xref: /original-bsd/libexec/fingerd/fingerd.8 (revision bd226a66)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991 The Regents of the University of California.
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
5.\"
6.\"     @(#)fingerd.8	6.4 (Berkeley) 03/16/91
7.\"
8.Dd
9.Dt FINGERD 8
10.Os BSD 4.3
11.Sh NAME
12.Nm fingerd
13.Nd remote user information server
14.Sh SYNOPSIS
15.Nm fingerd
16.Sh DESCRIPTION
17.Nm Fingerd
18is a simple protocol based on
19.%T RFC742
20that provides an interface to the
21Name and Finger programs at several network sites.
22The program is supposed to return a friendly,
23human-oriented status report on either the system at the moment
24or a particular person in depth.
25There is no required format and the
26protocol consists mostly of specifying a single
27.Dq command line .
28.Pp
29.Nm Fingerd
30listens for
31.Tn TCP
32requests at port 79.
33Once connected it reads a single command line
34terminated by a
35.Aq Tn CRLF
36which is passed to
37.Xr finger 1 .
38.Nm Fingerd
39closes its connections as soon as the output is finished.
40.Pp
41If the line is null (i.e. just a
42.Aq Tn CRLF
43is sent) then
44.Xr finger
45returns a
46.Dq default
47report that lists all people logged into
48the system at that moment.
49.Pp
50If a user name is specified (e.g.
51.Pf eric Aq Tn CRLF )
52then the
53response lists more extended information for only that particular user,
54whether logged in or not.
55Allowable
56.Dq names
57in the command line include both
58.Dq login names
59and
60.Dq user names .
61If a name is ambiguous, all possible derivations are returned.
62.Sh SEE ALSO
63.Xr finger 1
64.Sh BUGS
65Connecting directly to the server from a
66.Tn TIP
67or an equally narrow-minded
68.Tn TELNET Ns \-protocol
69user program can result
70in meaningless attempts at option negotiation being sent to the
71server, which will foul up the command line interpretation.
72.Nm Fingerd
73should be taught to filter out
74.Tn IAC Ns \'s
75and perhaps even respond
76negatively
77.Pq Tn IAC WON'T
78to all option commands received.
79.Sh HISTORY
80The
81.Nm
82command appeared in
83.Bx 4.3 .
84