role of /etc/hosts.equiv

[Amit Manna_6]

what is the difference in role between /etc/hosts.equiv and /etc/.rhosts

[Sanjay Kumar Suri]

Check the following site

http://docs.hp.com

sks

[Sanjay Kumar Suri]

1. Search itrc in the previously posted threads.

2. Reward members who take time to answer your posts.

sks

[Naveej.K.A]

hi,

hosts.equiv provides system wide equivalency and is found in /etc.

while .rhosts is found in the users' home directory and is used to define user equivalency.

for more info and how to setup using these files, see man .rhosts or man hosts.equiv

regds
Naveej
(Assigning points to your previous queries will fetch you more replies on all your topics)

[Jose Mosquera]

Hi,

The /etc/hosts.equiv file and files named .rhosts found in users' home directories specify remote hosts and users that are "equivalent" to the local host or user. Users from equivalent remote hosts are permitted to access a local account using rcp or remsh or to rlogin to the local account without supplying a password.

Pls find full detailed info with:
# man hosts.equiv

Rgds.

[Geoff Wild]

The hosts.equiv and .rhosts files list hosts and users that are trusted by the local host when a connection is made using the rshd service.

The hosts.equiv file resides in the /etc directory and lists the remote machines that may connect to the local machine and the local user names those machines may connect as. The .rhosts file resides in a user's home directory and specifies the remote machines and remote user names that the user may use to remotely log in to the local machine.

Each line of these files has the format:

hostname [username]

hostname may be given as a host name (typically, a fully qualified host name in a DNS environment), an address, or a + character indicating that all hosts are to be trusted.

username, if specified, may be given as either a user name on the remote host or a + character indicating all users on hostname.

When the optional username is specified, only users with entries on the specified host may log in to the local machine. When username is not specified, any user that has the same user name on both the remote and local machines may log in to the local machine.


Note:
Because the rsh and rcp utilities resend the current without the domain if it is too long and the rlogin utility does not, a user may require two entries in the hosts.equiv or .rhosts file. If the full name (including domain) is too long for the rshd service (or daemon) being used, the user needs one entry with the full user name (including domain) for use with rlogind and a second with the the same user name minus the domain for use with rshd.

Rgds...Geoff

[Bharat Katkar]

An addition to all above replies:

hosts.equiv talks about host equivalency and .rhosts talks about user equivalency.

for e.g.
If you want to allow certain hosts and don't bother about what user are therein then use hosts.equiv.
And if you are cautious at users level then better to go for .rhosts.

Hope that helps.
Regards,

[Brian Hackley]

Hi,
root user ignores /etc/hosts.equiv and requires .rhosts in root user $HOME dir

Also any .rhosts should be owned by the user, and permissions 400 for "security".

Consider using ssh instead of r-commands for better security and accountability.

HTH, Brian Hackley

[Dani Seely]

For security purposes suggest you use Secure Shell or at least tcp_wrappers, which uses the /etc/hosts.allow and /etc/hosts.deny files.