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fingerd(8)

NAME

     fingerd -- remote user information server

SYNOPSIS

     fingerd [-s] [-l] [-p filename]

DESCRIPTION

     The fingerd utility uses a simple protocol based on RFC1196 that provides
     an interface to finger(1) at several network sites.  It 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'',
     thus, fingerd can also be used to implement other protocols in conjunc-
     tion with the -p flag.

     The fingerd utility is started by inetd(8), which listens for TCP
     requests at port 79.  Once connected it reads a single command line ter-
     minated by a <CRLF> which is passed to finger(1).	The fingerd utility
     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 deriva-
     tions are returned.

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

     -s      Enable secure mode.  Queries without a user name are rejected and
	     forwarding of queries to other remote hosts is denied.

     -l      Enable logging.  The name of the host originating the query is
	     reported via syslog(3) at LOG_NOTICE priority.

     -p      Use an alternate program as the local information provider.  The
	     default local program executed by fingerd is finger(1).  By spec-
	     ifying a customized local server, this option allows a system
	     manager to have more control over what information is provided to
	     remote sites.  If -p is specified, fingerd will also set the
	     environment variable FINGERD_REMOTE_HOST to the name of the host
	     making the request.

SEE ALSO

     finger(1), inetd(8)

BUGS

     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.  The fingerd utility should be taught to filter out IAC's
     and perhaps even respond negatively (IAC WON'T) to all option commands
     received.

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