Ghidra Server README
Table of Contents
The Ghidra Server is incorporated into the standard Ghidra software distribution. Simply unpack the
Ghidra distribution, configure the Ghidra Server and perform the OS-specific install and you should
have the server running in no time.
The Ghidra Server utilizes the YAJSW Java service wrapper to launch the application and provides OS
specific scripts which enable the application to run as a service.
NOTE: It is very important that only a single server instance is running against any given
server repositories directory. This can be assured if only the default port is ever used.
The daemon/service mechanism assumes that only one instance of the service exists. Attempting to
run a second concurrent instance may lead to difficulties and is not supported.
NOTE: It is highly recommended that the installation files for Ghidra reside on a local drive
and that the intended Ghidra Server process owner is granted full access to the Ghidra installation
directory (this is frequently not the case for NFS/SMB mounted home directories).
NOTE: It is highly recommended that you establish a repositories directory outside of your
Ghidra installation directory so that it may be re-used more easily with future upgraded
installations of Ghidra.
You may also refer to the InstallationGuide.html file within the
docs subdirectory for general installation information.
(Back to Top)
The installation of a suitable Java Runtime Environment must be completed before installing or
running the Ghidra Server. Please refer to the Ghidra Installation Guide to identify
a suitable version. Since the Ghidra Server is unable to interactively identify a Java installation
at runtime it must rely upon the setting of JAVA_HOME, execution search PATH or the use of standard
Java installation locations. It is important to consider the service execution environment which may
differ from the administrator who may be installing the service. For this reason use of an installed
Java release may be preferable over one that is simply unpacked to an arbitrary location.
(Back to Top)
Before installing and running the Ghidra Server, the server/server.conf
file must be modified to suit your particular needs. Within this file, locate the lines labeled:
wrapper.app.parameter.#
These lines correspond to a sequential list of server command line arguments - be sure not duplicate
a parameter number. The comments within this file indicate the available command line arguments
which should be specified here based upon the desired user authentication, repositories directory
location and other associated options.
You should generally avoid using the default repositories location and specify a location outside
your installation directory using an absolute path specification.
When upgrading your Ghidra installation, you will need to copy your app parameters from your old
server.conf to the new server.conf. Do not copy
the entire server.conf file as this may prevent the server from running
properly. If running as a service, you must run the server/svrUninstall script
from the old installation before running the server/svrInstall script from the
new installation. Using a non-default repositories directory outside your Ghidra installation
will simplify the migration process.
(Back to Top)
The Ghidra Server currently maintains an in-memory state for all repositories. We are aware that
this can limit the scalability of the Ghidra Server. The maximum memory used by the process can be
set within the server/server.conf file by adjusting the following setting:
wrapper.java.maxmemory
WARNING! There are currently no safeguards when insufficient memory is available to the Ghidra
Server and can cause severe failure if an out of memory error occurs.
The following formula can be used to approximate an appropriate setting for this
maxmemory value where FileCount
represents the maximum number of repository files and ClientCount
is the number of active Ghidra clients connected at one time.
wrapper.java.maxmemory = 16 + (32 * FileCount/10000) + (2 * ClientCount)
Example:
100,000 files and 25 connected Ghidra clients
16 + (32 * 100000/10000) + (2 * 25) = 386
wrapper.java.maxmemory=772 (2 * 386, see NOTE below)
NOTE: Due to the dynamic memory demands on the server not considered by this calculation (e.g., open file handles, etc.),
the actual maxmemory setting used should be larger
than the calculated value. At a minimum, it is recommended that the calculated value be doubled, and a larger value
may be appropriate based upon server loading.
The Java VisualVM tool (if available for your host) may also be used to examine memory usage while
the server is running. This tool is NOT provided with any Ghidra distribution.
(Back to Top)
Both Ghidra Server and client application make extensive use of forward and reverse network name
lookups. If this service is not properly configured on your network and hosts, names may fail to
be resolved or in certain cases cause severe performance delays due to improperly serviced DNS
name/address queries.
By default the server will attempt to identify an appropriate remote access IPv4 address which will
be written to the log at startup. In addition, the server will listen for incoming
connections on all IPv4 interfaces by default. It is important to understand the difference between
the published remote access address and the listening address (i.e. interface) which are both
configurable. See the -ip and -i options in
the Server Options section for more details.
(Back to Top)
The Ghidra Server has been designed to support many possible user authentication modes:
- No authentication - any user which has been added to the server may connect without
password or credentials.
- Local Ghidra password (-a0) - passwords associated with
each user added to the server are maintained in the users file located
within the repositories directory. The user will be prompted for this password when connecting
to the server. The default password changeme is used when a user is
first added or when the user is reset (see Server
Administration). This default password must be changed by the user to avoid its expiration.
- Active Directory via Kerberos (-a1) - user authentication is
performed against your local Active Directory system using Kerberos to do so. The -d<ad_domain>
argument is required to specify the domain name of your Active Directory system.
It is also possible to authenticate against your Active Directory system using LDAP. See the
LDAP example when using JAAS -a4 mode.
- PKI authentication (-a2) - user authentication is performed
using PKI user certificates. When using this mode, the distinguished name (DN) for each user
must be associated with each server User ID (see Server
Administration). In addition, each user must configure Ghidra with the location of their
signing key/certificate keystore file (see PKI Certificates
for more information).
Please note that each user's certificate must be issued by a trusted certificate authority
which has been properly added to the Ghidra Server's cacerts file. See
Managing PKI Certificate Authorities for more information.
In an attempt to simplify the determination of user DN's, a log file
(UnknownDN.log) records user DNs which are unknown. After adding a
user to the server, ask the user to attempt a login using their PKCS certificate. This should
result in their DN being recorded to this log file. The server administrator may now copy the
appropriate DN from this log file when assigning the DN for a user.
- JAAS - Java Authentication and Authorization Service (-a4) -
user authentication is delegated to the JAAS subsystem. The -jaas <config_file> argument
is required to specify the JAAS config file. The JAAS config file supplied (server/jaas.conf)
contains various example configurations which may be used to establish an 'auth' configuration
section. None of the example configurations use the 'auth' name so they will be ignored by default.
JAAS is architected similar to Linux/Unix PAM, where a named authentication configuration is possibly
composed of several different modules. Ghidra's support of JAAS only handles single simple
JAAS modules that requests the name and password from the user.
Some known JAAS login modules:
- com.sun.security.auth.module.LdapLoginModule - allows authentication to an LDAP server. There
is an example of using this module to authenticate against an Active Directory system in the
jaas.conf file.
- net.sf.jpam.jaas.JpamLoginModule - (Linux/Unix server only) allows authentication against
the local PAM configuration. You will need to download JPAM from SourceForce and install the
libraries in the necessary locations. See the example in the jaas.conf file.
- ghidra.server.security.loginmodule.ExternalProgramLoginModule - spawns an external
program for each authentication request, and uses the external program's exit code as the indicator
of successful authentication.
There is an example (and non-useful) implementation of an external authenticator provided with
the Ghidra instalation called server/jaas_external_program.example.sh.
This login module strives to be compatible with Apache's mod_authnz_external API, and you should
be able to use any mod_authnz_external authenticator with Ghidra.
The external program is fed the username\n and password\n on its STDIN (ie. two text lines).
The external authenticator needs to exit with 0 (zero) error level
if the authentication was successful, or a non-zero error level if not successful.
- com.sun.security.auth.module.Krb5LoginModule - not recommended - this login module
is used in the -a1 Active Directory via Kerberos authentication mode, and as such you should use it that way.
- Use of an SSH pre-shared key (-ssh) is supported as an
alternate form of authentication when using Local Ghidra password (-a0).
This SSH authentication is currently supported by the Headless Analyzer only. See
SSH User Authentication for configuration details.
(Back to Top)
When the -ssh option has been included in conjunction with password based
authentications mode (-a0 a user's SSH public key may be added to the server to facilitate
access by a Headless Analyzer. An SSH public key file must be added to the server repository for
each user who requires headless SSH authentication. The SSH public key file (e.g.,
id_rsa.pub) must be copied to the repositories/~ssh
subdirectory to a file named <username>.pub. Removing the file will
eliminate SSH based authentication for the corresponding user. When creating the
~ssh subdirectory, it should be owned by the Ghidra Server process
owner with full access and any SSH public keys readable by the process owner. Changes to the SSH
public key files may be made without restarting the Ghidra Server.
(Back to Top)
- Networking options
- -ip <hostname>
Identifies the remote access hostname (FQDN)
or IPv4 address which should be used by remote clients to access the server. By default the
host name reported by the operating system is resolved to an IPv4 address, if this fails the
local loopback address is used. The server log will indicate the remote access hostname
at startup. This option may be required when a server has multiple IP interfaces, relies on
a dynamic DNS or other network address translation for incoming connections.
This option establishes the property value for java.rmi.server.hostname.
- -i <#.#.#.#>
Forces the server to be bound to a specific
IPv4 interface on the server. If specified and the -ip option is not,
the address specified by -i will establish the remote access IP
address as well as restrict the listening interface. If this option is not specified connections
will be accepted on any interface.
- -p#
Allows the base TCP port to be specified (default: 13100). The
server utilizes three (3) TCP ports starting with the specified base port (e.g., 13100,13101 and 13102).
The ports utilized are logged by the server during startup.
- -n
Enables reverse name lookup for IP addresses when logging
(requires proper configuration of reverse lookup by your DNS server). Please note that logging
of host names is now disabled by default due to the slow-down which occurs when reverse DNS is
not properly configured on the network.
- Authentication options
(Back to Top)
Server Scripts (located within the server subdirectory)
- svrInstall.bat
installs server as service (ghidraSvr)
- svrUninstall.bat
removes previously installed server service
- svrAdmin.bat
facilitates Ghidra Server administrative commands
(see Server Administration)
- ghidraSvr.bat
provides a variety of commands for controlling
the server when running as a daemon process. When running this script it accepts a single
argument which is one of the following commands. Many of these commands are included so that
this script may be used for controlling the service.
- console
starts server within the current terminal window.
console argument may be omitted to allow for double-click execution
in this mode.
- start
starts the previously installed Ghidra Server service
- stop
stops the installed Ghidra Server service which is
currently running
- restart
stops and restarts the previously installed Ghidra
Server service
- status
displays the current status of the Ghidra Server
(ghidraSvr) service
NOTE: The above scripts may be run from a CMD window, or by
double-clicking the script file from an Explorer window. Other than the console and status
operation, elevated privilege is needed to run these commands. As such the user executing
these scripts must be a member of the Administrator group and must be run with elevated privilege.
If using Windows Vista or newer, the best way to accomplish this is to run the
CMD shell using the Run as Administrator
action which is available by right-clicking on a command shortcut or batch file. If the
CMD shell is run in this manner, the Ghidra Server scripts may then be
executed within the shell to run with administrator privilege.
Running Server in Console Window (intended for diagnostic use only)
NOTE: Starting the server in console mode is generally intended for diagnostic use only.
Extreme care must be taken to ensure that any user who starts the Ghidra Server via this script
has full access to all directories and files within the root repository directory.
If the Ghidra Server is not already running, it may be started within a console window by
running the ghidraSvr.bat console command. When you wish to terminate the
server, use the Ctrl-C key sequence within the server console window and
wait for a clean shutdown.
Install as Automatic Service (must have Administrator privilege)
The Ghidra Server may be installed as an automatic service by executing the
svrInstall.bat script. This script may be run from a
CMD window, or by double-clicking the script file from an Explorer
window. Once installed, the server will start automatically when the system is booted.
Immediately after running this script the service will not be running, you will need to either
reboot or start the service from the Service Control Panel.
Uninstall Service (must have Administrator privilege)
If after installing the Ghidra Server as a service you wish to uninstall it, you may run the
svrUninstall.bat script. You must stop the service via the Service
Control Panel prior to running this script. This script may be run from a CMD
window, or by double-clicking the script file from an Explorer window.
NOTE: It is very important that you uninstall the service prior to doing any of the
following activities:
- deleting or upgrading the Ghidra installation
- moving/renaming the Ghidra installation directory
(Back to Top)
Server Scripts (located within the server subdirectory)
- svrInstall
installs server as service (ghidraSvr
or wrapper.ghidraSvr)
- svrUninstall
removes previously installed server service
- svrAdmin
facilitates administrative commands (see
Server Administration)
- ghidraSvr
provides a variety of commands for controlling the
server when running as a daemon process. When running this script it accepts a single argument
which is one of the following commands. Many of these commands are included so that this script
may be used for controlling the service.
- console
starts server within the current terminal window
- start
starts the previously installed Ghidra Server service
- stop
stops the installed Ghidra Server service which is
currently running
- restart
stops and restarts the previously installed Ghidra
Server service
- status
displays the current status of the Ghidra Server
(ghidraSvr) service
Running Server in Console Window
NOTE: Starting the server in console mode is generally intended for diagnostic use
only. Care must be taken to ensure that any user who starts the Ghidra Server via this script
has full access to all directories and files within the root repository directory.
If the Ghidra Server is not already running, it may be started within a terminal window by
running the command: ghidraSvr console. When you wish to terminate
the server, use the Ctrl-C key sequence within the server console window and
wait for a clean shutdown.
Install as Automatic Service (must have admin privilege)
The Ghidra Server may be installed as an automatic service by executing the
svrInstall script. Once installed, the server will start automatically
when the system is booted.
If it is preferred to run the service with a dedicated local user account, the following
entry may be added to the server.conf file with the appropriate account specified in
place of <uid>.
A dedicated local service account should generally be a no-login account with a
corresponding group identifier with the same name (i.e., see /etc/passwd and /etc/group).
The local account should be established and specified with server.conf prior to
installation of the Ghidra Server service.
wrapper.app.account=<uid>
It is also important that the repositories directory and Ghidra installation files
be owned by the service account with proper permissions. Note that while the Ghidra Server
Java process will run using the specified uid the wrapper process will continue
to run as root and monitor/manage the Java process.
Uninstall Service (must have admin privilege)
If after installing the Ghidra Server as a service you wish to uninstall it, you may run the
svrUninstall script.
NOTE: It is very important that you uninstall the service prior to doing any of the following
activities:
- deleting or upgrading the Ghidra installation
- moving/renaming the Ghidra installation directory
(Back to Top)
The script svrAdmin, or svrAdmin.bat, provides
the ability to manage Ghidra Server users and repositories. This script must be run from a
command shell so that the proper command line arguments may be specified.
The general command usage is:
svrAdmin [<server-root-path>]
[-add <user_sid> [--p]]
[-remove <user_sid>]
[-reset <user_sid> [--p]]
[-dn <user_sid> "<user_dn>"]
[-admin <user_sid> "<repository_name>"]
[-list]
[-users]
[-migrate-all]
[-migrate "<repository_name>"]
- <server-root-path>
There is normally no need to specify this argument on the command line.
The default server-root-path is determined by
the server.conf setting of the 'ghidra.repositories.dir' variable. This allows both the server
execution and svrAdmin script to utilize the same setting.
- -add (Adding a User)
All authentication modes require that a user first be added to the server for a connection to
be permitted. If Ghidra password authentication is used [-a0], the
initial password is set to changeme. This password must be changed by
the user within 24-hours to avoid its expiration (password expiration period can be extended as
a server option, see -e server option).
Alternatively, the initial password may be specified by including the optional --p
parameter which will prompt for an initial password.
Examples:
svrAdmin -add mySID
svrAdmin -add mySID --p
- -remove (Removing a User)
A user may be removed from the server with this command form. This will only prevent the
specified user from connecting to the server and will have no effect on the state or history
of repository files. If a repository admin wishes to clear a user's checkouts, this is
a separate task which may be performed from an admin's Ghidra client.
Example:
svrAdmin -remove mySID
- -reset (Reset User's Ghidra Password)
If a user's password has expired, or has simply been forgotten, the password may be reset
to changeme. After resetting, this password must be changed by the user within
24-hours to avoid its expiration (password expiration period can be extended as a server option).
Alternatively, the new password may be specified by including the optional --p
parameter which will prompt for an initial password.
Example:
svrAdmin -reset mySID
svrAdmin -reset mySID --p
- -dn (Assign User's Distinguished Name)
The use of PKI authentication requires that each user's DN be associated with their user SID.
Example:
svrAdmin -dn mySID "CN=MyName,OU=AGENCY,OU=DoD,O=U.S. Government,C=US"
NOTE: After having been added to the server, a user's DN may be copied from the
UnknownDN.log file following an attempted connection with their PKCS
certificate.
- -admin (Adding a Repository Administrator)
If an existing repository administrator is unable to add another user as administrator, the
server administrator may use this command to specify a new repository administrator.
Example:
svrAdmin -admin mySID "myProject"
- -list (List All Repositories)
Lists all repositories. If the -users option is also present, the user access
list will be included for each repository.
Example:
svrAdmin -list
- -users (List All Users)
Lists all users with server access. May also be coupled with the -list option.
Example:
svrAdmin -users
- -migrate-all (Migrate All Repositories to Use Indexed
File-System Storage)
For all repositories which are using the deprecated Mangled Filesystem storage, they will be
marked for migration to the Indexed Filesystem storage with support for longer file pathnames.
The actual migration will be performed when the Ghidra Server is restarted.
Please note that any migration to the Indexed filesystem storage is a one-way conversion so a
backup of your server repositories directory is highly recommended before proceeding.
Example:
svrAdmin -migrate-all
- -migrate (Migrate a Specified Repository to use
Indexed File-System Storage)
The specified repository will be marked for migration to the Indexed Filesystem storage with
support for longer file pathnames. The actual migration will be performed when the Ghidra
Server is restarted.
Please note that any migration to the Indexed filesystem storage is a one-way conversion so a
backup of your server repositories directory is highly recommended before proceeding.
Example:
svrAdmin -migrate "myProject"
(Back to Top)
As with any server, it is highly recommended that your server repositories directory be periodically
backed-up or whenever an upgrade (or data migration) is performed. While backups may be taken while
the Ghidra Server is idle (e.g., after midnight), it is always safest to stop the Ghidra Server
while a backup is in progress.
(Back to Top)
Any user who has Admin privilege of a specific repository may use the Ghidra client to View
Checkouts for a specific file and Delete individual checkouts from those that are listed. The
View Checkouts action is available from the popup-menu of the Ghidra
Project Window by right-clicking on a specific project file.
Under special circumstances (e.g., classroom environment) it may be desirable to remove all
checkouts either for a specific repository or an entire Ghidra Server. Under Linux/Mac this is
most easily accomplished from the command shell while the Ghidra Server is stopped. The following
command may be used:
find <repo-path> -name checkout.dat -exec rm {} \;
where <repo-path> is the directory path of a specific named
repository root, or the parent repositories directory if clearing checkouts for all repositories.
WARNING! Since the find command is recursive, care must be taken when
specifying the <repo-path> and the other parameters. If you specify
the incorrect <repo-path> or omit the correct
-name argument, you may remove important files without the ability to recover.
(Back to Top)
PKI keys/certificates can be used to authenticate clients and/or servers.
When using the Ghidra Server PKI authentication mode this corresponds to "client authentication"
which requires the server.conf to specify a cacerts
file location and each user client to
configure a user signing key/certificate keystore file. If clients wish to authenticate the server,
the server.conf must specify a server key/certificate keystore
file and each user client must configure
a cacerts file. See
Managing PKI Certificate Authorities
for more information on configuring a cacerts file.
User and server certificates must be acquired through one of many trusted authorities
identified by the cacerts file installed by the peer system. Your network support
staff should be able to help you acquire a suitable signing key/certificate in the form
of either a *.p12, *.pks, or *.pfx file.
User's of the Ghidra GUI application can install their key/certificate file via the
project window menu item Edit->Set PKI Certificate.... The user will be prompted
for their keystore password the first time key access is required for a network connection
after starting the application.
If using the analyzeHeadless script, see the
analyzeHeadlessREADME.html file for details.
If the Ghidra Server will be installing a server certificate, the server.conf
file should be modified to properly identify the server's key/certificate location (ghidra.keystore)
and password (ghidra.password).
(Back to Top)
When utilizing PKI authentication for a Ghidra Server a set of certificates for trusted Certificate
Authorities (CA) must be collected and added to a cacerts keystore file created using the Java
keytool. The Java keytool can be found within the Java Development Kit (JDK) provided with
Ghidra (java/bin/keytool) or any other Java distribution. The default
cacerts keystore file location is Ghidra/cacerts
and is also specified by the ghidra.cacerts property setting within the
server.conf file. Uncomment this specification within the
server.conf file to activate use of the cacerts
for all incoming SSL/TLS connections (i.e., all Ghidra client users must install and employ the
use of their personal PKI signing certificate for both headed and headless use - see
PKI Certificates). Clients can also impose server authentication
for all HTTPS and Ghidra Server connections by creating the cacerts file
and enabling the ghidra.cacerts
property setting within the support/launch.sh and/or launch.bat scripts.
Individual CA public key certificates should be obtained in a Base64 encoding (see sample below).
If pasting the encoded certificate into a file, be sure to include an extra blank line after the
END CERTIFICATE line.
Sample Base64 encoded certificate:
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
laSKCIElkjsudCUDusjSUkjeMSUjAJHDuLQWMCMausALkKXMXOOjSKSUjssjSKAA
ksDSDjLKJHAuemCXXUmxxqjaskuDSYRmxiqgDlakkUSUdhemjASKUakjhuEhxMSD
...
ksJKDwocQwyeEIcbzHtyrSLfoeyGCmvbNLGHpgoruSTYQafzDFTgwjkJHCXVDjdg
KDowiyYTXkcuiwCJXuyqCHpdoORriwwcCWUskucuwHDJskuejdkUWJCUDSjujsUE
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
You can inspect the contents of a Base64 encoded certificate file with the following command:
keytool -printcert -v -file <base64file>
where:
- <base64file> is the file containing the Base64 encoded CA certificate to be imported.
The Owner common name (CN) displayed by this command should be used as the alias when importing the
certificate into your cacerts file.
The following command should be used to add a CA certificate to a new or existing cacerts file:
keytool -import -alias "<caAlias>" -file <base64file> -storetype jks -keystore <cacerts-file>
where:
- <caAlias> is the name of the CA corresponding to the
imported certificate.
- <base64file> is the file containing the Base64 encoded CA
certificate to be imported.
- <cacerts-file> is the cacerts file to be used by the Ghidra
Server (and/or client if needed).
The keystore password will be requested and is used to restrict future modifications to the
cacerts file.
When starting the Ghidra Server with PKI authentication enabled, the CA certificates contained
within the cacerts file will be dumped to the log with their expiration dates.
Please note that the Ghidra Server does not currently support Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs).
(Back to Top)
- Be sure to backup your projects and tools to ensure that the new Ghidra installation does
not overwrite any of your data. Individual program files upgraded to a newer version of Ghidra
can not be opened with an older version.
- Uninstall an installed Ghidra Server Service by following the Uninstall Service
instructions corresponding to your operating system (Windows
or Linux/Mac-OSX).
- Unzip the new Ghidra distribution to a new installation directory (general unpacking and installation
guidelines may be found in ghidra_x.x/docs/InstallationGuide.html).
- Copy the old repositories directory to the new Ghidra Server
installation directory.
- Copy the wrapper.app.parameter.# lines from your old
server/server.conf file to the new installation
server/server.conf. For 5.0 release and earlier, your old
server.conf file is located within a platform-specific directory
(core/os/<platform>). No other changes should be made to your new
server.conf file.
Do not replace the new server.conf file with your old
server.conf file, as this could cause server problems.
- If desired, install the Ghidra Server Service from the new installation server
subdirectory by following the instructions corresponding to your operating system
(Windows or Linux/Mac-OSX).
WARNING! As of Ghidra 7.0 a new project/server storage implementation,
Indexed-V1, has been added which is not compatible with older versions of
Ghidra. The Indexed-V0 filesystem storage allows longer filenames and
paths to exist within a project, while the V1 version expands support to
facilitate some of the very large project/repository features introduced in Ghidra 7.0. Since the
legacy storage implementation (Mangled) used by older projects and repositories
is still supported, conflicting storage behavior may exist between a Ghidra project and its server
repository for long filename/path support. It is highly recommended that all server repositories and
associated projects be migrated to the new Indexed storage implementation in a coordinated fashion
after making a complete backup. All new Ghidra projects will utilize the new Indexed storage
implementation, so care should taken when creating shared projects with older repositories.
NOTE: If using Ghidra 6.0.x, opening a project which uses the newer Indexed-V1
filesystem may cause the project storage to revert to the older Indexed-V0 filesystem.
A user may determine which storage implementation is used by a project by viewing the
Project Info display (via Project ->
View Project Info...). Local projects using the legacy Mangled
filesystem may be migrated to the new Indexed filesystem via this
Project Info panel. The status of Ghidra Server repositories storage can be
determined and flagged for migration via the server/svrAdmin script (described
in the Server Administration section). Please note that any
migration to the Indexed filesystem storage is a one-way conversion so a
backup of your project or server repositories directory is highly recommended before proceeding.
(Back to Top)
Failures Creating Repository Folders / Checking in Files
If you see continuous failures to create repository folders or failures to check in files, check
the disk space on the server or folder permissions. When the server runs out of disk space, it
cannot create folders or check in files.
Client/Server connection errors
The Ghidra Server has transitioned to using SSL/TLS connections when accessing the server's RMI
registry. This change in communication protocol can cause unexpected symptoms when attempting to
connect incompatible versions of Ghidra. When an older incompatible Ghidra client attempts to access a
newer SSL/TLS enabled Ghidra Server registry, the following connection error will occur:
non-JRMP server at remote endpoint
MS Windows - ERROR Missing Temp Directory
Running the Ghidra Server as an installed service under Windows may attempt to use a non-existing
temporary directory (e.g., C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Temp\).
The work-around for this is to configure the server to use an existing temporary directory
(e.g., C:\Windows\Temp). This can be done by editing the
server.conf file, locate the wrapper.java.additional
entries and add/uncomment an entry with your temporary directory specified. For example:
wrapper.java.additional.3=-Djava.io.tmpdir=C:\Windows\Temp
Be sure to use the next unique sequence number for your wrapper.java.additional entry.
MS Windows 7 and 8 - ghidraSvr.bat,
svrInstall.bat, or svrUninstall.bat Error
The following error may occur when attempting to install/uninstall/start/stop/restart the Ghidra
Server under MS Windows 7 or 8 even if the user is a member of the Administrator group:
Access denied: please check the user credentials
The user executing these scripts must be a member of the Administrator group and must be run with
elevated privilege. The best way to accomplish this is to run the CMD
shell using the Run as Administrator action which is available by
right-clicking on a command shortcut or batch file. If the CMD shell is
run in this manner, the Ghidra Server scripts may then be executed within the shell to run with
administrator privilege. Failure to run the scripts in this manner may cause failure information
to be hidden from view due to the privilege escalation mechanism.
Linux - SELinux must be disabled
The Ghidra Server may not start properly if SELinux has not been disabled. This setting is
specified in the file /etc/selinux/config.
Linux - Potential hang from /dev/random depletion
SSL communications and the PKI/SSH authentication mechanisms employed by GHIDRA make use of the Java SecureRandom
class to generate random numbers required by various cryptographic techniques. On Linux
systems this class makes use of /dev/random to produce these random numbers which in turn
relies on other system entropy sources to feed it. We have seen that /dev/random can
become depleted which can cause the dependent Java application to hang. While Java claims
to have settings which should allow /dev/urandom to be used, these security settings do
not appear to work as intended. The best workaround we have found for systems which exhibit
this problem is to install haveged (HArdware Volatile Entropy Gathering and
Expansion Daemon) which will satisfy the entropy demand needed by /dev/random.
Mac OS - Service fails to start
The installed service may fail to start with Mac OS Majave (10.14) and later due
to changes in the Mac OS system protection feature. When the service fails to start it does not
provide any error or logging to help determine the cause. Although granting Full Disk Access
to Java can be a workaround, this is rather drastic and is not considered desirable
since it will allow any Java application to run as root. For this reason, installation
of the Ghidra Server as a service on Mac OS is discouraged.
(Back to Top)