Unable to start Internet Services - Telnet

[Popy]

Hi,

I am unable to start the internet services on my 11.23 box. here is the error I see,


# /sbin/init.d/inetd start
inetd: Unknown option: -1
Usage: inetd [-a] [-p proc_limit] [-r count [interval]] [-l | -s]
inetd [-c]
inetd [-k]
EXIT CODE: 1
Unable to start Internet Services

FTP, ssh are working but telnet is not working on the server.

The last change I made on this server was installing a patch - PHNE_36065 for ftp upgrade.

Thanks in Advance,
Vijayan

[Jeeshan]

Hi Vijayan

Edit file /etc/inetd.conf and check the following entry is exist or not

telnet stream tcp nowait root /usr/lbin/telnetd telnetd

if the entry is not there your telnet will not work

add this line there and restart the service

inetd -c

Enjoy!!!!

[Popy]

ahsan,

That entry is very much there....


more /etc/inetd.conf |grep -i telnet
telnet stream tcp6 nowait root /usr/lbin/telnetd telnetd -b /etc/issue

[Jeeshan]

Vijayan

Please comment out that line in your inetd.conf and put my entry there

it's not tcpv6

[Matti_Kurkela · Accepted solution]

As the error message says, the start-up script is giving a wrong optio to the inetd process.

The most likely source for the wrong option is the /etc/rc.config.d/netdaemons configuration file, more specifically the INETD_ARGS variable in that file.

My guess is that someone has confused number one and lower-case L when editing that file, maybe a long time ago. Was this a first re-start in a long time?

Before editing /etc/rc.config.d/netdaemons, examine the modification time of that file.
The intended setting is:

INETD_ARGS="-l"

i.e. lower-case L.

With some fonts, the difference is *very* hard to detect.

MK

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom Vijayan,

Recommend this:

Two windows open to the system.

1) tail -f /var/adm/syslog/syslog.log
2) Follow the previously posted procedures and restart inetd.

Post any error output back to the thread.

Sometimes the diagnosis is the hard part, not fixing the problem.

BTW, as a note, you should try not to use telnet at all. It authenticates in clear text and is a beig security risk.

You might want to take inetd.conf from a working system. Check permissions against that system as well.

SEP

[Popy]

Oh my god.....MK ypu are a super Sys admin I will bet on that.

It worked, someone had changed the arguement to "1" instead of l

Great help,

Thanks much MK