NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     fingerd - remote user information server

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     fingerd [-lMmpSsu] [-P filename]

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     fingerd is a simple protocol based on RFC 1288 that provides
an interface
     to  the  Name  and Finger programs at several network sites.
The program is
     supposed to return a friendly, human-oriented status  report
on either the
     system at the moment or a particular person in depth.  There
is no required
 format and the protocol consists mostly of specifying
a single
     ``command line''.

     fingerd  is  started  by inetd(8), which listens for TCP requests at port
     79.  Once connected it reads a single command line terminated by a <CRLF>
     which  is  passed  to finger(1).  fingerd closes its connections as soon as
     the output is finished.

     If the line is null (i.e., just a <CRLF> is sent) then  finger(1) returns
     a  ``default''  report that lists all people logged into the
system at that
     moment.

     If a user name is specified (e.g., eric<CRLF>) then the  response lists
     more  extended  information  for  only that particular user,
whether logged
     in or not.  Allowable ``names'' in the command line  include
both ``login
     names''  and  ``user  names''.   If a name is ambiguous, all
possible derivations
 are returned.

     The following options may be passed  to  fingerd  as  server
program arguments
 in /etc/inetd.conf:

     -l       Enable  logging.   The name of the host originating
the query and
             the actual request  is  reported  via  syslog(3)  at
LOG_NOTICE priority.
  A request of the form `/W' or `/w' will return
long output.
             Empty requests will return all currently  logged  in
users.  All
             other  requests  look  for  specific users.  See RFC
1288 for details.


     -M      Enables matching of user names.  This is disabled by
default if
             the system is running YP.

     -m       Prevent  matching of user names.  User is usually a
login name;
             however, matching will also be done  on  the  users'
real names, unless
 the -m option is supplied.

     -P filename
             Use  an  alternate  program as the local information
provider.  The
             default local program executed by  fingerd  is  finger(1).  By specifying
 a customized local server, this option allows
a system
             manager to have more control over  what  information
is provided to
             remote sites.

     -p       Prevents  finger(1) from displaying the contents of
the ``.plan''
             and ``.project'' files.

     -S      Prints user information in short mode, one line  per
user.  This
             overrides the ``Whois switch'' that may be passed in
from the remote
 client.

     -s      Enable secure mode.  Forwarding of queries to  other
remote hosts
             is denied.

     -u      Queries without a user name are rejected.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     finger(1), inetd(8)

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

     The fingerd command appeared in 4.3BSD.

BUGS    [Toc]    [Back]

     Connecting  directly  to the server from a TIP or an equally
narrow-minded
     TELNET-protocol user program can result in  meaningless  attempts at option
     negotiation being sent to the server, which will foul up the
command line
     interpretation.  fingerd should  be  taught  to  filter  out
IAC's and perhaps
     even  respond  negatively (IAC WON'T) to all option commands
received.

OpenBSD      3.6                           June      4,      1993