RHOSTS(SFF) UNIX System V
Name
rhosts - remote equivalent users
Description
These files grant permission for remote users to use local
user names without knowing the corresponding user passwords.
This is known as making the remote user ``equivalent'' to
the local user, and is convenient, for example, when one
person owns user names on more than one host.
If a user's home directory contains a file named .rhosts,
remote users specified in the file are equivalent to the
local user. Each user specification in the file consists of
the remote user host name and user name, separated by a
space. (If an asterisk is substituted for either name, any
name will match.) For security reasons, .rhosts must belong
to the user granting the equivalence or to root.
The file /etc/hosts.equiv is a list of remote hosts with
matching-name equivalence. The file lists remote hosts one
per line. On each host listed in /etc/hosts.equiv, a remote
user with the same name as a local user is equivalent to the
local user. In effect, the users are the same if the names
are the same.
Files
$HOME/.rhosts
/etc/hosts.equiv
See Also
rcmd(TC), rcp(TC), rlogin(TC).
Warnings
When a system is listed in /etc/hosts.equiv, its security
must be as good as local security. One insecure system
mentioned in /etc/hosts.equiv can compromise the security of
an entire network.
RHOSTS(SFF) (printed 8/17/89)