Configuration

leafnodes Configuration Block

The leaf node configuration block is used to configure incoming as well as outgoing leaf node connections. Most properties are for the configuration of incoming connections. The properties remotes and reconnect are for outgoing connections.

Property	Description
host	Interface where the server will listen for incoming leafnode connections.
port	Port where the server will listen for incoming leafnode connections (default is 7422).
listen	Combines host and port as <host>:<port>
tls	TLS configuration block (same as other nats-server tls configuration).
advertise	Hostport <host>:<port> to advertise how this server can be contacted by leaf nodes. This is useful in cluster setups with NAT.
no_advertise	if true the server shouldn't be advertised to leaf nodes.
authorization	Authorization block. See Authorization Block section below.
remotes	List of remote entries specifying servers where leafnode client connection can be made.
reconnect	Interval in seconds at which reconnect attempts to a remote server are made.

Authorization Block

Property	Description
user	Username for the leaf node connection.
password	Password for the user entry.
account	Account this leaf node connection should be bound to.
timeout	Maximum number of seconds to wait for leaf node authentication.
users	List of credentials and account to bind to leaf node connections. See User Block section below.

Users Block

Property	Description
user	Username for the leaf node connection.
password	Password for the user entry.
account	Account this leaf node connection should be bound to.

Here are some examples of using basic user/password authentication for leaf nodes (note while this is using accounts it is not using JWTs)

Singleton mode:

leafnodes {
  port: ...
  authorization {
    user: leaf
    password: secret
    account: TheAccount
  }
}

With above configuration, if a soliciting server creates a Leafnode connection with url: nats://leaf:secret@host:port, then the accepting server will bind the leafnode connection to the account "TheAccount". This account need to exist otherwise the connection will be rejected.

Multi-users mode:

leafnodes {
  port: ...
  authorization {
    users = [
      {user: leaf1, password: secret, account: account1}
      {user: leaf2, password: secret, account: account2}
    ]
  }
}

With the above, if a server connects using leaf1:secret@host:port, then the accepting server will bind the connection to account account1. If using leaf2 user, then the accepting server will bind to connection to account2.

If username/password (either singleton or multi-users) is defined, then the connecting server MUST provide the proper credentials otherwise the connection will be rejected.

If no username/password is provided, it is still possible to provide the account the connection should be associated with:

leafnodes {
  port: ...
  authorization {
    account: TheAccount
  }
}

With the above, a connection without credentials will be bound to the account "TheAccount".

If other form of credentials are used (jwt, nkey or other), then the server will attempt to authenticate and if successful associate to the account for that specific user. If the user authentication fails (wrong password, no such user, etc..) the connection will be also rejected.

LeafNode remotes Entry Block

Property	Description
url	Leafnode URL (URL protocol should be nats-leaf).
urls	Leafnode URL array. Supports multiple URLs for discovery, e.g., urls: [ "nats-leaf://host1:7422", "nats-leaf://host2:7422" ]
account	Account name or jwt public key identifying the local account to bind to this remote server. Any traffic locally on this account will be forwarded to the remote server.
credentials	Credential file for connecting to the leafnode server.
tls	A TLS configuration block. Leafnode client will use specified TLS certificates when connecting/authenticating.

tls Configuration Block

Property	Description
cert_file	TLS certificate file.
key_file	TLS certificate key file.
ca_file	TLS certificate authority file.
insecure	Skip certificate verification.
verify	If true, require and verify client certificates.
verify_and_map	If true, require and verify client certificates and use values map certificate values for authentication purposes.
cipher_suites	When set, only the specified TLS cipher suites will be allowed. Values must match golang version used to build the server.
curve_preferences	List of TLS cypher curves to use in order.
timeout	TLS handshake timeout in fractional seconds.