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JAIL.CONF(5)		    BSD	File Formats Manual		  JAIL.CONF(5)

NAME
     jail.conf -- configuration	file for jail(8)

DESCRIPTION
     A jail(8) configuration file consists of one or more jail definitions
     statements, and parameter or variable statements within those jail	defi-
     nitions.  A jail definition statement looks something like	a C compound
     statement.	 A parameter statement looks like a C assignment, including a
     terminating semicolon.

     The general syntax	of a jail definition is:

	   jailname {
		   parameter = "value";
		   parameter = "value";
		   ...
	   }

     Each jail is required to have a name at the front of its definition.
     This is used by jail(8) to	specify	a jail on the command line and report
     the jail status, and is also passed to the	kernel when creating the jail.

   Parameters
     A jail is defined by a set	of named parameters, specified inside the jail
     definition.  See jail(8) for a list of jail parameters passed to the ker-
     nel, as well as internal parameters used when creating and	removing
     jails.

     A typical parameter has a name and	a value.  Some parameters are boolean
     and may be	specified with values of "true"	or "false", or as valueless
     shortcuts,	with a "no" prefix indicating a	false value.  For example,
     these are equivalent:

	   allow.mount = "false";
	   allow.nomount;

     Other parameters may have more than one value.  A comma-separated list of
     values may	be set in a single statement, or an existing parameter list
     may be appended to	using "+=":

	   ip4.addr = 10.1.1.1,	10.1.1.2, 10.1.1.3;

	   ip4.addr = 10.1.1.1;
	   ip4.addr += 10.1.1.2;
	   ip4.addr += 10.1.1.3;

     Note the name parameter is	implicitly set to the name in the jail defini-
     tion.

   String format
     Parameter values, including jail names, can be single tokens or quoted
     strings.  A token is any sequence of characters that aren't considered
     special in	the syntax of the configuration	file (such as a	semicolon or
     whitespace).  If a	value contains anything	more than letters, numbers,
     dots, dashes and underscores, it is advisable to put quote	marks around
     that value.  Either single	or double quotes may be	used.

     Special characters	may be quoted by preceding them	with a backslash.
     Common C-style backslash character	codes are also supported, including
     control characters	and octal or hex ASCII codes.  A backslash at the end
     of	a line will ignore the subsequent newline and continue the string at
     the start of the next line.

   Variables
     A string may use shell-style variable substitution.  A parameter or vari-
     able name preceded	by a dollar sign, and possibly enclosed	in braces,
     will be replaced with the value of	that parameter or variable.  For exam-
     ple, a jail's path	may be defined in terms	of its name or hostname:

	   path	= "/var/jail/$name";

	   path	= "/var/jail/${host.hostname}";

     Variable substitution occurs in unquoted tokens or	in double-quoted
     strings, but not in single-quote strings.

     A variable	is defined in the same way a parameter is, except that the
     variable name is preceeded	with a dollar sign:

	   $parentdir =	"/var/jail";
	   path	= "$parentdir/$name";

     The difference between parameters and variables is	that variables are
     only used for substitution, while parameters are used both	for substitu-
     tion and for passing to the kernel.

   Wildcards
     A jail definition with a name of "*" is used to define wildcard parame-
     ters.  Every defined jail will contain both the parameters	from its own
     definition	statement, as well as any parameters in	a wildcard definition.

     Variable substitution is done on a	per-jail basis,	even when that substi-
     tution is for a parameter defined in a wildcard section.  This is useful
     for wildcard parameters based on e.g. a jail's name.

     Later definitions in the configuration file supersede earlier ones, so a
     wildcard section placed before (above) a jail definition defines parame-
     ters that could be	changed	on a per-jail basis.  Or a wildcard section
     placed after (below) all jails would contain parameters that always apply
     to	every jail.  Multiple wildcard statements are allowed, and wildcard
     parameters	may also be specified outside of a jail	definition statement.

     If	hierarchical jails are defined,	a partial-matching wildcard definition
     may be specified.	For example, a definition with a name of "foo.*" would
     apply to jails with names like "foo.bar" and "foo.bar.baz".

   Comments
     The configuration file may	contain	comments in the	common C, C++, and
     shell formats:

	   /* This is a	C style	comment.
	    * It may span multiple lines.
	    */

	   // This is a	C++ style comment.

	   #  This is a	shell style comment.

     Comments are legal	wherever whitespace is allowed,	i.e. anywhere except
     in	the middle of a	string or a token.

EXAMPLES
     # Typical static defaults:
     # Use the rc scripts to start and stop jails.  Mount jail's /dev.
     exec.start	= "/bin/sh /etc/rc";
     exec.stop = "/bin/sh /etc/rc.shutdown";
     exec.clean;
     mount.devfs;

     # Dynamic wildcard	parameter:
     # Base the	path off the jail name.
     path = "/var/jail/$name";

     # A typical jail.
     foo {
	     host.hostname = "foo.com";
	     ip4.addr =	10.1.1.1, 10.1.1.2, 10.1.1.3;
     }

     # This jail overrides the defaults	defined	above.
     bar {
	     exec.start	= '';
	     exec.stop = '';
	     path = /;
	     mount.nodevfs;
	     persist;	     //	Required because there are no processes
     }

SEE ALSO
     jail_set(2) jail(8) jls(8)

HISTORY
     The jail(8) utility appeared in FreeBSD 4.0.  The jail.conf file was
     added in FreeBSD 9.1.

AUTHORS
     The jail feature was written by Poul-Henning Kamp for R&D Associates
     http://www.rndassociates.com/ who contributed it to FreeBSD.

     James Gritton added the extensible	jail parameters	and configuration
     file.

BSD				 May 23, 2012				   BSD

NAME | DESCRIPTION | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | HISTORY | AUTHORS

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