Config

CLI Flags And Environment Variables

Clair is configured by a structured yaml or JSON¹ file and an optional directory of "merge" and "patch" documents¹. Each Clair node needs to specify what mode it will run in and a path to a configuration file via CLI flags or environment variables.

For example:

$ clair -conf ./path/to/config.yaml -mode indexer
$ clair -conf ./path/to/config.yaml -mode matcher

-mode 
    (also specified by CLAIR_MODE env variable)
    One of the following strings
    Sets which mode the clair instances will run in
    
    "indexer": runs just the indexer node
    "matcher": runs just the matcher node
    "notifier": runs just the notifier node
    "combo": will run all services on the same node.
-conf
    (also specified by CLAIR_CONF env variable)
    A file system path to Clair's config file

The above example starts two Clair nodes using the same configuration. One will only run the indexing facilities while the other will only run the matching facilities.

Environment variables respected by the Go standard library can be specified if needed. Some notable examples:

• HTTP_PROXY
• HTTPS_PROXY
• SSL_CERT_DIR

If running in "combo" mode you must supply the indexer, matcher, and notifier configuration blocks in the configuration.

Configuration dropins

Starting in Clair version 4.7.0, dropin configuration files are supported.

Given a root configurtaion file of /etc/clair/config.json, all files matching the globs /etc/clair/config.json.d/*.json and /etc/clair/config.json.d/*.json-patch would be loaded in lexical order after the root configuration file. Similarly, given /etc/clair/config.yaml, all files matching the globs /etc/clair/config.yaml.d/*.yaml and /etc/clair/config.yaml.d/*.yaml-patch would be loaded. Only the extensions yaml and json are supported, and indicate yaml and JSON formatting, respectively.

The dropin files must have the same extension and format as the root file. Dropins with the bare suffix are treated as merge documents. Dropins with the -patch suffix are treated as patch documents and must contain a valid RFC 6902 structure. Yaml documents must be resolvable to the JSON subset.

Take care with the merge behavior around lists; a patch operation may be more suitable. The clairctl check-config command can be used to ensure a merged configuration is what is intended. In addition, placing test operations in a patch file that's evaluated last (such as zz-validate.json-patch) can be used to have Clair refuse to start if some configuration values are not what is intended.

The application defaults are applied after the configuration is loaded and as such, not reflected in the clairctl check-config command. The output of that command is also not currently suitable to be used to "compile" a config to a single file.

Deprecations and Changes

Starting in version 4.7.0, unknown keys are disallowed. Configurations that looked valid previously and loaded fine may now cause Clair to refuse to start.

In version 4.8.0, using Jaeger for trace submission was deprecated. Configurations that use Jaeger will print a warning. In future versions, using the Jaeger format may cause an error.

Configuration Reference

Please see the go module documentation for additional documentation on defaults and use.

http_listen_addr: ""
introspection_addr: ""
log_level: ""
tls: {}
indexer:
    connstring: ""
    scanlock_retry: 0
    layer_scan_concurrency: 0
    migrations: false
    scanner: {}
    airgap: false
matcher:
    connstring: ""
    indexer_addr: ""
    migrations: false
    period: ""
    disable_updaters: false
    update_retention: 2
matchers:
    names: nil
    config: nil
updaters:
    sets: nil
    config: nil
notifier:
    connstring: ""
    migrations: false
    indexer_addr: ""
    matcher_addr: ""
    poll_interval: ""
    delivery_interval: ""
    disable_summary: false
    webhook: null
    amqp: null
    stomp: null
auth: 
  psk: nil
trace:
    name: ""
    probability: null
    jaeger:
        agent:
            endpoint: ""
        collector:
            endpoint: ""
            username: null
            password: null
        service_name: ""
        tags: nil
        buffer_max: 0
    otlp:
	  http: {}
      grpc: {}
metrics:
    name: ""
    prometheus:
        endpoint: null

Note: the above just lists every key for completeness. Copy-pasting the above as a starting point for configuration will result in some options not having their defaults set normally.

$.http_listen_addr

A string in <host>:<port> format where <host> can be an empty string.

This configures where the HTTP API is exposed. See /openapi/v1 for the API spec.

$.introspection_addr

A string in <host>:<port> format where <host> can be an empty string.

This configures where Clair's metrics and health endpoints are exposed.

$.log_level

Set the logging level.

One of the following strings:

• debug-color
• debug
• info
• warn
• error
• fatal
• panic

$.tls

TLS is a map containing the config for serving the HTTP API over TLS (and HTTP/2).

$.tls.cert

The TLS certificate to be used. Must be a full-chain certificate, as in nginx.

$.tls.key

A key file for the TLS certificate. Encryption is not supported on the key.

$.indexer

Indexer provides Clair Indexer node configuration.

$.indexer.airgap

Disables HTTP access to the Internet for indexers and fetchers. Private IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are allowed. Database connections are unaffected.

$.indexer.connstring

A Postgres connection string.

Accepts a format as a url (e.g., postgres://pqgotest:password@localhost/pqgotest?sslmode=verify-full) or a libpq connection string (e.g., user=pqgotest dbname=pqgotest sslmode=verify-full).

$.indexer.index_report_request_concurrency

Integer.

Rate limits the number of index report creation requests.

Setting this to 0 will attempt to auto-size this value. Setting a negative value means "unlimited." The auto-sizing is a multiple of the number of available cores.

The API will return a 429 status code if concurrency is exceeded.

$.indexer.scanlock_retry

A positive integer representing seconds.

Concurrent Indexers lock on manifest scans to avoid clobbering. This value tunes how often a waiting Indexer will poll for the lock.

$.indexer.layer_scan_concurrency

Positive integer limiting the number of concurrent layer scans.

Indexers will index a Manifest's layers concurrently. This value tunes the number of layers an Indexer will scan in parallel.

$.indexer.migrations

A boolean value.

Whether Indexer nodes handle migrations to their database.

$.indexer.scanner

Indexer configurations.

Scanner allows for passing configuration options to layer scanners. The scanner will have this configuration passed to it on construction if designed to do so.

$.indexer.scanner.dist

A map with the name of a particular scanner and arbitrary yaml as a value.

$.indexer.scanner.package

A map with the name of a particular scanner and arbitrary yaml as a value.

$.indexer.scanner.repo

A map with the name of a particular scanner and arbitrary yaml as a value.

$.matcher

Matcher provides Clair matcher node configuration.

$.matcher.cache_age

Duration string.

Controls how long clients should be hinted to cache responses for.

$.matcher.connstring

A Postgres connection string.

Accepts a format as a url (e.g., postgres://pqgotest:password@localhost/pqgotest?sslmode=verify-full) or a libpq connection string (e.g., user=pqgotest dbname=pqgotest sslmode=verify-full).

$.matcher.max_conn_pool

A positive integer limiting the database connection pool size.

Clair allows for a custom connection pool size. This number will directly set how many active database connections are allowed concurrently.

This parameter will be ignored in a future version. Users should configure this through the connection string.

$.matcher.indexer_addr

A string in <host>:<port> format where <host> can be an empty string.

A Matcher contacts an Indexer to create a VulnerabilityReport. The location of this Indexer is required.

$.matcher.migrations

A boolean value.

Whether Matcher nodes handle migrations to their databases.

$.matcher.period

A time.ParseDuration parseable string.

Determines how often updates for new security advisories will take place.

Defaults to 6 hours.

$.matcher.disable_updaters

A boolean value.

Whether to run background updates or not.

$.matcher.disable_enrichment

A boolean value.

Whether to enrich the returned vulnerabilities or not.

$.matcher.update_retention

An integer value limiting the number of update operations kept in the database.

Sets the number of update operations to retain between garbage collection cycles. This should be set to a safe MAX value based on database size constraints.

Defaults to 10.

If a value less than 0 is provided, GC is disabled. 2 is the minimum value to ensure updates can be compared for notifications.

$.matchers

Matchers provides configuration for the in-tree Matchers and RemoteMatchers.

$.matchers.names

A list of string values informing the matcher factory about enabled matchers.

If the value is nil the default list of Matchers will run:

• alpine-matcher
• aws-matcher
• debian-matcher
• gobin
• java-maven
• oracle
• photon
• python
• rhel
• rhel-container-matcher
• suse
• ubuntu-matcher

If an empty list is provided zero matchers will run.

$.matchers.config

Provides configuration to specific matcher.

A map keyed by the name of the matcher containing a sub-object which will be provided to the matchers factory constructor.

A hypothetical example:

config:
  python:
    ignore_vulns:
      - CVE-XYZ
      - CVE-ABC

$.updaters

Updaters provides configuration for the Matcher's update manager.

$.updaters.sets

A list of string values informing the update manager which Updaters to run.

If the value is nil (or null in yaml) the default set of Updaters will run:

• alpine
• aws
• debian
• oracle
• osv
• photon
• rhcc
• rhel
• suse
• ubuntu

If an empty list is provided zero updaters will run.

$.updaters.config

Provides configuration to specific updater sets.

A map keyed by the name of the updater set name containing a sub-object which will be provided to the updater set's constructor.

A hypothetical example:

config:
  ubuntu:
    security_tracker_url: http://security.url
    ignore_distributions: 
      - cosmic

$.notifier

Notifier provides Clair notifier node configuration.

$.notifier.connstring

A Postgres connection string.

Accepts a format as a url (e.g., postgres://pqgotest:password@localhost/pqgotest?sslmode=verify-full) or a libpq connection string (e.g., user=pqgotest dbname=pqgotest sslmode=verify-full).

$.notifier.migrations

A boolean value.

Whether Notifier nodes handle migrations to their database.

$.notifier.indexer_addr

A string in <host>:<port> format where <host> can be an empty string.

A Notifier contacts an Indexer to create obtain manifests affected by vulnerabilities. The location of this Indexer is required.

$.notifier.matcher_addr

A string in <host>:<port> format where <host> can be an empty string.

A Notifier contacts a Matcher to list update operations and acquire diffs. The location of this Indexer is required.

$.notifier.poll_interval

A time.ParseDuration parsable string.

The frequency at which the notifier will query at Matcher for Update Operations.

$.notifier.delivery_interval

A time.ParseDuration parsable string.

The frequency at which the notifier attempt delivery of created or previously failed notifications.

$.notifier.disable_summary

A boolean.

Controls whether notifications should be summarized to one per manifest or not.

$.notifier.webhook

Configures the notifier for webhook delivery.

$.notifier.webhook.target

URL where the webhook will be delivered.

$.notifier.webhook.callback

The callback url where notifications can be retrieved. The notification ID will be appended to this url.

This will typically be where the clair notifier is hosted.

$.notifier.webhook.headers

A map associating a header name to a list of values.

$.notifier.amqp

Configures the notifier for AMQP delivery.

Note: Clair does not declare any AMQP components on its own. All attempts to use an exchange or queue are passive only and will fail The broker administrators should setup exchanges and queues ahead of time.

$.notifier.amqp.direct

A boolean value.

If true the Notifier will deliver individual notifications (not a callback) to the configured AMQP broker.

$.notifier.amqp.rollup

Integer 0 or greater.

If direct is true this value will inform notifier how many notifications to send in a single direct delivery. For example, if direct is set to true and rollup is set to 5, the notifier will deliver no more then 5 notifications in a single json payload to the broker. Setting the value to 0 will effectively set it to 1.

$.notifier.amqp.exchange

The AMQP Exchange to connect to.

$.notifier.amqp.exchange.name

string value

The name of the exchange to connect to.

$.notifier.amqp.exchange.type

string value

The type of the exchange. Typically:

• direct
• fanout
• topic
• headers

$.notifier.amqp.exchange.durability

bool value

Whether the configured queue is durable or not.

$.notifier.amqp.exchange.auto_delete

bool value

Whether the configured queue uses an auto_delete policy.

$.notifier.amqp.routing_key

string value

The name of the routing key each notification will be sent with.

$.notifier.amqp.callback

a URL string

If direct is false, this URL is provided in the notification callback sent to the broker. This URL should point to Clair's notification API endpoint.

$.notifier.amqp.uris

list of URL strings

A list of one or more AMQP brokers to connect to, in priority order.

$.notifier.amqp.tls

Configures TLS connection to AMQP broker.

$.notifier.amqp.tls.root_ca

string value

The filesystem path where a root CA can be read.

$.notifier.amqp.tls.cert

string value

The filesystem path where a tls certificate can be read. Note that clair also respects SSL_CERT_DIR, as documented for the Go crypto/x509 package.

$.notifier.amqp.tls.key

string value

The filesystem path where a TLS private key can be read.

$.notifier.stomp

Configures the notifier for STOMP delivery.

$.notifier.stomp.direct

A boolean value.

If true, the Notifier will deliver individual notifications (not a callback) to the configured STOMP broker.

$.notifier.stomp.rollup

Integer 0 or greater.

If direct is true, this value will limit the number of notifications sent in a single direct delivery. For example, if direct is set to true and rollup is set to 5, the notifier will deliver no more then 5 notifications in a single json payload to the broker. Setting the value to 0 will effectively set it to 1.

$.notifier.stomp.callback

a URL string

If direct is false, this URL is provided in the notification callback sent to the broker. This URL should point to Clair's notification API endpoint.

$.notifier.stomp.destination

a string value

The STOMP destination to deliver notifications to.

$.notifier.stomp.uris

list of URL strings

A list of one or more STOMP brokers to connect to in priority order.

$.notifier.stomp.tls

Configures TLS connection to STOMP broker.

$.notifier.stomp.tls.root_ca

string value

The filesystem path where a root CA can be read. Note that clair also respects SSL_CERT_DIR, as documented for the Go crypto/x509 package.

$.notifier.stomp.tls.cert

string value

The filesystem path where a tls certificate can be read.

$.notifier.stomp.tls.key

string value

The filesystem path where a tls private key can be read.

$.notifier.stomp.user

Configures login details for the STOMP broker.

$.notifier.stomp.user.login

string value

The STOMP login to connect with.

$.notifier.stomp.user.passcode

string value

The STOMP passcode to connect with.

$.auth

Defines ClairV4's external and intra-service JWT based authentication.

If multiple auth mechanisms are defined, Clair will pick one. Currently, there are not multiple mechanisms.

$.auth.psk

Defines preshared key authentication.

$.auth.psk.key

a string value

A shared base64 encoded key distributed between all parties signing and verifying JWTs.

$.auth.psk.iss

a list of string value

A list of JWT issuers to verify. An empty list will accept any issuer in a JWT claim.

$.trace

Defines distributed tracing configuration based on OpenTelemetry.

$.trace.name

Which submission format to use, one of:

• jaeger
• otlp
• sentry

$.trace.probability

a float value

The probability a trace will occur.

$.trace.jaeger

Defines values for Jaeger tracing.

NOTE: Jaeger has deprecated using the jaeger protocol and encouraging users to migrate to OTLP, which Jaeger can ingest natively.

$.trace.jaeger.agent

Defines values for configuring delivery to a Jaeger agent.

$.trace.jaeger.agent.endpoint

a string value

An address in <host>:<post> syntax where traces can be submitted.

$.trace.jaeger.collector

Defines values for configuring delivery to a Jaeger collector.

$.trace.jaeger.collector.endpoint

a string value

An address in <host>:<post> syntax where traces can be submitted.

$.trace.jaeger.collector.username

a string value

$.trace.jaeger.collector.password

a string value

$.trace.jaeger.service_name

a string value

$.trace.jaeger.tags

a mapping of a string to a string

$.trace.jaeger.buffer_max

an integer value

$.trace.otlp

Configuration for OTLP traces.

Only one of the http or grpc keys should be provided.

$.trace.otlp.http

Configuration for OTLP traces submitted by HTTP.

$.trace.otlp.http.url_path

Request path to use for submissions. Defaults to /v1/traces.

$.trace.otlp.http.compression

Compression for payloads. One of:

• gzip
• none

$.trace.otlp.http.endpoint

Host:port for submission. Defaults to localhost:4318.

$.trace.otlp.http.headers

Key-value pairs of additional headers for submissions.

$.trace.otlp.http.insecure

Use HTTP instead of HTTPS.

$.trace.otlp.http.timeout

Maximum of of time for a trace submission.

$.trace.otlp.http.client_tls.cert

Client certificate for connection.

$.trace.otlp.http.client_tls.key

Key for the certificate specified in cert.

$.trace.otlp.grpc

Configuration for OTLP traces submitted by gRPC.

$.trace.otlp.grpc.reconnect

Sets the minimum time between connection attempts.

$.trace.otlp.grpc.service_config

A string containing a JSON-format gRPC service config.

$.trace.otlp.grpc.compression

Compression for payloads. One of:

• gzip
• none

$.trace.otlp.grpc.endpoint

Host:port for submission. Defaults to localhost:4317.

$.trace.otlp.grpc.headers

Key-value pairs of additional headers for submissions.

$.trace.otlp.grpc.insecure

Do not verify the server certificate.

$.trace.otlp.grpc.timeout

Maximum of of time for a trace submission.

$.trace.otlp.grpc.client_tls.cert

Client certificate for connection.

$.trace.otlp.grpc.client_tls.key

Key for the certificate specified in cert.

$.trace.sentry

Configuration for submitting traces to Sentry.

This is done via OpenTelemetry instrumentation, so may not provide identical results compared to other tracing backends or native Sentry instrumentation.

There's no integration for error submission. This means that alternative implementations of the Sentry API that do not support submitting traces (such as GlitchTip) are not usable.

$.trace.sentry.dsn

Sentry DSN to use. See also sentry-go.ClientOptions.

$.trace.sentry.environment

Sentry environment to use. See also sentry-go.ClientOptions.

$.metrics

Defines distributed tracing configuration based on OpenTelemetry.

$.metrics.name

a string value

$.metrics.prometheus

Configuration for a prometheus metrics exporter.

$.metrics.prometheus.endpoint

a string value

Defines the path where metrics will be served.

$.metrics.otlp

Configuration for OTLP metrics.

Only one of the http or grpc keys should be provided.

$.metrics.otlp.http

Configuration for OTLP metrics submitted by HTTP.

$.metrics.otlp.http.url_path

Request path to use for submissions. Defaults to /v1/metrics.

$.metrics.otlp.http.compression

Compression for payloads. One of:

• gzip
• none

$.metrics.otlp.http.endpoint

Host:port for submission. Defaults to localhost:4318.

$.metrics.otlp.http.headers

Key-value pairs of additional headers for submissions.

$.metrics.otlp.http.insecure

Use HTTP instead of HTTPS.

$.metrics.otlp.http.timeout

Maximum of of time for a metrics submission.

$.metrics.otlp.http.client_tls.cert

Client certificate for connection.

$.metrics.otlp.http.client_tls.key

Key for the certificate specified in cert.

$.metrics.otlp.grpc

Configuration for OTLP metrics submitted by gRPC.

$.metrics.otlp.grpc.reconnect

Sets the minimum time between connection attempts.

$.metrics.otlp.grpc.service_config

A string containing a JSON-format gRPC service config.

$.metrics.otlp.grpc.compression

Compression for payloads. One of:

• gzip
• none

$.metrics.otlp.grpc.endpoint

Host:port for submission. Defaults to localhost:4318.

$.metrics.otlp.grpc.headers

Key-value pairs of additional headers for submissions.

$.metrics.otlp.grpc.insecure

Use HTTP instead of HTTPS.

$.metrics.otlp.grpc.timeout

Maximum of of time for a metrics submission.

$.metrics.otlp.grpc.client_tls.cert

Client certificate for connection.

$.metrics.otlp.grpc.client_tls.key

Key for the certificate specified in cert.