NAME

rexec − return stream to a remote command

SYNOPSIS

rem = rexec(ahost, inport, user, passwd, cmd, fd2p);
char ∗∗ahost;
u_short inport;
char ∗user, ∗passwd, ∗cmd;
int ∗fd2p;

DESCRIPTION

Rexec looks up the host ∗ahost using rhost(3), returning −1 if the host does not exist. Otherwise ∗ahost is set to the standard name of the host. If username and password are both specified, then these are used to authenticate to the foreign host; otherwise the environment and then the users .netrc file in his home directory are searched for appropriate information.  If all this fails, the user is prompted for the information. 

The port inport specifies which well-known internet port to use for the connection; it will normally be IPPORT_EXECSERVER (defined in <net/in.h>).  The protocol for connection should be, but will not be, described here; refer to the source code. 

If the call succeeds, a socket of type SOCK_STREAM is returned to the caller, and given to the remote command as standard input and output.  If fd2p is non-zero, then a auxiliary channel to a control process will be setup, and a descriptor for it will be placed in ∗fd2p.  The control process will return diagnostic output from the command (unit 2) on this channel, and will also accept bytes on this channel as being UNIX signal numbers, to be forwarded to the process group of the command.  If fd2p is 0, then the standard error (unit 2 of the remote command) will be made the same as the standard output and no provision is made for sending arbitrary signals to the remote process, although you may be able to get its attention by using out-of-band data. 

FILES

/usr/lib/hostsfor rhost

SEE ALSO

rlogin(1), rsh(1)

BUGS

There is no way to specify options to the socket call which rexec makes. 

A rcmd(3x) routine will eventually replace rexec.  It will use the mechanisms that rsh(1) adn rlogin(1) do to establish connections whereby the hosts authenticate each other and the user thereby doesn’t have to transmit passwords. The system is currently missing some facilities needed to support this.

Sun System Release 0.3  —  17 March 1982