inetd(1Mtcp)
inetd --
Internet services daemon
Synopsis
inetd
[-d]
[-s]
[-t]
[configuration-file]
Description
The Internet services daemon, inetd,
is normally run at boot time by the
Service Access Facility (SAF).
inetd listens for connections on the Internet addresses of the
services specified in its configuration file.
When a connection is found, inetd
invokes the server daemon specified by
that configuration file for the requested service.
Once a server process exits, inetd continues to
listen on the socket.
Rather than having several daemon
processes with sparsely distributed requests each running concurrently,
inetd
reduces the load on the system by invoking Internet servers only as
they are needed.
inetd itself provides a number of simple TCP-based services.
These include
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).
For
details of these services, consult the appropriate RFC, as listed below,
from the Network Information Center.
Files
- /etc/inet/inetd.conf
-
the inetd configuration file
- /etc/protocols
-
protocols database
- /etc/services
-
services database
Usage
When started, inetd reads its configuration information from
configuration-file, the default being /etc/inetd.conf.
See
inetd.conf(4tcp)
for more information on the format of this file.
inetd
rereads its configuration file whenever it receives a hangup signal,
SIGHUP.
New services can be activated, and existing services deleted or modified in
between whenever the file is reread.
Options
- -s
-
Run inetd ``stand-alone,''
outside the Service Access Facility (SAF).
When the -s option is not used,
inetd must be run under SAF via the
sacadm(1M)
command.
- -d
-
Enable debugging.
In debug mode, TCP connections will have the SO_DEBUG option enabled
via setsockopt (see
getsockopt(3sock));
SO_DEBUG is needed for
trpt(1Mtcp).
Note that when -d option is used, inetd runs in the
foreground.
- -s
-
Print debug messages to stderr (standard error).
- -t
-
Put inetd into calltrace mode, which produces additional
syslog(3G)
entries.
References
comsat(1M),
ftpd(1Mtcp),
getsockopt(3sock),
inetd.conf(4tcp),
protocols(4tcp),
rexecd(1Mtcp),
rlogind(1Mtcp),
rshd(1Mtcp),
sacadm(1M),
services(4tcp),
telnetd(1Mtcp),
tftpd(1Mtcp),
trpt(1Mtcp)
RFC 862,
RFC 863,
RFC 864,
RFC 867,
RFC 868
30 January 1998
© 1998 The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. All rights reserved.