xref: /netbsd-src/libexec/rshd/rshd.8 (revision ae9172d6cd9432a6a1a56760d86b32c57a66c39c)
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32.\"     from: @(#)rshd.8	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
33.\"	$Id: rshd.8,v 1.4 1994/06/05 15:33:23 cgd Exp $
34.\"
35.Dd June 4, 1993
36.Dt RSHD 8
37.Os BSD 4.2
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm rshd
40.Nd remote shell server
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Nm rshd
43.Op Fl alnL
44.Sh DESCRIPTION
45The
46.Nm rshd
47server
48is the server for the
49.Xr rcmd 3
50routine and, consequently, for the
51.Xr rsh 1
52program.  The server provides remote execution facilities
53with authentication based on privileged port numbers from trusted hosts.
54.Pp
55The
56.Nm rshd
57server
58listens for service requests at the port indicated in
59the ``cmd'' service specification; see
60.Xr services 5 .
61When a service request is received the following protocol
62is initiated:
63.Bl -enum
64.It
65The server checks the client's source port.
66If the port is not in the range 512-1023, the server
67aborts the connection.
68.It
69The server reads characters from the socket up
70to a null (`\e0') byte.  The resultant string is
71interpreted as an
72.Tn ASCII
73number, base 10.
74.It
75If the number received in step 2 is non-zero,
76it is interpreted as the port number of a secondary
77stream to be used for the
78.Em stderr .
79A second connection is then created to the specified
80port on the client's machine.  The source port of this
81second connection is also in the range 512-1023.
82.It
83The server checks the client's source address
84and requests the corresponding host name (see
85.Xr gethostbyaddr 3 ,
86.Xr hosts 5
87and
88.Xr named 8 ) .
89If the hostname cannot be determined,
90the dot-notation representation of the host address is used.
91If the hostname is in the same domain as the server (according to
92the last two components of the domain name),
93or if the
94.Fl a
95option is given,
96the addresses for the hostname are requested,
97verifying that the name and address correspond.
98If address verification fails, the connection is aborted
99with the message, ``Host address mismatch.''
100.It
101A null terminated user name of at most 16 characters
102is retrieved on the initial socket.  This user name
103is interpreted as the user identity on the
104.Em client Ns 's
105machine.
106.It
107A null terminated user name of at most 16 characters
108is retrieved on the initial socket.  This user name
109is interpreted as a user identity to use on the
110.Sy server Ns 's
111machine.
112.It
113A null terminated command to be passed to a
114shell is retrieved on the initial socket.  The length of
115the command is limited by the upper bound on the size of
116the system's argument list.
117.It
118.Nm Rshd
119then validates the user using
120.Xr ruserok 3 ,
121which uses the file
122.Pa /etc/hosts.equiv
123and the
124.Pa .rhosts
125file found in the user's home directory.  The
126.Fl l
127option prevents
128.Xr ruserok 3
129from doing any validation based on the user's ``.rhosts'' file,
130unless the user is the superuser.
131.It
132If the file
133.Pa /etc/nologin
134exists and the user is not the superuser,
135the connection is closed.
136.It
137A null byte is returned on the initial socket
138and the command line is passed to the normal login
139shell of the user.  The
140shell inherits the network connections established
141by
142.Nm rshd .
143.El
144.Pp
145Transport-level keepalive messages are enabled unless the
146.Fl n
147option is present.
148The use of keepalive messages allows sessions to be timed out
149if the client crashes or becomes unreachable.
150.Pp
151The
152.Fl L
153option causes all successful accesses to be logged to
154.Xr syslogd 8
155as
156.Li auth.info
157messages.
158.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
159Except for the last one listed below,
160all diagnostic messages
161are returned on the initial socket,
162after which any network connections are closed.
163An error is indicated by a leading byte with a value of
1641 (0 is returned in step 10 above upon successful completion
165of all the steps prior to the execution of the login shell).
166.Bl -tag -width indent
167.It Sy Locuser too long.
168The name of the user on the client's machine is
169longer than 16 characters.
170.It Sy Ruser too long.
171The name of the user on the remote machine is
172longer than 16 characters.
173.It Sy Command too long  .
174The command line passed exceeds the size of the argument
175list (as configured into the system).
176.It Sy Login incorrect.
177No password file entry for the user name existed.
178.It Sy Remote directory.
179The
180.Xr chdir
181command to the home directory failed.
182.It Sy Permission denied.
183The authentication procedure described above failed.
184.It Sy Can't make pipe.
185The pipe needed for the
186.Em stderr ,
187wasn't created.
188.It Sy Can't fork; try again.
189A
190.Xr fork
191by the server failed.
192.It Sy <shellname>: ...
193The user's login shell could not be started.  This message is returned
194on the connection associated with the
195.Em stderr ,
196and is not preceded by a flag byte.
197.El
198.Sh SEE ALSO
199.Xr rsh 1 ,
200.Xr rcmd 3 ,
201.Xr ruserok 3
202.Sh BUGS
203The authentication procedure used here assumes the integrity
204of each client machine and the connecting medium.  This is
205insecure, but is useful in an ``open'' environment.
206.Pp
207A facility to allow all data exchanges to be encrypted should be
208present.
209.Pp
210A more extensible protocol (such as Telnet) should be used.
211