xref: /dragonfly/libexec/fingerd/fingerd.8 (revision 3641b7ca)
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32.\"     @(#)fingerd.8	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
33.\" $FreeBSD: src/libexec/fingerd/fingerd.8,v 1.4.2.3 2001/08/16 10:44:15 ru Exp $
34.\" $DragonFly: src/libexec/fingerd/fingerd.8,v 1.5 2007/11/23 23:16:36 swildner Exp $
35.\"
36.Dd June 4, 1993
37.Dt FINGERD 8
38.Os
39.Sh NAME
40.Nm fingerd
41.Nd remote user information server
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.Nm
44.Op Fl s
45.Op Fl l
46.Op Fl p Ar filename
47.Sh DESCRIPTION
48.Nm Fingerd
49is a simple protocol based on
50.%T RFC 1196
51that provides an interface to the
52Name and Finger programs at several network sites.
53The program is supposed to return a friendly,
54human-oriented status report on either the system at the moment
55or a particular person in depth.
56There is no required format and the
57protocol consists mostly of specifying a single
58.Dq command line .
59.Pp
60.Nm Fingerd
61is started by
62.Xr inetd 8 ,
63which listens for
64.Tn TCP
65requests at port 79.
66Once connected it reads a single command line
67terminated by a
68.Aq Tn CRLF
69which is passed to
70.Xr finger 1 .
71.Nm Fingerd
72closes its connections as soon as the output is finished.
73.Pp
74If the line is null (i.e. just a
75.Aq Tn CRLF
76is sent) then
77.Xr finger 1
78returns a
79.Dq default
80report that lists all people logged into
81the system at that moment.
82.Pp
83If a user name is specified (e.g.\&
84.Pf eric Aq Tn CRLF )
85then the
86response lists more extended information for only that particular user,
87whether logged in or not.
88Allowable
89.Dq names
90in the command line include both
91.Dq login names
92and
93.Dq user names .
94If a name is ambiguous, all possible derivations are returned.
95.Pp
96The following options may be passed to
97.Nm
98as server program arguments in
99.Pa /etc/inetd.conf :
100.Bl -tag -width indent
101.It Fl s
102Enable secure mode.
103Queries without a user name are rejected and
104forwarding of queries to other remote hosts is denied.
105.It Fl l
106Enable logging.
107The name of the host originating the query is reported via
108.Xr syslog 3
109at LOG_NOTICE priority.
110.It Fl p
111Use an alternate program as the local information provider.
112The default local program
113executed by
114.Nm
115is
116.Xr finger 1 .
117By specifying a customized local server,
118this option allows a system manager
119to have more control over what information is
120provided to remote sites.
121.El
122.Sh SEE ALSO
123.Xr finger 1 ,
124.Xr inetd 8
125.Sh HISTORY
126The
127.Nm
128command appeared in
129.Bx 4.3 .
130.Sh BUGS
131Connecting directly to the server from a
132.Tn TIP
133or an equally narrow-minded
134.Tn TELNET Ns \-protocol
135user program can result
136in meaningless attempts at option negotiation being sent to the
137server, which will foul up the command line interpretation.
138.Nm Fingerd
139should be taught to filter out
140.Tn IAC Ns \'s
141and perhaps even respond
142negatively
143.Pq Tn IAC WON'T
144to all option commands received.
145