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FINGERD(8)		     System Manager's Manual		      FINGERD(8)

NAME
     fingerd -- remote user information server

SYNOPSIS
     fingerd [-d] [-k] [-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  re-
     turn  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  conjunction  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 terminated by  a
     <CRLF>  which  is passed to finger(1).  The fingerd utility closes its con-
     nections 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 mo-
     ment.

     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  re-
     turned.

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

     -d      Enable debugging mode.  In debugging mode, fingerd will not attempt
	     any network-related operations on stdin, and it will print the full
	     finger command line to stderr before executing it.

     -k      Suppress login information.  See the description of the  -k  option
	     in finger(1) for details.

     -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  re-
	     ported 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  speci-
	     fying  a  customized local server, this option allows a system man-
	     ager to have more control over what information is provided to  re-
	     mote sites.  If -p is specified, fingerd will also set the environ-
	     ment  variable  FINGERD_REMOTE_HOST  to the name of the host making
	     the request.

SEE ALSO
     finger(1), inetd(8)

HISTORY
     The fingerd utility appeared in 4.3BSD.

FreeBSD ports 15.1		November 19, 2014		      FINGERD(8)

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<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=fingerd&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD+15.1-RELEASE+and+Ports>

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