NetBSD/libexec/fingerd/fingerd.8

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.\"     from: @(#)fingerd.8	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
.\"
.Dd June 4, 1993
.Dt FINGERD 8
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm fingerd
.Nd remote user information server
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Fl s
.Op Fl l
.Op Fl u
.Op Fl h
.Op Fl m
.Op Fl p
.Op Fl S
.Op Fl g
.Op Fl P Ar filename
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm
is a simple protocol based on
.%T RFC1196
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
.Dq command line .
.Pp
.Nm
is started by
.Xr inetd 8 ,
which listens for
.Tn TCP
requests at port 79.
Once handed a connection,
.Nm
reads a single command line
terminated by a
.Aq Tn CRLF
which it then passes to
.Xr finger 1 .
.Nm
closes its connections as soon as the output is finished.
.Pp
If the line is null (i.e. just a
.Aq Tn CRLF
is sent) then
.Xr finger 1
returns a
.Dq default
report that lists all people logged into
the system at that moment.
.Pp
If a user name is specified (e.g.
.Pf eric Aq Tn CRLF )
then the
response lists more extended information for only that particular user,
whether logged in or not.
Allowable
.Dq names
in the command line include both
.Dq login names
and
.Dq user names .
If a name is ambiguous, all possible derivations are returned.
.Pp
The following options may be passed to
.Nm
as server program arguments in
.Pa /etc/inetd.conf :
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl s
Disable forwarding of queries to other remote hosts.
.It Fl l
Enable logging.
The name of the host originating the query, and the actual request is reported via
.Xr syslog 3
at LOG_NOTICE priority.
A request of the form `\\W' and `\\w' will return long output.
Empty requests will return all currently logged in users.
All other requests look for specific users.
See RFC1196 for details.
.It Fl u
Queries without a user name are rejected.
.It Fl h
Display the name of the remote host in short mode,
instead of the office location and office phone.
.It Fl m
Prevent matching of
.Ar user
names.
.Ar User
is usually a login name; however, matching will also be done on the
users' real names, unless the
.Fl m
option is supplied.
.It Fl p
Prevents
.Xr finger 1
from displaying the contents of the
.Dq Pa .plan
and
.Dq Pa .project
files.
.It Fl S
Prints user information in short mode, one line per user.
This overrides the
.Dq Pa Whois switch
that may be passed in from the remote client.
.It Fl g
Do not show any gecos information besides the users' real names.
.It Fl P
Use an alternate program as the local information provider.
The default local program
executed by
.Nm
is
.Xr 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.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr finger 1 ,
.Xr inetd 8
.Sh BUGS
Connecting directly to the server from a
.Tn TIP
or an equally narrow-minded
.Tn TELNET Ns \-protocol
user program can result
in meaningless attempts at option negotiation being sent to the
server, which will foul up the command line interpretation.
.Nm
should be taught to filter out
.Tn IAC Ns \'s
and perhaps even respond
negatively
.Pq Tn IAC WON'T
to all option commands received.
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
command appeared in
.Bx 4.3 .