# Install keyutils with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, Nix, pacman, zypper Linux key management utilities. Version 1.6.3 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:keyutils ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install keyutils ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add keyutils ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: keyutils from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install keyutils ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: keyutils from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install keyutils ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: keyutils from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#keyutils ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ke/keyutils/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S keyutils ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: keyutils from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/core/os/x86_64/core.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install keyutils ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: keyutils from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:keyutils - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.6.3 - **Source summary:** Linux key management utilities - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-or-later AND LGPL-2.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T18:08:21+00:00 ## Executables - key.dns_resolver (cli) - keyctl (cli) - request-key (cli) - key.dns_resolver (alias) - keyctl (alias) - request-key (alias) ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 1.6.3 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## 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 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 - Linux: /etc/request-key.conf, /etc/request-key.d/*.conf, /etc/key.dns_resolver.conf ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** keyutils - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Requirements:** linux - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - keyutils - 1.6.3-6: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: keyutils from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Linux Key Management Utilities | https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils.git - Debian apt - libkeyutils-dev - 1.6.3-6: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libkeyutils-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Linux Key Management Utilities (development) | https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils.git - Debian apt - libkeyutils1 - 1.6.3-6: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libkeyutils1 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Linux Key Management Utilities (library) | https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils.git - Nix - keyutils: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ke/keyutils/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - keyutils - 1.6.3-3build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: keyutils from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Linux Key Management Utilities | https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils.git - Ubuntu apt - libkeyutils-dev - 1.6.3-3build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libkeyutils-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Linux Key Management Utilities (development) | https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils.git - Ubuntu apt - libkeyutils1 - 1.6.3-3build1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libkeyutils1 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Linux Key Management Utilities (library) | https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils.git - apk - keyutils - 1.6.3-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: keyutils from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Linux Key Management Utilities | https://people.redhat.com/~dhowells/keyutils/ - apk - keyutils-dev - 1.6.3-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: keyutils-dev from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Linux Key Management Utilities (development files) | https://people.redhat.com/~dhowells/keyutils/ - apk - keyutils-doc - 1.6.3-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: keyutils-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Linux Key Management Utilities (documentation) | https://people.redhat.com/~dhowells/keyutils/ - apk - keyutils-libs - 1.6.3-r4: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: keyutils-libs from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Key utilities library | https://people.redhat.com/~dhowells/keyutils/ - dnf - keyutils - 1.6.3-7.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: keyutils from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Linux Key Management Utilities | https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils.git - dnf - keyutils-libs - 1.6.3-7.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: keyutils-libs from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Key utilities library | https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils.git - dnf - keyutils-libs-devel - 1.6.3-7.fc44: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: keyutils-libs-devel from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst | Development package for building Linux key management utilities | https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils.git - pacman - keyutils - 1.6.3-4: normalized package name match | Arch Linux sync databases: keyutils from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/core/os/x86_64/core.db.tar.gz | Linux Key Management Utilities | https://www.kernel.org/ - zypper - keyutils - 1.6.3-7.7: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: keyutils from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Linux Key Management Utilities | https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dhowells/keyutils.git/ ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [numactl](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/numactl/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, linux, system. - [augeas](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/augeas/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, library, system. - [b43-fwcutter](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/b43-fwcutter/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, linux, system. - [bluez](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bluez/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, linux, system. - [btrfs-progs](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/btrfs-progs/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, linux, system. - [cahute](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cahute/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, library, system. - [chmlib](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/chmlib/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, library, system. - [cpu_features](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cpu-features/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, library, system. - [erofs-utils](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/erofs-utils/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, linux, system, utilities. - [kmod](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/kmod/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, kernel, linux, system. - [e2fsprogs](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/e2fsprogs/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: cli, linux, system, utilities. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/keyutils.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/keyutils.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph