NAME

       /etc/dnetd.conf - DECnet objects file

DESCRIPTION

       /etc/dnetd.conf  is  an  ASCII file which contains the description of the objects known to
       the DECnet super-server dnetd.

       There is one entry per line, and each line has the format:

              Name  Number Authenticate User command

       The field descriptions are:

              Name      The name of the object.  For  numbered  objects  this  appears  only  for
                        documentation  purposes.  For named objects it is the actual object name.
                        There is a special object name * which can execute an  arbitrarily  named
                        program or script (see later).

              Number    the  DECnet  object  number.  These  numbers  should match the well-known
                        object numbers in a VMS object database. If the  object  number  is  zero
                        then the name is used. There should be no duplicate object numbers in the
                        file apart from number 0.

              Authenticate
                        Whether to authenticate incoming connections. This flag should be a Y  or
                        N.  If  it is Y then incoming connections will be authenticated either by
                        the username and password given on the remote  command  line  or  by  the
                        DECnet  proxy  database  decnet.proxy.   If  it  is N then the next field
                        specifies the username that the daemon will be run as.

              Username  The username that daemon will be run as if the incoming  command  is  not
                        authenticated  (ie  the  Authenticate flag is set to N). if this username
                        does not exist, and Authenticate is set to N  then  incoming  connections
                        for that object will fail.

              Command   This is the name and arguments of the command to run when a connection is
                        received for the object. If it is the string "internal" then  the  object
                        will  be  handled by dnetd if it can. Currently only MIRROR and arbitrary
                        TASKs can be handled internally by dnetd.
                        If the name starts with a slash then it is assumed to be the full path of
                        the  program  to run. If not then dnetd will search its default directory
                        for program files.

NOTES

       When an incoming connection is handled by dnetd it forks and executes the command named in
       the  command field with stdin and stdout pointing to the DECnet socket. stderr will be set
       to /dev/null. The DECnet daemons supplied in the dnprogs suite automatically  detect  this
       and so can be run from dnetd or standalone.
       There  is  a  subtle  difference  between  objects handled by the special name * and those
       explicitly named in the file:
       Objects handled by name "*" internally are run under control of a pseudo-tty  which  means
       they  appear  to  be  talking to a terminal and CR/LF conversion will be done so that TYPE
       "0=TASK" will produce sensible output on VMS.
       Objects explicitly named just connect  directly  to  the  DECnet  socket  so  cannot  take
       advantage  of tty services and do not have CR/LF conversion done for them. Of course these
       objects are more secure because the system administrator  has  total  control  over  which
       objects can be run.
       dnetd  will  convert  all  task  names  to  lower  case. This is for convenience more than
       anything else because VMS converts them to uppercase and all  uppercase  files  names  are
       unwieldy on Unix.
       It  is  recommended  that  arbitrary  objects  be run as a special anonymous user to avoid
       security problems.
       Any changes to /etc/dnetd.conf will take effect immediately you do not need to tell  dnetd
       that it has changed.

EXAMPLE

       This  is the default file provided. Note that the "*" object is commented out for security
       reasons.
          # /etc/dnetd.conf
          #
          # name         number     auth?     user       command
          #
          FAL            17         Y         none       fal
          MIRROR         25         Y         root       internal
          MAIL           27         N         vmsmail    vmsmaild
          CTERM          42         N         root       ctermd
          DTERM          23         N         root       rmtermd
          # *               0         Y         none       internal

SEE ALSO

       decnet.proxy(5), dnetd(8)