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

NAME
     ffiinnggeerrdd - remote user information server

SYNOPSIS
     ffiinnggeerrdd [-ss] [-ll] [-pp filename]

DESCRIPTION
     FFiinnggeerrdd is a simple protocol based on 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
     ``command line''.

     FFiinnggeerrdd listens for TCP requests at port 79.  Once connected it reads a
     single command line terminated by a  which is passed to finger(1).
     FFiinnggeerrdd closes its connections as soon as the output is finished.

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

     If a user name is specified (e.g.  eric) 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 ffiinnggeerrdd as server program argu-
     ments in /etc/inetd.conf:

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

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

     -pp      Use an alternate program as the local information provider.  The
             default local program executed by ffiinnggeerrdd 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.

SEE ALSO
     finger(1)

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

HISTORY     The ffiinnggeerrdd command appeared in 4.3BSD.

4.3 Berkeley Distribution        June 4, 1993        4.3 Berkeley Distribution