NAME

       /etc/hosts.equiv - list of hosts and users that are granted "trusted" r command access to your system

DESCRIPTION

       The  hosts.equiv  file  allows or denies hosts and users to use the r-commands (e.g., rlogin, rsh or rcp)
       without supplying a password.

       The file uses the following format:

       [ + | - ] [hostname] [username]

       The hostname is the name of a host which is logically equivalent to the local host.   Users  logged  into
       that  host are allowed to access like-named user accounts on the local host without supplying a password.
       The hostname may be (optionally) preceded by a plus (+) sign.  If the plus sign is used alone  it  allows
       any  host to access your system.  You can explicitly deny access to a host by preceding the hostname by a
       minus (-) sign.  Users from that host must always supply a password.  For  security  reasons  you  should
       always use the FQDN of the hostname and not the short hostname.

       The  username  entry grants a specific user access to all user accounts (except root) without supplying a
       password.  That means  the  user  is  NOT  restricted  to  like-named  accounts.   The  username  may  be
       (optionally)  preceded  by  a  plus  (+) sign.  You can also explicitly deny access to a specific user by
       preceding the username with a minus (-) sign.  This says that the user is  not  trusted  no  matter  what
       other entries for that host exist.

       Netgroups can be specified by preceding the netgroup by an @ sign.

       Be  extremely  careful  when  using  the  plus  (+) sign.  A simple typographical error could result in a
       standalone plus sign.  A standalone plus sign is a wildcard character that means "any host"!

FILES

       /etc/hosts.equiv

NOTES

       Some systems will honor the contents of this file only when it has owner root and no write permission for
       anybody else.  Some exceptionally paranoid systems even require that there be no other hard links to  the
       file.

       Modern  systems  use the Pluggable Authentication Modules library (PAM).  With PAM a standalone plus sign
       is considered a wildcard character which means "any host" only when the word promiscuous is added to  the
       auth component line in your PAM file for the particular service (e.g., rlogin).

SEE ALSO

       rhosts(5), rlogind(8), rshd(8)

COLOPHON

       This  page  is  part  of  release 3.54 of the Linux man-pages project.  A description of the project, and
       information about reporting bugs, can be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

Linux                                              2003-08-24                                     HOSTS.EQUIV(5)