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INETD(8)							      INETD(8)

NAME
       inetd - internet ``super-server''

SYNOPSIS
       /usr/etc/inetd [ -d ] [ configuration file ]

DESCRIPTION
       Inetd  should  be  run  at  boot	 time by /etc/rc.  It then listens for
       connections on certain internet sockets.	 When a connection is found on
       one  of its sockets, it decides what service the socket corresponds to,
       and invokes a program to service the request.   After  the  program  is
       finished,  it  continues	 to listen on the socket (except in some cases
       which will be described below).	Essentially, inetd allows running  one
       daemon to invoke several others, reducing load on the system.

       An rpc server can be started from inetd.	 The only differences from the
       usual code are that svcudp_create should be called as:

	      transp = svcudp_create(0)

       since inet passes a socket  file	 as  descriptor	 0,  and  svc_register
       should be called as:

	      svc_register(transp, PROGNUM, VERSNUM, dispatch, 0)

       with  the  final	 flag  as  0, since the program will already have been
       registered by inetd.  If you want to exit from the server  process  and
       return  control	to inet, you must explicitly exit since	 svc_run never
       returns.

       Upon execution,	inetd  reads  its  configuration  information  from  a
       configuration  file  which, by default, is /etc/inetd.conf.  There must
       be an entry for each field in the configuration file, with entries  for
       each  field  separated  by a tab or a space.  Comments are denoted by a
       ``#'' at the beginning of a line.  The fields of the configuration file
       are as follows:
	    service name
	    socket type
	    protocol
	    wait/nowait
	    user
	    server program
	    server program arguments

       For rpc services:
	    service name/version
	    socket type
	    protocol
	    wait/nowait
	    user
	    server program
	    server program arguments

       The  service  name  entry  is  the  name of a valid service in the file
       /etc/services/.	 For  ``internal''  services  (discussed  below),  the
       service	name  must  be	the official name of the service (that is, the
       first entry in /etc/services).

       For RPC services the entry is the name of a valid service in  the  file
       /etc/rpc with version = 1-x.  An example might be ``mountd/1-2''

       The  socket  type  should  be  one  of  ``stream'', ``dgram'', ``raw'',
       ``rdm'', or ``seqpacket'', depending on whether the socket is a stream,
       datagram, raw, reliably delivered message, or sequenced packet socket.

       The  protocol  must  be	a  valid  protocol as given in /etc/protocols.
       Examples might be ``tcp'' or ``udp''.

       For RPC services the protocol is of the	form  rcp/protocol.   Examples
       might be ``rpc/tcp'' or ``rpc/udp''.

       The  wait/nowait entry is applicable to datagram (and rpc) sockets only
       (other sockets should have a ``nowait'' entry in	 this  space).	 If  a
       datagram	 server	 connects to its peer, freeing the socket so inetd can
       received further messages on the socket, it is said to  be  a  ``multi-
       threaded''  server,  and should use the ``nowait'' entry.  For datagram
       servers which process all incoming datagrams on a socket and eventually
       time out, the server is said to be ``single-threaded'' and should use a
       ``wait'' entry.	``Comsat'' (``biff'') and ``talk'' are	both  examples
       of  the latter type of datagram server.	Tftpd is an exception; it is a
       datagram server that establishes pseudo-connections.  It must be listed
       as  ``wait''  in	 order	to  avoid  a  race; the server reads the first
       packet, creates a new socket, and then forks and exits to  allow	 inetd
       to check for new service requests to spawn new servers.

       The  user  entry	 should	 contain the user name of the user as whom the
       server should run.  This allows for servers to be given less permission
       than root.

       The  server  program  entry  should contain the pathname of the program
       which is to be executed by inetd when a request is found on its socket.
       If  inetd  provides  this  service  internally,	this  entry  should be
       ``internal''.

       The arguments to the server program should be  just  as	they  normally
       are,  starting  with argv[0], which is the name of the program.	If the
       service is provided internally, the word ``internal'' should  take  the
       place of this entry.

       Inetd  provides	several	 ``trivial''  services	internally  by	use of
       routines within itself.	 These	services  are  ``echo'',  ``discard'',
       ``chargen''  (character	generator), ``daytime'' (human readable time),
       and ``time'' (machine readable time, in	the  form  of  the  number  of
       seconds	since  midnight,  January 1, 1900).  All of these services are
       tcp based.  For details of these services, consult the appropriate  RFC
       from the Network Information Center.

       Inetd  rereads its configuration file when it receives a hangup signal,
       SIGHUP.	 Services  may	be  added,  deleted  or	 modified   when   the
       configuration file is reread.

EXAMPLES
       #
       # Standard inetd.conf entries
       ftp  stream    tcp  nowait root	  /etc/ftpd  ftpd
       talk dgram     udp  wait	  root	  /etc/talkd talkd
       #
       # RPC services entries
       rexd/1 stream rpc/tcp wait root /usr/etc/rpc.rexd rpc.rexd

SEE ALSO
       comsat(8C),  ftpd(8C),  rexecd(8C), rlogind(8C), rshd(8C), telnetd(8C),
       tftpd(8C)

4.3 Berkeley Distribution	 May 26, 1986			      INETD(8)
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