xref: /freebsd/libexec/fingerd/fingerd.8 (revision a8445737e740901f5f2c8d24c12ef7fc8b00134e)
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32.\"     @(#)fingerd.8	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
33.\"
34.Dd June 4, 1993
35.Dt FINGERD 8
36.Os BSD 4.3
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm fingerd
39.Nd remote user information server
40.Sh SYNOPSIS
41.Nm fingerd
42.Op Fl s
43.Op Fl l
44.Op Fl p Ar filename
45.Sh DESCRIPTION
46.Nm Fingerd
47is a simple protocol based on
48.%T RFC1196
49that provides an interface to the
50Name and Finger programs at several network sites.
51The program is supposed to return a friendly,
52human-oriented status report on either the system at the moment
53or a particular person in depth.
54There is no required format and the
55protocol consists mostly of specifying a single
56.Dq command line .
57.Pp
58.Nm Fingerd
59is started by
60.Xr inetd 8 ,
61which listens for
62.Tn TCP
63requests at port 79.
64Once connected it reads a single command line
65terminated by a
66.Aq Tn CRLF
67which is passed to
68.Xr finger 1 .
69.Nm Fingerd
70closes its connections as soon as the output is finished.
71.Pp
72If the line is null (i.e. just a
73.Aq Tn CRLF
74is sent) then
75.Xr finger
76returns a
77.Dq default
78report that lists all people logged into
79the system at that moment.
80.Pp
81If a user name is specified (e.g.
82.Pf eric Aq Tn CRLF )
83then the
84response lists more extended information for only that particular user,
85whether logged in or not.
86Allowable
87.Dq names
88in the command line include both
89.Dq login names
90and
91.Dq user names .
92If a name is ambiguous, all possible derivations are returned.
93.Pp
94The following options may be passed to
95.Nm
96as server program arguments in
97.Pa /etc/inetd.conf :
98.Bl -tag -width indent
99.It Fl s
100Enable secure mode.
101Queries without a user name are rejected and
102forwarding of queries to other remote hosts is denied.
103.It Fl l
104Enable logging.
105The name of the host originating the query is reported via
106.Xr syslog 3
107at LOG_NOTICE priority.
108.It Fl p
109Use an alternate program as the local information provider.
110The default local program
111executed by
112.Nm
113is
114.Xr finger 1 .
115By specifying a customized local server,
116this option allows a system manager
117to have more control over what information is
118provided to remote sites.
119.El
120.Sh SEE ALSO
121.Xr finger 1 ,
122.Xr inetd 8
123.Sh BUGS
124Connecting directly to the server from a
125.Tn TIP
126or an equally narrow-minded
127.Tn TELNET Ns \-protocol
128user program can result
129in meaningless attempts at option negotiation being sent to the
130server, which will foul up the command line interpretation.
131.Nm Fingerd
132should be taught to filter out
133.Tn IAC Ns \'s
134and perhaps even respond
135negatively
136.Pq Tn IAC WON'T
137to all option commands received.
138.Sh HISTORY
139The
140.Nm
141command appeared in
142.Bx 4.3 .
143