IDENTD(8)               OpenBSD System Manager's Manual              IDENTD(8)

NAME
     identd - TCP/IP IDENT protocol server



SYNOPSIS
     identd [-i | -w | -b] [-t seconds] [-u uid] [-g gid] [-p port] [-a
     address] [-c charset] [-noelVvmNd]

DESCRIPTION
     identd is a server which implements the TCP/IP proposed standard IDENT
     user identification protocol as specified in the RFC 1413 document.

     identd operates by looking up specific TCP/IP connections and returning
     the user name of the process owning the connection.

OPTIONS
     -i      Tells identd to run as a process started from inetd(8) with the
             "nowait" option in the /etc/inetd.conf file. Use of this mode
             will make inetd(8) start one identd daemon for each connection
             request. This is the default mode of operation.

     -w      Tells identd to run as a process started from inetd(8) with the
             "wait" option in the /etc/inetd.conf file.  This mode of opera-
             tion will start a copy of identd at the first connection request
             and then identd will handle subsequent requests.  Previous ver-
             sions listed this as the preferred mode of operation due to the
             initial overhead of parsing the kernel nlist.  This version does
             not use kmem or nlist parsing, so this reasoning is no longer
             valid.

     -b      Specify operation as a stand alone daemon.

     -t seconds
             Specifies an idle timeout in seconds where a daemon running in
             "wait" mode will timeout and exit. The default is no timeout.

     -u uid  Specify a user id number or user name which the identd server
             should switch to after binding itself to the TCP/IP port if run-
             ning as a stand alone daemon.

     -g gid  Specify a group id number or group name which the identd server
             should switch to after binding itself to the TCP/IP port if run-
             ning as a stand alone daemon

     -p port
             Specify an alternative port number or service name on which to
             listen when running as a stand alone daemon Default is "auth"
             (113).

     -a address
             Specify a local IP address in dotted quad format to bind the lis-
             ten socket to if running as a standalone daemon. by default the
             daemon listens on all local IP addresses.

     -V      Print the version number and the exit.

     -l      Use syslogd(8) for logging purposes.

     -v      Log every request to syslog if Fl l above is specified.

     -o      Do the operating system type, instead always return ``OTHER''.

     -e      always return ``UNKNOWN-ERROR'' instead of the ``NO-USER'' or

             ``INVALID-PORT'' errors.

     -c charset
             Specify an optional character set designator to be included in
             replies.  charset should be a valid character set as described in
             the MIME RFC in upper case characters.

     -n      always return uid numbers instead of user names

     -N      When replying with a user name or id, first check for a file
             .noident in the user's home directory. If this file is accessi-
             ble, return ``HIDDEN-USER'' instead of the normal USERID re-
             sponse.

     -m      allow multiple requests to be processed per session.  Each re-
             quest is specified one per line and the responses will be re-
             turned one per line.  The connection will not be closed until the
             client closes it's end of the connection.  PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS
             MODE VIOLATES THE PROTOCOL SPECIFICATION AS IT CURRENTLY STANDS.
             flag enables some debugging code that normally should NOT be en-
             abled since that breaks the protocol and may reveal information
             that should not be available to outsiders.

SEE ALSO
     inetd.conf(5).

NOTES
     identd uses the LOG_DAEMON syslogd(8) facility to log messages.

     Unlike previous versions of identd, this version uses sysctl(3) to obtain
     information from the kernel instead of parsing kmem. This version does
     not require privilege beyond what is needed to bind the listen port if
     running as a standalone daemon.

BUGS
     Since identd should typically not be run as a privileged user or group,
     .noident files for use when running with the -N flag will need to be
     world accessible.

OpenBSD                          July 27, 1997                               2