OSF

NAME

hosts.equiv  − A file containing the names of remote systems and users that can execute commands on the local system

SYNOPSIS

/etc/hosts.equiv

DESCRIPTION

The /etc/hosts.equiv file and the .rhosts file in a user’s home directory contain the names of remote hosts and users that are equivalent to the local host or user.  An equivalent host or user is allowed to access a local nonsuperuser account with the rsh command or rcp command, or to log in to such an account without having to supply a password. 

The /etc/hosts.equiv file specifies equivalence for an entire system, while a user’s .rhosts file specifies equivalence between that user and remote users.  The .rhosts file must be owned by the user in whose home directory the file is located, or by the superuser.  It cannot be a symbolic link. 

Each line, or entry, in hosts.equiv or .rhosts may consist of the following:

       •A blank line. 

       •A comment (begins with a #). 

       •A hostname (a string of any printable characters except newline, #, or white space). 

       •A hostname followed by white space and then a username. 

To be allowed access, a user’s remote hostname and username must match an entry in hosts.equiv or .rhosts.  hosts.equiv is searched first; if a match is found, the search ends. If a match is not found, .rhosts is searched if it exists in the user’s home directory. 

A hostname or username can match an entry in hosts.equiv or .rhosts in one of the following ways:

       •The official hostname (not an alias) of the remote host matches a hostname in hosts.equiv or .rhosts. 

       •The remote username matches a username in hosts.equiv or .rhosts. 

       •If the remote username does not match a username in hosts.equiv or .rhosts, the remote username matches the local username. 

CAUTIONS

For security purposes, the files /etc/hosts.equiv and .rhosts should exist and be readable and writable only by the owner, even if they are empty. 

EXAMPLES

The following are sample entries in an /etc/hosts.equiv file:

# Allows access to host1 and host2:
host1
host2
 # Allows access to user johnson on host1:
host1 johnson
 # Allows access to host3, and user romero on host3:
host3 romero

RELATED INFORMATION

Commands: rcp(1), rlogin(1), rsh(1)

Daemons: lpd(8), rlogind(8), rshd(8)