gated(1M)

Specifies a buffer size for the socket read/write buffer. The buffer size should not be less than one MB (megabyte) and should not exceed the available system memory. If this option is not specified, the buffer size will be set to the available system memory.

Specifies that the configuration file will be parsed for syntax errors and then gated will exit. gated will leave a dump file in /var/tmp/gated_dump if there were no errors. gated does not need to be run as the superuser to use the -c option but it may not be possible to read the kernel forwarding table and interface configuration if not run as superuser. The -c option implies -tgeneral. All trace_option clauses in the configuration file will be ignored.

Specifies that the configuration file will just be parsed for syntax errors. gated will exit with a status 1 if there were any errors and 0 (zero) if there were not. gated does not need to be run as the superuser to use the -C option but it may not be possible to read the kernel forwarding table and interface configuration if not run as the superuser.

Specifies that gated will not modify the kernel forwarding table. This is used for testing gated configurations with actual routing data.

Specifies that gated will not daemonize. Normally, if tracing to stderr is not specified gated will daemonize if the parent process ID is not that of the initialization process (aka init). This allows the use of an /etc/inittab-like method of invoking gated that does not have a PID of the initialization process.

Specifies that gated will add routes to the kernel in the decreasing order of IP addresses of gateways when there are multiple routes to a destination.

Specifies a comma separated list of trace options to be enabled on startup. If no flags are specified, general is assumed. No space is allowed between this option and it's arguments.

This option must be used to trace events that take place before the configuration file is parsed, such as determining the interface configuration and reading routes from the kernel.

See the GateD Configuration Guide for valid trace options and a more detailed explanation of tracing.

Use an alternate config file. By default, gated uses /etc/gated.conf.

Trace file in which to place trace information.

If a trace file is specified on the command line, or no trace flags are specified on the command line, gated detaches from the terminal and runs in the background. If trace flags are specified without specifying a trace file, gated assumes that tracing is desired to stderr and remains in the foreground.

Re-read configuration. A SIGHUP causes gated to reread the configuration file. gated first performs a clean-up of all allocated policy structures. All BGP and EGP peers are flagged for deletion and the configuration file is re-parsed.

If the re-parse is successful, any BGP and EGP peers that are no longer in the configuration are shut down, and new peers are started. gated attempts to determine if changes to existing peers require a shutdown and restart. OSPF is not capable of reconfiguring; it is shutdown and restarted during a reconfiguration. This may have an adverse impact on the routing system.

It should also be possible to enable/disable any protocol without restarting gated.

Snap-shot of current state.

The current state of all gated tasks, timers, protocols and tables are written to /var/tmp/gated_dump.

On systems supporting fork(), this is done by forking a subprocess to dump the table information so as not to impact gated's routing functions. On systems where memory management does not support copy-on-write, this will cause the gated address space to be duplicated; this may cause a noticeable impact on the system. On system not supporting fork(), the main process immediately processes the dump, which may impact gated's routing functions.

Graceful shutdown.

On receipt of a SIGTERM, gated attempts a graceful shutdown. All tasks and protocols are asked to shutdown. Most will terminate immediately, the exception being EGP peers which wait for confirmation. It may be necessary to repeat the SIGTERM once or twice if it this process takes too long.

All protocol routes are removed from the kernel's routing table on receipt of a SIGTERM. Interface routes, routes with RTF_STATIC set (from the route command where supported) and static routes specifying retain will remain. To terminate gated with the exterior routes intact, use SIGKILL.

Toggle tracing.

On receipt of a SIGUSR1, gated will close the trace file. A subsequent SIGUSR1 will cause it to be reopened. This will allow the file to be moved regularly.

It is not possible to use SIGUSR1 if a trace file has not been specified, or tracing is being performed to stderr.

Check for interface changes.

On receipt of a SIGUSR2, gated will rescan the kernel interface list looking for changes.