that you really want to be used.

Runscripts are particularly a problem as they allow the Bareos File Daemon to run arbitrary commands. You may also look into the Allowed Script Dir (Fd->Client) keyword to limit the impact of the runscript command.

Allowed Script Dir

Type:: DIRECTORY_LIST

This directive limits the impact of the runscript command of the filedaemon.

It can be specified either for all directors by adding it to the global filedaemon resource or for a specific director when added to the director resource.

All directories in which the scripts or commands are located that you allow to be run by the runscript command of the filedaemon. Any program not in one of these paths (or subpaths) cannot be used. The implementation checks if the full path of the script starts with one of the specified paths.

The following example shows how to use this functionality:

# bareos-fd.conf
Director {
  Name = <name>
  Password = <password>
  Allowed Script Dir = "/etc/bareos"
  Allowed Script Dir = "/path/that/is/also/allowed"
}



# bareos-dir.conf
Job {
   Name = "<name>"
   JobDefs = "DefaultJob"
   Client Run Before Job = "/etc/bareos/runbeforejob.sh"   # this will run
   Client Run Before Job = "/tmp/runbeforejob.sh"          # this will be blocked
}

Always Use LMDB

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

Compatible

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

This directive enables the compatible mode of the file daemon. In this mode the file daemon will try to be as compatible to a native Bacula file daemon as possible. Enabling this option means that certain new options available in Bareos cannot be used as they would lead to data not being able to be restored by a Native Bareos file daemon.

The default value for this directive was changed from yes to no since Bareos Version >= 15.2.0.

When you want to use bareos-only features, the value of compatible must be no.

Description

Type:: STRING

FD Address

Type:: ADDRESS
Default value:: 9102

This record is optional, and if it is specified, it will cause the File daemon server (for Director connections) to bind to the specified IP-Address, which is either a domain name or an IP address specified as a dotted quadruple.

FD Addresses

Type:: ADDRESSES
Default value:: 9102

Specify the ports and addresses on which the File daemon listens for Director connections. Probably the simplest way to explain is to show an example:

FDAddresses  = {
  ip = { addr = 1.2.3.4; port = 1205; }
  ipv4 = {
    addr = 1.2.3.4; port = http; }
  ipv6 = {
    addr = 1.2.3.4;
    port = 1205;
  }
  ip = {
    addr = 1.2.3.4
    port = 1205
  }
  ip = { addr = 1.2.3.4 }
  ip = {
    addr = 201:220:222::2
  }
  ip = {
    addr = bluedot.thun.net
  }
}

where ip, ip4, ip6, addr, and port are all keywords. Note, that the address can be specified as either a dotted quadruple, or IPv6 colon notation, or as a symbolic name (only in the ip specification). Also, the port can be specified as a number or as the mnemonic value from the /etc/services file. If a port is not specified, the default will be used. If an ip section is specified, the resolution can be made either by IPv4 or IPv6. If ip4 is specified, then only IPv4 resolutions will be permitted, and likewise with ip6.

FD Port

Type:: PORT
Default value:: 9102

This specifies the port number on which the Client listens for Director connections. It must agree with the FDPort specified in the Client resource of the Director’s configuration file.

FD Source Address

Type:: ADDRESS
Default value:: 0

If specified, the Bareos File Daemon will bind to the specified address when creating outbound connections. If this record is not specified, the kernel will choose the best address according to the routing table (the default).

Heartbeat Interval

Type:: TIME
Default value:: 0

This record defines an interval of time in seconds. For each heartbeat that the File daemon receives from the Storage daemon, it will forward it to the Director. In addition, if no heartbeat has been received from the Storage daemon and thus forwarded the File daemon will send a heartbeat signal to the Director and to the Storage daemon to keep the channels active. Setting the interval to 0 (zero) disables the heartbeat. This feature is particularly useful if you have a router that does not follow Internet standards and times out a valid connection after a short duration despite the fact that keepalive is set. This usually results in a broken pipe error message.

LMDB Threshold

Type:: PINT32

Log Timestamp Format

Type:: STRING
Since Version:: 15.2.3

Maximum Bandwidth Per Job

Type:: SPEED

The speed parameter specifies the maximum allowed bandwidth that a job may use.

Maximum Concurrent Jobs

Type:: PINT32
Default value:: 20

This directive specifies the maximum number of Jobs that should run concurrently. Each contact from the Director (e.g. status request, job start request) is considered as a Job, so if you want to be able to do a status request in the console at the same time as a Job is running, you will need to set this value greater than 1.

Maximum Connections

Type:: PINT32
Default value:: 42
Since Version:: 15.2.3

Maximum Network Buffer Size

Type:: PINT32

This directive specifies the initial network buffer size to use. This size will be adjusted down if it is too large until it is accepted by the OS. Please use care in setting this value since if it is too large, it will be trimmed by 512 bytes until the OS is happy, which may require a large number of system calls. The default value is 65,536 bytes.

Note, on certain Windows machines, there are reports that the transfer rates are very slow and this seems to be related to the default 65,536 size. On systems where the transfer rates seem abnormally slow compared to other systems, you might try setting the Maximum Network Buffer Size to 32,768 in both the File daemon and in the Storage daemon.

Messages

Type:: RES

Name

Required:: True
Type:: NAME

The name of this resource. It is used to reference to it.

The client name that must be used by the Director when connecting. Generally, it is a good idea to use a name related to the machine so that error messages can be easily identified if you have multiple Clients. This directive is required.

Pid Directory

Type:: DIRECTORY
Default value:: /var/lib/bareos (platform specific)

This directive specifies a directory in which the File Daemon may put its process Id file files. The process Id file is used to shutdown Bareos and to prevent multiple copies of Bareos from running simultaneously.

The Bareos file daemon uses a platform specific default value, that is defined at compile time. Typically on Linux systems, it is set to /var/lib/bareos/ or /var/run/.

Pki Cipher

Type:: ENCRYPTION_CIPHER
Default value:: aes128

PKI Cipher used for data encryption.

See the Data Encryption chapter of this manual.

Depending on the openssl library version different ciphers are available. To choose the desired cipher, you can use the PKI Cipher option in the filedaemon configuration. Note that you have to set Compatible (Fd->Client) = no:

FileDaemon {
   Name = client1-fd

   # encryption configuration
   PKI Signatures = Yes                           # Enable Data Signing
   PKI Encryption = Yes                           # Enable Data Encryption
   PKI Keypair    = "/etc/bareos/example-fd.pem"  # Public and Private Keys in one file
   PKI Master Key = "/etc/bareos/master.pub.key" # ONLY the Public Key
   PKI Cipher     = aes128                        # specify desired PKI Cipher here
}

The available options (and ciphers) are:

aes128
aes192
aes256
camellia128
camellia192
camellia256
aes128hmacsha1
aes256hmacsha1
blowfish

They depend on the version of the openssl library installed.

For decryption of encrypted data, the right decompression algorithm should be automatically chosen.

Pki Encryption

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

Enable Data Encryption.

See Data Encryption.

Pki Key Pair

Type:: DIRECTORY

File with public and private key to sign, encrypt (backup) and decrypt (restore) the data.

See Data Encryption.

Pki Master Key

Type:: DIRECTORY_LIST

List of public key files. Data will be decryptable via the corresponding private keys.

See Data Encryption.

Pki Signatures

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

Enable Data Signing.

See Data Encryption.

Pki Signer

Type:: DIRECTORY_LIST

Additional public/private key files to sign or verify the data.

See Data Encryption.

Plugin Directory

Type:: DIRECTORY

This directive specifies a directory in which the File Daemon searches for plugins with the name <pluginname>-fd.so which it will load at startup. Typically on Linux systems, plugins are installed to /usr/lib/bareos/plugins/ or /usr/lib64/bareos/plugins/.

Plugin Names

Type:: PLUGIN_NAMES

If a Plugin Directory (Fd->Client) is specified Plugin Names defines, which File Daemon Plugins get loaded.

If Plugin Names is not defined, all plugins get loaded, otherwise the defined ones.

Warning

It is highly recommended to always specify the Plugin Names directive to keep control about what plugins will be loaded by the filedaemon. Some plugins cannot be loaded at the same time, like the python2 and python3 plugins.

Scripts Directory

Type:: DIRECTORY

SD Connect Timeout

Type:: TIME
Default value:: 1800

This record defines an interval of time that the File daemon will try to connect to the Storage daemon. If no connection is made in the specified time interval, the File daemon cancels the Job.

Secure Erase Command

Type:: STRING
Since Version:: 15.2.1

Specify command that will be called when bareos unlinks files.

When files are no longer needed, Bareos will delete (unlink) them. With this directive, it will call the specified command to delete these files. See Secure Erase Command for details.

Sub Sys Directory

Type:: DIRECTORY
Since Version:: deprecated

TLS Allowed CN

Type:: STRING_LIST

“Common Name”s (CNs) of the allowed peer certificates.

TLS Authenticate

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

Use TLS only to authenticate, not for encryption.

TLS CA Certificate Dir

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path of a TLS CA certificate directory.

TLS CA Certificate File

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path of a PEM encoded TLS CA certificate(s) file.

TLS Certificate

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path of a PEM encoded TLS certificate.

TLS Certificate Revocation List

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path of a Certificate Revocation List file.

TLS Cipher List

Type:: DIRECTORY

List of valid TLS Ciphers.

TLS DH File

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path to PEM encoded Diffie-Hellman parameter file. If this directive is specified, DH key exchange will be used for the ephemeral keying, allowing for forward secrecy of communications.

TLS Enable

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: yes

Enable TLS support.

Bareos can be configured to encrypt all its network traffic. See chapter TLS Configuration Directives to see how the Bareos Director (and the other components) have to be configured to use TLS.

TLS Key

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path of a PEM encoded private key. It must correspond to the specified “TLS Certificate”.

TLS Protocol

Type:: STRING
Since Version:: 20.0.0

OpenSSL Configuration: Protocol

TLS Require

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

Without setting this to yes, Bareos can fall back to use unencrypted connections. Enabling this implicitly sets “TLS Enable = yes”.

TLS Verify Peer

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

If disabled, all certificates signed by a known CA will be accepted. If enabled, the CN of a certificate must the Address or in the “TLS Allowed CN” list.

Ver Id

Type:: STRING

Working Directory

Type:: DIRECTORY
Default value:: /var/lib/bareos (platform specific)

This directive is optional and specifies a directory in which the File daemon may put its status files.

On Win32 systems, in some circumstances you may need to specify a drive letter in the specified working directory path. Also, please be sure that this directory is writable by the SYSTEM user otherwise restores may fail (the bootstrap file that is transferred to the File daemon from the Director is temporarily put in this directory before being passed to the Storage daemon).

The following is an example of a valid Client resource definition:

Client {                              # this is me
  Name = rufus-fd
}

Director Resource

The Director resource defines the name and password of the Directors that are permitted to contact this Client.

configuration directive name	type of data	default value	remark
`Address (Fd->Director)`	= STRING
`Allowed Job Command (Fd->Director)`	= STRING_LIST
`Allowed Script Dir (Fd->Director)`	= DIRECTORY_LIST
`Connection From Client To Director (Fd->Director)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`Connection From Director To Client (Fd->Director)`	= BOOLEAN	yes
`Description (Fd->Director)`	= STRING
`Maximum Bandwidth Per Job (Fd->Director)`	= SPEED
`Monitor (Fd->Director)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`Name (Fd->Director)`	= NAME		required
`Password (Fd->Director)`	= MD5PASSWORD		required
`Port (Fd->Director)`	= PINT32	9101
`TLS Allowed CN (Fd->Director)`	= STRING_LIST
`TLS Authenticate (Fd->Director)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`TLS CA Certificate Dir (Fd->Director)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS CA Certificate File (Fd->Director)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS Certificate (Fd->Director)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS Certificate Revocation List (Fd->Director)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS Cipher List (Fd->Director)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS DH File (Fd->Director)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS Enable (Fd->Director)`	= BOOLEAN	yes
`TLS Key (Fd->Director)`	= DIRECTORY
`TLS Protocol (Fd->Director)`	= STRING
`TLS Require (Fd->Director)`	= BOOLEAN	no
`TLS Verify Peer (Fd->Director)`	= BOOLEAN	no

Address

Type:: STRING

Director Network Address. Only required if “Connection From Client To Director” is enabled.

Allowed Job Command

Type:: STRING_LIST

see Allowed Job Command (Fd->Client)

Allowed Script Dir

Type:: DIRECTORY_LIST

see Allowed Script Dir (Fd->Client)

Connection From Client To Director

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no
Since Version:: 16.2.2

Let the Filedaemon initiate network connections to the Director.

For details, see Client Initiated Connection.

Connection From Director To Client

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: yes
Since Version:: 16.2.2

This Client will accept incoming network connection from this Director.

Description

Type:: STRING

Maximum Bandwidth Per Job

Type:: SPEED

The speed parameter specifies the maximum allowed bandwidth that a job may use when started from this Director. The speed parameter should be specified in k/s, Kb/s, m/s or Mb/s.

Monitor

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

If Monitor is set to no, this director will have full access to this Client. If Monitor is set to yes, this director will only be able to fetch the current status of this Client.

Please note that if this director is being used by a Monitor, we highly recommend to set this directive to yes to avoid serious security problems.

Name

Required:: True
Type:: NAME

The name of the Director that may contact this Client. This name must be the same as the name specified on the Director resource in the Director’s configuration file. Note, the case (upper/lower) of the characters in the name are significant (i.e. S is not the same as s). This directive is required.

Password

Required:: True
Type:: MD5PASSWORD

Specifies the password that must be supplied for a Director to be authorized. This password must be the same as the password specified in the Client resource in the Director’s configuration file. This directive is required.

Port

Type:: PINT32
Default value:: 9101
Since Version:: 16.2.2

Director Network Port. Only used if “Connection From Client To Director” is enabled.

TLS Allowed CN

Type:: STRING_LIST

“Common Name”s (CNs) of the allowed peer certificates.

TLS Authenticate

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

Use TLS only to authenticate, not for encryption.

TLS CA Certificate Dir

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path of a TLS CA certificate directory.

TLS CA Certificate File

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path of a PEM encoded TLS CA certificate(s) file.

TLS Certificate

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path of a PEM encoded TLS certificate.

TLS Certificate Revocation List

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path of a Certificate Revocation List file.

TLS Cipher List

Type:: DIRECTORY

List of valid TLS Ciphers.

TLS DH File

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path to PEM encoded Diffie-Hellman parameter file. If this directive is specified, DH key exchange will be used for the ephemeral keying, allowing for forward secrecy of communications.

TLS Enable

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: yes

Enable TLS support.

Bareos can be configured to encrypt all its network traffic. See chapter TLS Configuration Directives to see how the Bareos Director (and the other components) have to be configured to use TLS.

TLS Key

Type:: DIRECTORY

Path of a PEM encoded private key. It must correspond to the specified “TLS Certificate”.

TLS Protocol

Type:: STRING
Since Version:: 20.0.0

OpenSSL Configuration: Protocol

TLS Require

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

Without setting this to yes, Bareos can fall back to use unencrypted connections. Enabling this implicitly sets “TLS Enable = yes”.

TLS Verify Peer

Type:: BOOLEAN
Default value:: no

If disabled, all certificates signed by a known CA will be accepted. If enabled, the CN of a certificate must the Address or in the “TLS Allowed CN” list.

Thus multiple Directors may be authorized to use this Client’s services. Each Director will have a different name, and normally a different password as well.

The following is an example of a valid Director resource definition:

#
# List Directors who are permitted to contact the File daemon
#
Director {
  Name = HeadMan
  Password = very_good                # password HeadMan must supply
}
Director {
  Name = Worker
  Password = not_as_good
  Monitor = Yes
}

Messages Resource

Please see the Messages Resource Chapter of this manual for the details of the Messages Resource.

There must be at least one Message resource in the Client configuration file.

Example Client Configuration File

An example File Daemon configuration file might be the following:

#
# Bareos File Daemon Configuration file
#

#
# List Directors who are permitted to contact this File daemon
#
Director {
  Name = bareos-dir
  Password = "aEODFz89JgUbWpuG6hP4OTuAoMvfM1PaJwO+ShXGqXsP"
}

#
# Restricted Director, used by tray-monitor to get the
#   status of the file daemon
#
Director {
  Name = client1-mon
  Password = "8BoVwTju2TQlafdHFExRIJmUcHUMoIyIqPJjbvcSO61P"
  Monitor = yes
}

#
# "Global" File daemon configuration specifications
#
FileDaemon {                          # this is me
  Name = client1-fd
  Maximum Concurrent Jobs = 20

  # remove comment in next line to load plugins from specified directory
  # Plugin Directory = /usr/lib64/bareos/plugins
}

# Send all messages except skipped files back to Director
Messages {
  Name = Standard
  director = client1-dir = all, !skipped, !restored
}