Man pages › Compared with Linux and the BSDs

`kprop(8)` on Solnix vs Linux and the BSDs

On Solnix, kprop is the illumos Kerberos database propagation program at /usr/lib/krb5/kprop, which is not on the default PATH. It pushes a dumped KDC database from the master to a slave. The port option is -p on Solnix but -P on FreeBSD, and the default dump file path differs.

The manual pages

Solnix: kprop(8) from pkgs.solnix.illumos-world-man · illumos.org
FreeBSD: kprop(8) 15.1-RELEASE

What Solnix runs

A default Solnix system runs the illumos kprop at /usr/lib/krb5/kprop, a daemon-style location outside /usr/bin, /usr/sbin and /sbin, so call it by full path. No other variants are shipped. The page is published in pkgs.solnix.illumos-world-man.

Differences

Compared with	Topic	What differs
FreeBSD	port option letter	Solnix kprop uses `-p` port-number (default port 754). FreeBSD kprop uses capital `-P` port, and its page states no default port. A script passing `-P` to Solnix kprop, or `-p` to FreeBSD kprop, fails. Source: Solnix kprop(8) -p; FreeBSD kprop(8) -P
FreeBSD	default dump file	The Solnix default file to send is `/var/krb5/slave_datatrans.` FreeBSD's default is normally @LOCALSTATEDIR@/krb5kdc/replica_datatrans, where the page leaves the build-time path placeholder unexpanded. Pass `-f` explicitly to avoid depending on either. Source: Solnix kprop(8) -f; FreeBSD kprop(8) -f
FreeBSD	terminology and operand	Solnix calls the target a slave KDC and the source a master KDC, with an optional host operand in brackets in the synopsis. FreeBSD says primary and replica, and replica_host is a required operand. Source: Solnix kprop(8) SYNOPSIS, OPERANDS; FreeBSD kprop(8) SYNOPSIS, DESCRIPTION
FreeBSD	command location	On Solnix the synopsis names `/usr/lib/krb5/kprop`, so it is not on the usual PATH. The FreeBSD synopsis shows plain kprop, and the page gives no install path. Source: Solnix kprop(8) SYNOPSIS; FreeBSD kprop(8) SYNOPSIS
FreeBSD	default keytab and realm	Solnix documents defaults: keytab `/etc/krb5/krb5.keytab`, realm is the local realm, debug off. FreeBSD documents none of these for `-s` or `-r`. FreeBSD describes `-r` as the realm of the primary server. Source: Solnix kprop(8) -r, -s, -d; FreeBSD kprop(8) -r, -s
FreeBSD	prerequisites on the slave	The Solnix page lists requirements: `/etc/krb5/kpropd.acl` on each slave with the master and all slave principals, a host principal keytab on each slave, and a database dump made with kdb5_util(8). The FreeBSD page states only that the dump must be created by kdb5_util. Source: Solnix kprop(8) DESCRIPTION; FreeBSD kprop(8) DESCRIPTION
FreeBSD	environment section	FreeBSD kprop has an ENVIRONMENT section that refers to kerberos for environment variables. The Solnix page has no ENVIRONMENT section. Source: FreeBSD kprop(8) ENVIRONMENT; Solnix kprop(8) (no ENVIRONMENT section)
Linux, OpenBSD, NetBSD	no counterpart in bundle	The bundle has no Linux, OpenBSD or NetBSD kprop page, so nothing is asserted about those systems. The manual does not say how they compare. Source: Bundle header (only a freebsd counterpart is listed)

Standards

POSIX: kprop is not a POSIX.1-2024 utility.

Writing portable scripts

Spell out -f, -r and -s rather than relying on defaults. The default dump file and keytab paths differ between Solnix and FreeBSD.
Do not pass the port option in a shared script: it is -p on Solnix and -P on FreeBSD. Choose the letter per platform.

Every difference here is taken from the manual pages linked above: Solnix's published page, Linux (man-pages and the GNU and util-linux manuals), FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD. Each row names its source. Where a manual is silent, this page is too. Compiled 2026-10-26. Found a mistake? Mail hackers@lists.solnix.io.