---
name: "instances.conf"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "zorp"
version: "3.0.8-0.5"
release: "Debian 5.0 (Lenny)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/instances.conf"
---

# instances.conf(8)

zorp(8) instances database

## NAME

instances.conf - [zorp(8)](/zorp/8.md) instances database

## DESCRIPTION

The  *instances.conf* file describes the  **zorp(5)** instances to be run on this system.

It is processed by **[zorpctl(8)](/zorpctl/8.md)** line by line, where each line has the structure described below. Empty lines and lines beginning with '#' are comments and are ignored by zorpctl.

## STRUCTURE

instance-name parameters \[-- zorpctl-options\]

*instance-name* is the name of the Zorp instance to be started, it is passed to zorp with its  **--as** parameter. Instance names may consist of the characters \[a-zA-Z0-9\_\] and must begin with a letter.

*parameters* are space separated parameters directly inserted to the zorp command-line. For zorp command-line parameters check out [zorp(8)](/zorp/8.md).

*zorpctl-options* are space separated parameters processed by zorpctl itself. These control startup specific options. The following zorpctl options are defined:

- **--auto-restart or -A**

  Enable the automatic restart feature of zorpctl. When an instance is in auto-restart mode, it is restarted automatically in case the instance exits.

- **--no-auto-restart or -a**

  Disable automatic restart for this instance.

- **--fd-limit \<number\> or -f**

  Set the file descriptor limit as specified by \<number\>, the fd limit defaults to the number of threads (specified by --threads) multiplied by 4.

- **--process-limit \<number\> or -p**

  Set the process limit as specified by \<number\>, the process limit defaults to the number of theads (specified by --threads) multiplied by 2.

- **--enable-core**

  Explicitly enable core dumps for Zorp processes, the core limit is inherited from the local starting environment (e.g. starting shell) if not specified.

## EXAMPLES

zorp\_ftp --policy /etc/zorp/policy.py --verbose=5

The line above describes a zorp instance named *zorp\_ftp* using policy file /etc/zorp/policy.py, and having verbosity level 5.

zorp\_intra -v4 -p /etc/zorp/policy.py --threads 500 -- --no-auto-restart --fd-limit 1024 --process-limit 512

This line described a zorp instance named  *zorp\_intra* using the policy file /etc/zorp/policy.py, verbose level 4, maximum number of threads 500, fd limit 1024, process limit 512.

## FILES

The default location for  **instances.conf** is  **/etc/zorp/instances.conf.**

Defaults for zorpctl tunables can be specified in  **/etc/zorp/zorpctl**

## AUTHOR

This manual page was written by Balázs Scheidler \<bazsi@balabit.hu\>.