xref: /freebsd/libexec/fingerd/fingerd.8 (revision afe61c15161c324a7af299a9b8457aba5afc92db)
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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
59listens for
60.Tn TCP
61requests at port 79.
62Once connected it reads a single command line
63terminated by a
64.Aq Tn CRLF
65which is passed to
66.Xr finger 1 .
67.Nm Fingerd
68closes its connections as soon as the output is finished.
69.Pp
70If the line is null (i.e. just a
71.Aq Tn CRLF
72is sent) then
73.Xr finger
74returns a
75.Dq default
76report that lists all people logged into
77the system at that moment.
78.Pp
79If a user name is specified (e.g.
80.Pf eric Aq Tn CRLF )
81then the
82response lists more extended information for only that particular user,
83whether logged in or not.
84Allowable
85.Dq names
86in the command line include both
87.Dq login names
88and
89.Dq user names .
90If a name is ambiguous, all possible derivations are returned.
91.Pp
92The following options may be passed to
93.Nm fingerd
94as server program arguments in
95.Pa /etc/inetd.conf :
96.Bl -tag -width Ds
97.It Fl s
98Enable secure mode.
99Queries without a user name are rejected and
100forwarding of queries to other remote hosts is denied.
101.It Fl l
102Enable logging.
103The name of the host originating the query is reported via
104.Xr syslog 3
105at LOG_NOTICE priority.
106.It Fl p
107Use an alternate program as the local information provider.
108The default local program
109executed by
110.Nm fingerd
111is
112.Xr finger 1 .
113By specifying a customized local server,
114this option allows a system manager
115to have more control over what information is
116provided to remote sites.
117.El
118.Sh SEE ALSO
119.Xr finger 1
120.Sh BUGS
121Connecting directly to the server from a
122.Tn TIP
123or an equally narrow-minded
124.Tn TELNET Ns \-protocol
125user program can result
126in meaningless attempts at option negotiation being sent to the
127server, which will foul up the command line interpretation.
128.Nm Fingerd
129should be taught to filter out
130.Tn IAC Ns \'s
131and perhaps even respond
132negatively
133.Pq Tn IAC WON'T
134to all option commands received.
135.Sh HISTORY
136The
137.Nm
138command appeared in
139.Bx 4.3 .
140