RECONF-INETD(8) 					  System Administration Utilities					   RECONF-INETD(8)

NAME

       reconf-inetd - utility to update /etc/inetd.conf and restart inetd

SYNOPSIS

       reconf-inetd [--verbose]
       reconf-inetd --sanity-check=fragment [... fragment]

DESCRIPTION

       reconf-inetd  is  a  maintainer	tool  that  updates  inetd.conf.  Such	updates  are  based on xinetd.conf-like configuration fragments in
       /usr/share/reconf-inetd (where server packages install their fragments) and /usr/lib/reconf-inetd (where reconf-inetd keeps track of  which
       inetd.conf entries have been added by itself).

       reconf-inetd  identifies  every	inetd.conf  entry  based on the combination of three fields: service name, protocol, and server path. This
       allows multiple inetd.conf entries for the same service, eg. for IPv4 and IPv6 versions, as well as for different  upstreams  (eg.  proftpd
       versus ftpd-ssl).

       reconf-inetd will not add inetd.conf entries for services whose server path is non-existent, or whose combination of protocol, service name
       and server path matches an existing inetd.conf entry.

       reconf-inetd does not support internal services.

OPTIONS

       -h, --help
	      show this help message and exit

       -c FRAGMENTS_TO_CHECK, --sanity-check=FRAGMENTS_TO_CHECK
	      test the validity of the xinetd.conf-like configuration fragments, as specified by a space-separated list of files

       -v, --verbose
	      explain what happens

       -V, --version
	      show version and exit

FILES

       reconf-inetd declares a file-based dpkg trigger on /usr/share/reconf-inetd.  Shadow fragment files are stored in /var/lib/reconf-inetd.

       A log file is kept at /var/log/reconf-inetd.log

FRAGMENT STRUCTURE

       reconf-inetd fragments are a much simplified version of xinetd.conf(5) fragments. They have this structure:

	      service <service_name>
	      {
		     <attribute> = <value> <value> ...
		     ...
	      }

       Of the wide range of fields foreseen by xinetd.conf(5), reconf-inetd honors only these fields:

	 socket_type
	 protocol	   (optional, except for RPC and unlisted services)
	 port		   (optional, except for unlisted non-RPC services)
	 wait
	 user
	 server
	 server_args	   (optional)

       If the protocol field is omitted and the service is listed, reconf-inetd will  assume  the  protocol  of  the  first  matching  entry  from
       /etc/services.  That  will be tcp or udp, which currently implies IPv4, so if the intention is IPv6, then tcp6 or udp6 should be explicitly
       specified in the protocol field.

       Unlike, regular xinetd fragment files, reconf-inetd fragment files must have only one service per file. A package that provides	more  than
       one service must install a separate fragment file for each service. This is the case to allow for removal of individual services, by simply
       removing the related file.

       /usr/share/reconf-inetd fragments are not configuration files; they're just input to reconf-inetd.  Local  admin  configuration	should	be
       applied to inetd.conf

       tcpd-configured	service  fragments will typically have server set to /usr/sbin/tcpd and server_args will start with the path to the actual
       server executable.

       Follows a reproduction of valid atrribute values from xinetd.conf(5):

       socket_type Possible values for this attribute include:

	      stream	  stream-based service

	      dgram	  datagram-based service

	      raw	  service that requires direct access to IP

	      seqpacket   service that requires reliable sequential datagram transmission

       protocol
	      determines the protocol that is employed by the service.	The protocol must exist in  /etc/protocols.   If  this	attribute  is  not
	      defined, the default protocol employed by the service will be used.

       port   determines the service port.

       wait   This  attribute  determines  if the service is single-threaded or multi-threaded and whether or not xinetd accepts the connection or
	      the server program accepts the connection. If its value is yes, the service is single-threaded; this means that  xinetd  will  start
	      the  server  and	then it will stop handling requests for the service until the server dies and that the server software will accept
	      the connection. If the attribute value is no, the service is multi-threaded and xinetd will keep handling new service  requests  and
	      xinetd  will  accept the connection. It should be noted that udp/dgram services normally expect the value to be yes since udp is not
	      connection oriented, while tcp/stream servers normally expect the value to be no.

       user   determines the uid for the server process. The user attribute can either be numeric or a name. If a  name  is  given  (recommended),
	      the user name must exist in /etc/passwd.	This attribute is ineffective if the effective user ID of xinetd is not super-user.

       server determines the program to execute for this service.

       server_args
	      determines the arguments passed to the server.

FRAGMENT EXAMPLES

       Here is an example fragment:

	   service finger
	   {
	       socket_type = stream
	       protocol = tcp6
	       wait = no
	       user = nobody
	       server = /usr/sbin/fingerd
	   }

       and it's tcpd-enabled version:

	   service finger
	   {
	       socket_type = stream
	       protocol = tcp6
	       wait = no
	       user = nobody
	       server = /usr/sbin/tcpd
	       server_args = /usr/sbin/fingerd
	   }

BUGS

       Known issues and missing features are listed in /usr/share/doc/reconf-inetd/TODO

HISTORY

       reconf-inetd  is  a  replacement for update-inetd. The motivation for and design of reconf-inetd is detailed at the Debian Enhancement Pro-
       posal 9, at http://dep.debian.net/deps/dep9/, a copy of which is locally available at /usr/share/doc/reconf-inetd/dep9.html

AUTHOR

       reconf-inetd was designed, documented and implemented by Serafeim Zanikolas <sez@debian.org>

SEE ALSO

       inetd.conf(5), xinetd.conf(5), inetd(8), update-inetd(8), deb-triggers(5)

reconf-inetd 1.120603						     June 2012							   RECONF-INETD(8)