NETRC(4) — Series 300 and 800 Only
NAME
netrc − security file for rexec(3X) and ftp(1)
DESCRIPTION
$HOME/.netrc is used by the library call rexec(3X) and the service ftp(1) to determine the logins and passwords to remote hosts so that those services can execute without prompting the user for a password.
The .netrc file resides in the user’s home directory. Its owner ID must match the effective user ID of the current process. Its read, write, and execute mode bits for group and other must all be zero, and $HOME/.netrc must be readable by its owner. Otherwise, the information in the file will not be used.
For each host, a line should be present with the following information:
machine XXX login YYY password ZZZ
where:
XXX is an official host name
YYY is a remote login name, and
ZZZ is the password for the remote login.
Items are separated by commas and/or white space. Every host name can be followed by at most one login and one password. Note that the passwords in $HOME/.netrc are not encrypted.
EXAMPLES
The following is a valid entry for the host “hpxdzg” whose “guest” account has the password “sesame”:
machine hpxdzg login guest password sesame
WARNINGS
It is a security risk to have nonencrypted passwords in a file.
DEPENDENCIES
Implemented on the Series 300 and 800 only.
AUTHOR
UCB (University of California at Berkeley)
FILES
$HOME/.netrc
SEE ALSO
Hewlett-Packard Company — May 11, 2021