HOSTS.EQUIV(5)		   Linux Programmers Manual	       HOSTS.EQUIV(5)



NAME
       /etc/hosts.equiv - list of hosts and users that are granted "trusted" r
       command access to your system

DESCRIPTION
       The hosts.equiv file allows or denies hosts and users to use the r-com
       mands (e.g., rlogin, rsh or rcp) without supplying a password.

       The file uses the following format:

       [ + | - ] [hostname] [username]

       The hostname is the name of a host which is logically equivalent to the
       local host.  Users logged into that host are allowed  to  access  like-
       named  user  accounts  on  the local host without supplying a password.
       The hostname may be (optionally) preceded by a plus (+) sign.   If  the
       plus  sign is used alone it allows any host to access your system.  You
       can explicitly deny access to a host by preceding  the  hostname  by  a
       minus  (-)  sign.   Users from that host must always supply a password.
       For security reasons you should always use the FQDN of the hostname and
       not the short hostname.

       The  username  entry grants a specific user access to all user accounts
       (except root) without supplying a password.  That means the user is NOT
       restricted  to  like-named  accounts.  The username may be (optionally)
       preceded by a plus (+) sign.  You can also explicitly deny access to  a
       specific  user  by  preceding the username with a minus (-) sign.  This
       says that the user is not trusted no matter what other entries for that
       host exist.

       Netgroups can be specified by preceding the netgroup by an @ sign.

       Be extremely careful when using the plus (+) sign.  A simple typograph
       ical error could result in a standalone plus sign.  A  standalone  plus
       sign is a wildcard character that means "any host"!

FILES
       /etc/hosts.equiv

NOTES
       Some  systems  will  only  honor  the contents of this file when it has
       owner root and no write permission for anybody else.   Some  exception
       ally paranoid systems even require that there be no other hard links to
       the file.

       Modern systems use the Pluggable Authentication Modules library	(PAM).
       With PAM a standalone plus sign is only considered a wildcard character
       which means "any host" when the word promiscuous is added to  the  auth
       component  line	in  your  PAM  file  for the particular service (e.g.,
       rlogin).

SEE ALSO
       rhosts(5), rlogind(8), rshd(8)

COLOPHON
       This page is part of release 3.05 of the Linux  man-pages  project.   A
       description  of	the project, and information about reporting bugs, can
       be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.



Linux				  2003-08-24			HOSTS.EQUIV(5)