ethers(4) [opensolaris man page]

ethers(4)							   File Formats 							 ethers(4)

NAME

       ethers - Ethernet address to hostname database or domain

DESCRIPTION

       The  ethers  file  is  a local source of information about the (48-bit) Ethernet addresses of hosts on the Internet. The ethers file can be
       used in conjunction with or instead of other ethers sources, including the NIS maps ethers.byname and ethers.byaddr, the NIS+ table ethers,
       or Ethernet address data stored on an LDAP server. Programs use the ethers(3SOCKET) routines to access this information.

       The ethers file has one line for each host on an Ethernet. The line has the following format:

       Ethernet-address official-host-name

       Items are separated by any number of SPACE and/or TAB characters. A `#' indicates the beginning of a comment extending to the end of line.

       The  standard  form  for  Ethernet  addresses is "x:x:x:x:x:x" where x is a hexadecimal number between 0 and ff, representing one byte. The
       address bytes are always in network order. Host names may contain any printable character other than SPACE, TAB, NEWLINE, or comment  char-
       acter.

FILES

       /etc/ethers

SEE ALSO

       ethers(3SOCKET), hosts(4), nsswitch.conf(4)

SunOS 5.11							    22 Jul 2004 							 ethers(4)

ethers(5)							File Formats Manual							 ethers(5)

Name
       ethers - database that maps Ethernet addresses to hostnames

Description
       The  file  is used in conjunction with the reverse address resolution protocol daemon, to map Ethernet addresses to hostnames.  It contains
       information about the known (48-bit) Ethernet addresses of hosts on the Internet.

       For each host on an Ethernet, a single line should be present in the file with the following information:

       Ethernet-address        official-host-name

       Items are separated by one or more spaces or tabs.  A number sign (#) indicates the beginning of a comment that extends to the end of line.

       The standard form for Ethernet addresses is:

       x:x:x:x:x:x

       The x is a hexadecimal number between 0 and ff, representing 1 byte.  The address bytes are always in network order.

       Hostnames can contain any printable character other than a space, tab, newline, or number sign (#).

       Hostnames in the file should correspond to the hostnames in the file or to those provided by the name service.

Examples
       The following is a sample file: 08:00:20:01:e5:1c       host1	    # Comments go here 08:00:20:01:d0:4c       host2	    # Comments	go
       here 08:00:20:01:e0:1d	    host3	 # Comments go here 08:00:20:00:c2:4e	    host4	 # Comments go here

See Also
       ethers(3n), hosts(5), rarpd(8c)
       Introduction to Networking and Distributed System Services

																	 ethers(5)