NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       protocols - the protocols definition file

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       This  file is a plain ASCII file, describing the various DARPA internet
       protocols that are available from the TCP/IP subsystem.	It  should  be
       consulted  instead  of using the numbers in the ARPA include files, or,
       even worse, just guessing them. These numbers will occur in the	protocol
 field of any ip header.

       Keep  this  file  untouched  since changes would result in incorrect ip
       packages. Protocol numbers and names are specified by the  DDN  Network
       Information Center.

       Each line is of the following format:

	      protocol number aliases ...

       where the fields are delimited by spaces or tabs. Empty lines and lines
       starting with a hash mark (#) are ignored. Remainder of lines are  also
       ignored from the occurrence of a hash mark.

       The field descriptions are:


       protocol
	      the native name for the protocol. For example ip, tcp or udp.

       number the  official  number for this protocol as it will appear within
	      the ip header.

       aliases
	      optional aliases for the protocol.


       This file might be distributed over a network using a networkwide  naming
 service like Yellow Pages/NIS or BIND/Hesiod.

FILES    [Toc]    [Back]

       /etc/protocols
	      The protocols definition file.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       getprotoent(3)

       Guide to Yellow Pages Service

       Guide to BIND/Hesiod Service



Linux				  1995-10-18			  PROTOCOLS(5)