sesearch – Query SELinux Policy Rule Details

The sesearch command is used to query the SELinux policy rule details. It is a powerful tool to analyze SELinux policy rules and find out why a particular operation is being denied. It can also be used to find out which rules are being applied to a particular file or process.

Overview

The sesearch command has the following syntax:

sesearch [options] query

Where query is a string that specifies the search criteria. The query argument can be a file name, a process name, a user name, or a permission. The options argument is optional and can be used to modify the behavior of the sesearch command.

Examples

1. To find out which rules are being applied to a particular file:

sesearch -A -s unconfined_t -t etc_t /etc/passwd

This command will display all the SELinux policy rules that apply to the /etc/passwd file.

2. To find out why a particular operation is being denied:

sesearch -A -s unconfined_t -t etc_t -c file -p read

This command will display all the SELinux policy rules that deny the read operation on files with the etc_t type.

3. To find out which processes are running with a particular SELinux context:

sesearch -T -s httpd_t -c process

This command will display all the processes that are running with the httpd_t SELinux context.

Specific Use Cases

The sesearch command can be used in various scenarios, including:

• Troubleshooting SELinux policy violations
• Analyzing SELinux policy rules
• Finding out which processes are running with a particular SELinux context
• Finding out which files are labeled with a particular SELinux type

Options

The sesearch command has the following options:

Option	Description
-A	Display all matches
-C	Display only the count of matches
-T	Display the type of the match
-s	Specify the source context
-t	Specify the target context
-c	Specify the class of the permission
-p	Specify the permission
-S	Use a different SELinux policy file
-P	Use a different policy module
-h	Display help

Troubleshooting tips

If you are having issues with the sesearch command, consider the following tips:

• Make sure you have the necessary permissions to query the SELinux policy. The sesearch command requires root privileges to run.
• Double-check your search criteria. The sesearch command is very powerful, but it can also return a lot of results if the search criteria are too broad.
• Use the -C option to display only the count of matches. This can help you quickly determine if there are any matches without having to parse through a large amount of output.

Notes

• The sesearch command is part of the policycoreutils-python-utils package and is included in most Linux distributions.
• The output of the sesearch command can be quite verbose. Consider using the grep command to filter the output if you are looking for a specific result.
• The sesearch command only works with SELinux policies. If you are not using SELinux, this command will not be useful.