# Install jailkit with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts Utilities to create limited user accounts in a chroot jail. Version 2.23 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install jailkit. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:jailkit ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install jailkit ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install jailkit ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: security/jailkit/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install jailkit ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: jailkit from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:jailkit - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Version:** 2.23 - **Source summary:** Utilities to create limited user accounts in a chroot jail - **Homepage:** - **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00 ## Executables - jk_check (alias) - jk_chrootlaunch (alias) - jk_chrootsh (alias) - jk_cp (alias) - jk_init (alias) - jk_jailuser (alias) - jk_list (alias) - jk_lsh (alias) - jk_socketd (alias) - jk_uchroot (alias) - jk_update (alias) ## Install behavior - Bottle: not available ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-08-03 - Package-manager version: 2.23 ## Project history and usage Jailkit is a Unix security toolkit for creating and maintaining chroot jails for users, shells, and daemons. It is an older, conservative package whose value is automation around a risky primitive: `chroot`. ### Project history The project page and man page credit Olivier Sessink and carry copyright years beginning in 2003. Jailkit was built to automate repeated chroot setup tasks, including copying binaries and libraries into a jail, limiting commands through a restricted shell, checking jail integrity, and forwarding logs from inside a jail. The project has stayed intentionally narrow. The homepage emphasizes stable, security-focused behavior: utilities abort when configuration or environment checks are not secure, and syslog messages explain what failed. Maintenance releases in 2019 and 2021 focused on Python 3 compatibility, `jk_update`, `jk_init`, and man-page cleanup rather than broad feature expansion. ### Adoption history The homepage states that Jailkit is used in network security appliances, large enterprise and ISP internet servers, smaller companies, and private deployments for securing CVS, SFTP, shell, and daemon processes. Homebrew API data available during this enrichment recorded 142 installs over 365 days, which matches a specialized system-administration tool with long tail usage. ### How it is used Administrators use Jailkit to initialize a jail, copy only the commands and libraries needed for a task, move users into the jail, restrict allowed commands through `jk_lsh`, and check common jail security mistakes with `jk_check`. The man page stresses that writable system directories, setuid programs, and root privileges inside a jail can defeat the intended isolation. ### Why package nerds care Jailkit matters to package nerds because it packages institutional Unix hardening lore into named commands: `jk_init`, `jk_cp`, `jk_chrootsh`, `jk_lsh`, `jk_jailuser`, `jk_check`, and friends. It is not glamorous, but it turns chroot from a hand-built directory-tree ritual into repeatable system administration. ### Timeline - 2003: Project copyright and man-page history begin under Olivier Sessink. - 2019: Jailkit 2.21 added full Python 3 compatibility and removed the long-deprecated `jk_addjailuser` utility. - 2021: Jailkit 2.22 fixed Python 3 compatibility in `jk_update` and improved `jk_init.ini` defaults. - 2021: Jailkit 2.23 fixed `jk_init` edge cases and cleaned up man-page locations. - 2026: The project page documented non-exposure to CVE-2026-23268/CVE-2026-23269 because Jailkit exits when required system calls fail or are not permitted. ### Related projects - Jailkit is related to the Unix `chroot(2)` facility, OpenSSH restricted SFTP setups, limited shells, rsync/scp/CVS jail deployments, and OS-level isolation mechanisms. Unlike containers, its focus is small, explicit filesystem jails for accounts and daemons. ### Sources - - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: /etc/jailkit/, JAIL/etc/jailkit/ ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - jailkit - 2.23-2+b1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: jailkit from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | tools to generate chroot jails easily | https://olivier.sessink.nl/jailkit/ - Ubuntu apt - jailkit - 2.23-2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: jailkit from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | tools to generate chroot jails easily | https://olivier.sessink.nl/jailkit/ - MacPorts - jailkit: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: security/jailkit/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/jailkit.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/jailkit.yml) ## Sources - pkg.so package database - Geiger risk classifier - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - pkgdb category and tag curation - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph