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)