---
layout: docs
page_title: client Stanza - Agent Configuration
sidebar_title: client
description: |-
  The "client" stanza configures the Nomad agent to accept jobs as assigned by
  the Nomad server, join the cluster, and specify driver-specific configuration.
---

# `client` Stanza

<Placement groups={['client']} />

The `client` stanza configures the Nomad agent to accept jobs as assigned by
the Nomad server, join the cluster, and specify driver-specific configuration.

```hcl
client {
  enabled = true
  servers = ["1.2.3.4:4647", "5.6.7.8:4647"]
}
```

## Plugin Options

Nomad 0.9 now supports pluggable drivers. Operators should use the new
[plugin][plugin-stanza] syntax to modify driver configuration. To find the
plugin options supported by each individual Nomad driver, please see the
[drivers documentation](/docs/drivers). The pre-0.9 `client.options`
stanza will be supported in 0.9 for backward compatibility (except for the `lxc`
driver) but will be removed in a future release.

## `client` Parameters

- `alloc_dir` `(string: "[data_dir]/alloc")` - Specifies the directory to use
  for allocation data. By default, this is the top-level
  [data_dir](/docs/configuration#data_dir) suffixed with
  "alloc", like `"/opt/nomad/alloc"`. This must be an absolute path.

- `chroot_env` <code>([ChrootEnv](#chroot_env-parameters): nil)</code> -
  Specifies a key-value mapping that defines the chroot environment for jobs
  using the Exec and Java drivers.

- `enabled` `(bool: false)` - Specifies if client mode is enabled. All other
  client configuration options depend on this value.

- `max_kill_timeout` `(string: "30s")` - Specifies the maximum amount of time a
  job is allowed to wait to exit. Individual jobs may customize their own kill
  timeout, but it may not exceed this value.

- `disable_remote_exec` `(bool: false)` - Specifies if the client should disable
  remote task execution to tasks running on this client.

- `meta` `(map[string]string: nil)` - Specifies a key-value map that annotates
  with user-defined metadata.

- `network_interface` `(string: varied)` - Specifies the name of the interface
  to force network fingerprinting on. When run in dev mode, this defaults to the
  loopback interface. When not in dev mode, the interface attached to the
  default route is used. The scheduler chooses from these fingerprinted IP
  addresses when allocating ports for tasks.

  If no non-local IP addresses are found, Nomad could fingerprint link-local IPv6
  addresses depending on the client's
  [`"fingerprint.network.disallow_link_local"`](#fingerprint-network-disallow_link_local)
  configuration value.

- `network_speed` `(int: 0)` - Specifies an override for the network link speed.
  This value, if set, overrides any detected or defaulted link speed. Most
  clients can determine their speed automatically, and thus in most cases this
  should be left unset.

- `cpu_total_compute` `(int: 0)` - Specifies an override for the total CPU
  compute. This value should be set to `# Cores * Core MHz`. For example, a
  quad-core running at 2 GHz would have a total compute of 8000 (4 \* 2000). Most
  clients can determine their total CPU compute automatically, and thus in most
  cases this should be left unset.

- `memory_total_mb` `(int:0)` - Specifies an override for the total memory. If set,
  this value overrides any detected memory.

- `node_class` `(string: "")` - Specifies an arbitrary string used to logically
  group client nodes by user-defined class. This can be used during job
  placement as a filter.

- `options` <code>([Options](#options-parameters): nil)</code> - Specifies a
  key-value mapping of internal configuration for clients, such as for driver
  configuration.

- `reserved` <code>([Reserved](#reserved-parameters): nil)</code> - Specifies
  that Nomad should reserve a portion of the node's resources from receiving
  tasks. This can be used to target a certain capacity usage for the node. For
  example, 20% of the node's CPU could be reserved to target a CPU utilization
  of 80%.

- `servers` `(array<string>: [])` - Specifies an array of addresses to the Nomad
  servers this client should join. This list is used to register the client with
  the server nodes and advertise the available resources so that the agent can
  receive work. This may be specified as an IP address or DNS, with or without
  the port. If the port is omitted, the default port of `4647` is used.

- `server_join` <code>([server_join][server-join]: nil)</code> - Specifies
  how the Nomad client will connect to Nomad servers. The `start_join` field
  is not supported on the client. The retry_join fields may directly specify
  the server address or use go-discover syntax for auto-discovery. See the
  documentation for more detail.

- `state_dir` `(string: "[data_dir]/client")` - Specifies the directory to use
  to store client state. By default, this is - the top-level
  [data_dir](/docs/configuration#data_dir) suffixed with
  "client", like `"/opt/nomad/client"`. This must be an absolute path.

- `gc_interval` `(string: "1m")` - Specifies the interval at which Nomad
  attempts to garbage collect terminal allocation directories.

- `gc_disk_usage_threshold` `(float: 80)` - Specifies the disk usage percent which
  Nomad tries to maintain by garbage collecting terminal allocations.

- `gc_inode_usage_threshold` `(float: 70)` - Specifies the inode usage percent
  which Nomad tries to maintain by garbage collecting terminal allocations.

- `gc_max_allocs` `(int: 50)` - Specifies the maximum number of allocations
  which a client will track before triggering a garbage collection of terminal
  allocations. This will _not_ limit the number of allocations a node can run at
  a time, however after `gc_max_allocs` every new allocation will cause terminal
  allocations to be GC'd.

- `gc_parallel_destroys` `(int: 2)` - Specifies the maximum number of
  parallel destroys allowed by the garbage collector. This value should be
  relatively low to avoid high resource usage during garbage collections.

- `no_host_uuid` `(bool: true)` - By default a random node UUID will be
  generated, but setting this to `false` will use the system's UUID. Before
  Nomad 0.6 the default was to use the system UUID.

- `cni_path` `(string: "/opt/cni/bin")` - Sets the search path that is used for
  CNI plugin discovery. Multiple paths can be searched using colon delimited
  paths

- `cni_config_dir` `(string: "/opt/cni/config")` - Sets the directory where CNI
  network configuration is located. The client will use this path when fingerprinting CNI networks.

- `bridge_network name` `(string: "nomad")` - Sets the name of the bridge to be
  created by nomad for allocations running with bridge networking mode on the
  client.

- `bridge_network_subnet` `(string: "172.26.64.0/20")` - Specifies the subnet
  which the client will use to allocate IP addresses from.

- `template` <code>([Template](#template-parameters): nil)</code> - Specifies
  controls on the behavior of task
  [`template`](/docs/job-specification/template) stanzas.

- `host_volume` <code>([host_volume](#host_volume-stanza): nil)</code> - Exposes
  paths from the host as volumes that can be mounted into jobs.

- `host_network` <code>([host_network](#host_network-stanza): nil)</code> - Registers
  additional host networks with the node that can be selected when port mapping.

### `chroot_env` Parameters

Drivers based on [isolated fork/exec](/docs/drivers/exec) implement file
system isolation using chroot on Linux. The `chroot_env` map allows the chroot
environment to be configured using source paths on the host operating system.
The mapping format is:

```text
source_path -> dest_path
```

The following example specifies a chroot which contains just enough to run the
`ls` utility:

```hcl
client {
  chroot_env {
    "/bin/ls"           = "/bin/ls"
    "/etc/ld.so.cache"  = "/etc/ld.so.cache"
    "/etc/ld.so.conf"   = "/etc/ld.so.conf"
    "/etc/ld.so.conf.d" = "/etc/ld.so.conf.d"
    "/etc/passwd"       = "/etc/passwd"
    "/lib"              = "/lib"
    "/lib64"            = "/lib64"
  }
}
```

When `chroot_env` is unspecified, the `exec` driver will use a default chroot
environment with the most commonly used parts of the operating system. Please
see the [Nomad `exec` driver documentation](/docs/drivers/exec#chroot) for
the full list.

### `options` Parameters

~> Note: client configuration options for drivers will soon be deprecated. See
the [plugin stanza][plugin-stanza] documentation for more information.

The following is not an exhaustive list of options for only the Nomad
client. To find the options supported by each individual Nomad driver, please
see the [drivers documentation](/docs/drivers).

- `"driver.allowlist"` `(string: "")` - Specifies a comma-separated list of
  allowlisted drivers . If specified, drivers not in the allowlist will be
  disabled. If the allowlist is empty, all drivers are fingerprinted and enabled
  where applicable.

  ```hcl
  client {
    options = {
      "driver.allowlist" = "docker,qemu"
    }
  }
  ```

- `"driver.denylist"` `(string: "")` - Specifies a comma-separated list of
  denylisted drivers . If specified, drivers in the denylist will be
  disabled.

  ```hcl
  client {
    options = {
      "driver.denylist" = "docker,qemu"
    }
  }
  ```

- `"env.denylist"` `(string: see below)` - Specifies a comma-separated list of
  environment variable keys not to pass to these tasks. Nomad passes the host
  environment variables to `exec`, `raw_exec` and `java` tasks. If specified,
  the defaults are overridden. If a value is provided, **all** defaults are
  overridden (they are not merged).

  ```hcl
  client {
    options = {
      "env.denylist" = "MY_CUSTOM_ENVVAR"
    }
  }
  ```

  The default list is:

  ```text
  CONSUL_TOKEN
  CONSUL_HTTP_TOKEN
  VAULT_TOKEN
  AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
  AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
  AWS_SESSION_TOKEN
  GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS
  ```

- `"user.denylist"` `(string: see below)` - Specifies a comma-separated
  denylist of usernames for which a task is not allowed to run. This only
  applies if the driver is included in `"user.checked_drivers"`. If a value is
  provided, **all** defaults are overridden (they are not merged).

  ```hcl
  client {
    options = {
      "user.denylist" = "root,ubuntu"
    }
  }
  ```

  The default list is:

  ```text
  root
  Administrator
  ```

- `"user.checked_drivers"` `(string: see below)` - Specifies a comma-separated
  list of drivers for which to enforce the `"user.denylist"`. For drivers using
  containers, this enforcement is usually unnecessary. If a value is provided,
  **all** defaults are overridden (they are not merged).

  ```hcl
  client {
    options = {
      "user.checked_drivers" = "exec,raw_exec"
    }
  }
  ```

  The default list is:

  ```text
  exec
  qemu
  java
  ```

- `"fingerprint.allowlist"` `(string: "")` - Specifies a comma-separated list of
  allowlisted fingerprinters. If specified, any fingerprinters not in the
  allowlist will be disabled. If the allowlist is empty, all fingerprinters are
  used.

  ```hcl
  client {
    options = {
      "fingerprint.allowlist" = "network"
    }
  }
  ```

- `"fingerprint.denylist"` `(string: "")` - Specifies a comma-separated list of
  denylisted fingerprinters. If specified, any fingerprinters in the denylist
  will be disabled.

  ```hcl
  client {
    options = {
      "fingerprint.denylist" = "network"
    }
  }
  ```

- `"fingerprint.network.disallow_link_local"` `(string: "false")` - Specifies
  whether the network fingerprinter should ignore link-local addresses in the
  case that no globally routable address is found. The fingerprinter will always
  prefer globally routable addresses.

  ```hcl
  client {
    options = {
      "fingerprint.network.disallow_link_local" = "true"
    }
  }
  ```

### `reserved` Parameters

- `cpu` `(int: 0)` - Specifies the amount of CPU to reserve, in MHz.

- `memory` `(int: 0)` - Specifies the amount of memory to reserve, in MB.

- `disk` `(int: 0)` - Specifies the amount of disk to reserve, in MB.

- `reserved_ports` `(string: "")` - Specifies a comma-separated list of ports to
  reserve on all fingerprinted network devices. Ranges can be specified by using
  a hyphen separated the two inclusive ends.

### `template` Parameters

- `function_denylist` `([]string: ["plugin"])` - Specifies a list of template
  rendering functions that should be disallowed in job specs. By default the
  `plugin` function is disallowed as it allows running arbitrary commands on
  the host as root (unless Nomad is configured to run as a non-root user).

- `disable_file_sandbox` `(bool: false)` - Allows templates access to arbitrary
  files on the client host via the `file` function. By default templates can
  access files only within the [task working directory].

### `host_volume` Stanza

The `host_volume` stanza is used to make volumes available to jobs.

The key of the stanza corresponds to the name of the volume for use in the
`source` parameter of a `"host"` type [`volume`](/docs/job-specification/volume)
and ACLs.

```hcl
client {
  host_volume "ca-certificates" {
    path = "/etc/ssl/certs"
    read_only = true
  }
}
```

#### `host_volume` Parameters

- `path` `(string: "", required)` - Specifies the path on the host that should
  be used as the source when this volume is mounted into a task. The path must
  exist on client startup.

- `read_only` `(bool: false)` - Specifies whether the volume should only ever be
  allowed to be mounted `read_only`, or if it should be writeable.

### `host_network` Stanza

The `host_network` stanza is used to register additional host networks with
the node that can be used when port mapping.

The key of the stanza corresponds to the name of the network used in the
[`host_network`](/docs/job-specification/network#host-networks).

```hcl
client {
  host_network "public" {
    cidr = "203.0.113.0/24"
    reserved_ports = "22,80"
  }
}
```

#### `host_network` Parameters

- `cidr` `(string: "")` - Specifies a cidr block of addresses to match against.
  If an address is found on the node that is contained by this cidr block, the
  host network will be registered with it.

- `interface` `(string: "")` - Filters searching of addresses to a specific interface.

- `reserved_ports` `(string: "")` - Specifies a comma-separated list of ports to
  reserve on all fingerprinted network devices. Ranges can be specified by using
  a hyphen separating the two inclusive ends.

## `client` Examples

### Common Setup

This example shows the most basic configuration for a Nomad client joined to a
cluster.

```hcl
client {
  enabled = true
  server_join {
    retry_join = [ "1.1.1.1", "2.2.2.2" ]
    retry_max = 3
    retry_interval = "15s"
  }
}
```

### Reserved Resources

This example shows a sample configuration for reserving resources to the client.
This is useful if you want to allocate only a portion of the client's resources
to jobs.

```hcl
client {
  enabled = true

  reserved {
    cpu            = 500
    memory         = 512
    disk           = 1024
    reserved_ports = "22,80,8500-8600"
  }
}
```

### Custom Metadata, Network Speed, and Node Class

This example shows a client configuration which customizes the metadata, network
speed, and node class. The scheduler can use this information while processing
[constraints][metadata_constraint]. The metadata is completely user configurable;
the values below are for illustrative purposes only.

```hcl
client {
  enabled       = true
  network_speed = 500
  node_class    = "prod"

  meta {
    "owner" = "ops"
    "cached_binaries" = "redis,apache,nginx,jq,cypress,nodejs"
    "rack" = "rack-12-1"
  }
}
```

[plugin-options]: #plugin-options
[plugin-stanza]: /docs/configuration/plugin
[server-join]: /docs/configuration/server_join 'Server Join'
[metadata_constraint]: /docs/job-specification/constraint#user-specified-metadata 'Nomad User-Specified Metadata Constraint Example'
[task working directory]: /docs/runtime/environment#task-directories 'Task directories'