bionic (8) rsockd.8.gz

NAME

       rsockd - SOCKSified SOCKS server

SYNOPSIS

       rsockd [ -ver | -i | -I ]

DESCRIPTION

       rsockd  is  the  SOCKSified version of the SOCKS server sockd.  Functionally rsockd is identical to sockd
       except that it may (though not necessarily has to)  make  use  of  other  SOCKS  servers  to  reach  some
       destinations.  A  number  of  rsockd's  can  be  strung  together or organized in a cascade or other more
       complicated structures to serve the  needs  of  a  particular  network  configuration  and  restrictions.
       Obviously  this complicates the issues and make the setup and maintenance of the firewall more difficult.
       So use sockd instead whenever you can.

       This document only describes the features of rsockd that  are  different  from  sockd.  You  should  read
       sockd(5) carefully to gain a basic understanding of of how the SOCKS server works.

       When  rsockd  receives  a request, it checks the request again its configuration (in exactly the same way
       that sockd does) to decider whether the request is to be accepted. The primary difference  between  sockd
       and  rsockd  is  in  how  they  establish connection to the destination host of a accepted request. sockd
       assumes that it can connect directly to the destination host and proceeds to do so.  rsockd makes no such
       assumption.  Instead, it consults another configuration file to decide whether it can connect directly to
       the particular destination host or whether it has to use a proxy connection through another SOCKS server.
       In  other  words, it behaves just like a versatile SOCKS client in this regard. Therefore rsockd requires
       not only the SOCKS server configuration file /etc/sockd.fc or /etc/sockd.conf to decide whether to accept
       or  reject  a  request, but also the client configuration file /etc/socks.fc or /etc/socks.conf to decide
       how to reach the destination host.  If it is a multi-homed version and supports RBIND, it also needs  the
       route file /etc/sockd.fr or /etc/sockd.fr to decide which network interface to use for a connection.

       Look  at it in a different way, you can think of sockd as a special case of rsockd, one which can connect
       directly to all destination hosts. In fact, an rsockd using the client configuration consisting  of  only
       this line

       direct    ALL  0.0.0.0

       is functinally identical to the regular sockd.

       Anther  thing to mention is related to the use of identd. Only the SOCKS server which the requesting host
       directly connects to can find out the identity of the real user. Suppose user x on  host  C  connects  to
       rsockd  on  server  B which in turn connects to sockd on server A in order to reach destination z. Host B
       can query identd on host C to find out whether the user is indeed x. To host A, the  request  appears  to
       originate  from  user x on host B. An identd query from Host A to host B returns the userid that owns the
       rsockd process on host B, not the real user x.

OPTIONS

       See sockd(8).

EXAMPLES

       The follwoing is an example of the client configuration file. See  related  man  pages  for  examples  on
       server configuration and route files.

       # /etc/socks.conf for rsockd of domain rnd.xyz.com
       #
       # Use proxy connection through SOCKS server on socks.market.xyz.com
       # to reach hosts within market.xyz.com
       sockd     @=socks.market.xyz.com  .market.xyz.com  0.0.0.0
       #
       # Use direct connect to all other hosts within xyz.com
       direct    .xyz.com  0.0.0.0
       #
       # Use proxy connection through SOCKS server on gateway.xyz.com
       # to reach all others
       sockd     @=gateway.xyz.com  ALL  0.0.0.0

FILES

       /etc/sockd.fc,   /etc/sockd.conf,   /etc/sockd.fr,   /etc/sockd.route,   /etc/socks.fc,  /etc/socks.conf,
       /etc/inetd.conf, /etc/services, /var/adm/messages, /etc/syslog.conf

SEE ALSO

       sockd(8),    socks_clients(1),    sockd.conf(5),    sockd.route(5),    socks.conf(5),    make_sockdfc(8),
       make_sockdfr(8), dump_sockdfc(8), dump_sockdfr(8)

AUTHOR

       Ying-Da Lee, ylee@syl.dl.nec.com

                                                   May 6, 1996                                         RSOCKD(8)