ethers(4)                                                  ethers(4)


       NAME
             ethers - Ethernet address to hostname database or domain

       SYNOPSIS
             /etc/ethers

       DESCRIPTION
             The ethers file contains information regarding the known (48
             bit) Ethernet addresses of hosts on the Internet.

          Files
             /var/yp/domainname/ethers.byaddr        Corresponding NIS map
                                                     containing machine
                                                     names and Ethernet
                                                     addresses.  The
                                                     Ethernet address is
                                                     the key in the map.
             /var/yp/domainname/ethers.byname        Same as ethers.byaddr,
                                                     except key is machine
                                                     name instead of
                                                     Ethernet address.

       USAGE
             For each host on an Ethernet, a single line should be present
             with the following information:
                   Ethernet-address  official-host-name

             Items are separated by any number of SPACE and/or TAB
             characters.  A ``#'' indicates the beginning of a comment
             extending to the end of line.

             The standard form for Ethernet addresses is x:x:x:x:x:x, where
             x is a hexadecimal number between 0 and ff, representing one
             byte.  The address bytes are always in network order.  Host
             names may contain any printable character other than a SPACE,
             TAB, NEWLINE, or comment character.  It is intended that host
             names in the ethers file correspond to the host names in the
             hosts(4) file.

             The ether_line routine from the Ethernet address manipulation
             library ethers(3N) may be used to scan lines of the ethers
             file.

             When the Network Information Service (NIS) is in use, it
             references the NIS maps ethers.byaddr or ethers.byname on the
             NIS server instead of /etc/ethers.


                           Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 1

      ethers(4)                                                  ethers(4)


      REFERENCES
            ethers(3N), hosts(4)














































                          Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 2