fingerd(8)

NAME

fingerd - remote user information server

SYNOPSIS

fingerd [-s] [-l] [-p filename]

DESCRIPTION

The fingerd utility uses a simple protocol based on RFC1196

that provides
an interface to finger(1) at several network sites. It is

supposed to
return a friendly, human-oriented status report on either

the system at
the moment or a particular person in depth. There is no re

quired format
and the protocol consists mostly of specifying a single

``command line'',
thus, fingerd can also be used to implement other protocols

in conjunction with the -p flag.

The fingerd utility is started by inetd(8), which listens

for TCP
requests at port 79. Once connected it reads a single com

mand line terminated by a <CRLF> which is passed to finger(1). The

fingerd utility
closes its connections as soon as the output is finished.

If the line is null (i.e., just a <CRLF> is sent) then fin

ger(1) returns
a ``default'' report that lists all people logged into the

system at that
moment.

If a user name is specified (e.g. eric<CRLF>) then the re

sponse lists
more extended information for only that particular user,

whether logged
in or not. Allowable ``names'' in the command line include

both ``login
names'' and ``user names''. If a name is ambiguous, all

possible derivations are returned.

The following options may be passed to fingerd as server

program arguments in /etc/inetd.conf:

-s Enable secure mode. Queries without a user name are

rejected and

forwarding of queries to other remote hosts is de

nied.

-l Enable logging. The name of the host originating

the query is

reported via syslog(3) at LOG_NOTICE priority.

-p Use an alternate program as the local information

provider. The

default local program executed by fingerd is fin

ger(1). By specifying a customized local server, this option allows

a system
manager to have more control over what information

is provided to
remote sites. If -p is specified, fingerd will also

set the
environment variable FINGERD_REMOTE_HOST to the name

of the host
making the request.

SEE ALSO

finger(1), inetd(8)

HISTORY

The fingerd utility appeared in 4.3BSD.

BUGS

Connecting directly to the server from a TIP or an equally

narrow-minded
TELNET-protocol user program can result in meaningless at

tempts at option
negotiation being sent to the server, which will foul up the

command line
interpretation. The fingerd utility should be taught to

filter out IAC's
and perhaps even respond negatively (IAC WON'T) to all op

tion commands
received.

BSD June 4, 1993

BSD