install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install keyutils

provider-native install command

overview

Package summary

Linux key management utilities

Project links

Homepage

Commands and aliases

key.dns_resolver
keyctl
request-key

history

Project history and usage

keyutils is the user-space utility and library package for the Linux kernel key retention service. It provides tools such as keyctl, request-key, and key.dns_resolver, plus libkeyutils for programs that need to call the kernel key-management interfaces.

Project history

David Howells created the keyutils package in July 2005, shortly after the Linux key-management facility became a user-visible subsystem. The package grew from command-line control utilities into a split utility, runtime-library, and development-header package with manual pages and request-key integration.

The keyutils spec changelog shows a long maintenance arc tied to kernel capabilities: version 1.0 in November 2005 renamed the library/header to keyutils and introduced library symbol versioning; version 1.3 in February 2010 exposed security-context and parent-session-keyring operations; version 1.5 in March 2011 added KEYCTL_REJECT, KEYCTL_INSTANTIATE_IOV, DNS lookup generalization, and more keyctl commands; version 1.6 in November 2018 added public-key operations that required Linux 4.20.

Adoption history

keyutils is packaged broadly because it is glue for Linux authentication, filesystem, DNS, and crypto-adjacent workflows rather than an optional application. The batch metadata records packages in Alpine, Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, Nix, Arch, Ubuntu, and openSUSE/Zypper ecosystems.

The Linux kernel documentation describes keyrings as a kernel service for caching cryptographic keys, authentication tokens, cross-domain user mappings, and related data for filesystems and kernel services. keyutils is the standard user-space companion for inspecting and operating on that facility.

How it is used

Administrators and system services use keyctl to add, link, search, read, invalidate, and manage keys and keyrings. request-key is invoked by the kernel-side request-key callback path when a key must be instantiated in user space, and key.dns_resolver supports DNS-related upcalls.

Why package nerds care

keyutils is a classic small package with outsized system importance: it exposes kernel ABI surfaces, ships a shared library and manual pages, and changes as the Linux key subsystem adds capabilities. It is the kind of package that may be invisible on a workstation until Kerberos, encrypted filesystems, DNS resolver keys, module signing, or request-key upcalls need it.

Timeline

2005-07-12: keyutils package creation.
2005-11-28: version 1.0 renamed the library and header to keyutils and added symbol versioning.
2011-03-10: version 1.5 added newer keyctl functionality including KEYCTL_REJECT and KEYCTL_INSTANTIATE_IOV.
2018-11-13: version 1.6 added public-key operations requiring Linux 4.20.
2020-07-07: version 1.6.3 adjusted key change notifications to use pipe2(O_NOTIFICATION_PIPE).

Related projects

The Linux kernel key retention service is the kernel-side subsystem. Linux man-pages documents many of the system-call interfaces, while request-key and key.dns_resolver are user-space helpers shipped in keyutils.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

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

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Linux: /etc/request-key.conf/etc/request-key.d/*.conf/etc/key.dns_resolver.conf

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`key.dns_resolver`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`keyctl`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.
`request-key`	executable	indexed executable	Discovered from the local executable index.

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-08-03

manager version1.6.3

manager updated

local dataunknown

upstreamnot available

latest detectednot detected

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:keyutils
Version	1.6.3
Package manager	Homebrew
Homepage	https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils.git
Bottle	not recorded
Service	none declared

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/keyutils.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
curated configuration and credential file locations
curated package history
pkgdb category and tag curation

Install keyutils with Homebrew