xref: /freebsd/usr.sbin/arp/arp.4 (revision 43039b7df5a70fc9e07293084b5a8f88ee477b5c)
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32.\"	@(#)arp4.4	6.5 (Berkeley) 4/18/94
33.\" $FreeBSD$
34.\"
35.Dd April 18, 1994
36.Dt ARP 4
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm arp
40.Nd Address Resolution Protocol
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Cd "device ether"
43.Sh DESCRIPTION
44The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is used to dynamically
45map between Protocol Addresses (such as IP addresses) and
46Local Network Addresses (such as Ethernet addresses).
47This implementation maps IP addresses to Ethernet,
48ARCnet,
49or Token Ring addresses.
50It is used by all the Ethernet interface drivers.
51.Pp
52ARP caches Internet-Ethernet address mappings.
53When an interface requests a mapping for an address not in the cache,
54ARP queues the message which requires the mapping and broadcasts
55a message on the associated network requesting the address mapping.
56If a response is provided, the new mapping is cached and any pending
57message is transmitted.
58ARP will queue at most one packet while waiting for a response to a
59mapping request;
60only the most recently ``transmitted'' packet is kept.
61If the target host does not respond after several requests,
62the host is considered to be down for a short period (normally 20 seconds),
63allowing an error to be returned to transmission attempts during this
64interval.
65The error is
66.Er EHOSTDOWN
67for a non-responding destination host, and
68.Er EHOSTUNREACH
69for a non-responding router.
70.Pp
71The ARP cache is stored in the system routing table as
72dynamically-created host routes.
73The route to a directly-attached Ethernet network is installed as a
74.Dq cloning
75route (one with the
76.Li RTF_CLONING
77flag set),
78causing routes to individual hosts on that network to be created on
79demand.
80These routes time out periodically (normally 20 minutes after validated;
81entries are not validated when not in use).
82An entry for a host which is not responding is a
83.Dq reject
84route (one with the
85.Li RTF_REJECT
86flag set).
87.Pp
88ARP entries may be added, deleted or changed with the
89.Xr arp 8
90utility.
91Manually-added entries may be temporary or permanent,
92and may be
93.Dq published ,
94in which case the system will respond to ARP requests for that host
95as if it were the target of the request.
96.Pp
97In the past,
98ARP was used to negotiate the use of a trailer encapsulation.
99This is no longer supported.
100.Pp
101ARP watches passively for hosts impersonating the local host (i.e. a host
102which responds to an ARP mapping request for the local host's address).
103.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
104.Em "arp: %x:%x:%x:%x:%x:%x is using my IP address %d.%d.%d.%d!" :
105ARP has discovered another host on the local network which responds to
106mapping requests for its own Internet address with a different Ethernet
107address, generally indicating that two hosts are attempting to use the
108same Internet address.
109.Pp
110.Em "arp: ether address is broadcast for IP address %d.%d.%d.%d!" :
111ARP requested information for a host, and received an answer indicating
112that the host's ethernet address is the ethernet broadcast address.
113This indicates a misconfigured or broken device.
114.Pp
115.Em "arp: %d.%d.%d.%d moved from %x:%x:%x:%x:%x:%x to %x:%x:%x:%x:%x:%x" :
116ARP had a cached value for the ethernet address of the referenced host,
117but received a reply indicating that the host is at a new address.
118This can happen normally when host hardware addresses change,
119or when a mobile node arrives or leaves the local subnet.
120It can also indicate a problem with proxy ARP.
121This message can only be issued if the sysctl
122.Va net.link.ether.inet.log_arp_movements
123is set to 1, which is the system's default behaviour.
124.Pp
125.Em "arpresolve: can't allocate llinfo for %d.%d.%d.%d" :
126The route for the referenced host points to a device upon which ARP is
127required, but ARP was unable to allocate a routing table entry in which
128to store the host's MAC address.
129This usually points to a misconfigured routing table.
130It can also occur if the kernel cannot allocate memory.
131.Pp
132.Em "arp: %d.%d.%d.%d is on if0 but got reply from %x:%x:%x:%x:%x:%x on if1" :
133Physical connections exist to the same logical IP network on both if0 and if1.
134It can also occur if an entry already exists in the ARP cache for the IP
135address above, and the cable has been disconnected from if0, then reconnected
136to if1.
137This message can only be issued if the sysctl
138.Va net.link.ether.inet.log_arp_wrong_iface
139is set to 1, which is the system's default behaviour.
140.Sh SEE ALSO
141.Xr inet 4 ,
142.Xr route 4 ,
143.Xr arp 8 ,
144.Xr ifconfig 8 ,
145.Xr route 8 ,
146.Xr sysctl 8
147.Rs
148.%A Plummer, D.
149.%B "An Ethernet Address Resolution Protocol"
150.%T RFC826
151.Re
152.Rs
153.%A Leffler, S.J.
154.%A Karels, M.J.
155.%B "Trailer Encapsulations
156.%T RFC893
157.Re
158