Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:39:05 +0000 From: "Daniel Bye" <danielby@slightlystrange.org> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Any doc reference on /entropy file ? Message-ID: <20081216133905.GA5150@torus.slightlystrange.org> In-Reply-To: <4947A83A.6050101@dugas-family.org> References: <20081216094719.EDCEE1065675@hub.freebsd.org> <4947A83A.6050101@dugas-family.org>
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On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 02:08:10PM +0100, Bernard Dugas wrote:
> Hi,
>
> When i look at / in a standard installation like :
> FreeBSD XXX 7.0-RELEASE FreeBSD 7.0-RELEASE #0: Sun Feb 24 19:59:52 UTC
> 2008 root@logan.cse.buffalo.edu:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC i386
>
> There is only 1 file, named entropy :
>
> -rw------- 1 root wheel 4096 Dec 11 17:36 entropy
>
> I can't find any reference to that file in FreeBSD doc.
>
> Any reference to it ? What is it used for ? I have look in RANDOM area,
> but no reference...
>
> Do i have to keep it read/write ? Can i put it in /var instead of / to
> be able to keep / read-only ?
It is used to safely seed the random number generator, I believe.
A quick search through /etc/rc.d/* and /etc/defaults/rc.conf reveals
that you can set $entropy_file in /etc/rc.conf to anything you like,
although a comment suggests
# Set to NO to disable caching entropy through reboots.
# /var/db/entropy-file is preferred if / is not avail.
So yes, it seems you could move it off / if you want.
Dan
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Daniel Bye
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