xinetd services

[john guardian]

My group has been asked to look into the use of XINETD rather than the more familiar (to me) INETD. I'm familiar with INETD and entries such as rshd/remshd, but I'm wondering if there's any info pertaining to the same sevices when used w/XINETD, IE: what the config file entries might look like, etc. A sample xinetd.conf file would be helpful.

I don't currently have access to a server with the software loaded, so I'd like to get an advance look at some of the config info prior to implementation.

Thx.

[Viktor Balogh · Accepted solution]

which version of HP-UX do you have? xinetd is part of the Internet Express DVD, you can install and test it:

https://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=HPUXIEXP1131

Do they have a specific reason favoring inetd to xinetd?

[Viktor Balogh]

...favoring xinetd to inetd?

[Ralph Grothe]

Hi John,

I don't know how hpux organizes the xinetd configuration because we don't use the xinetd on our hpux boxes.
However, I assume that there should be no major deviations from any Linux installation where most distros split the xinetd.conf file into a global section which resides in /etc/xinetd.conf and defines settings valid to all xinetd services unless overwritten or newly defined in each service's specific section.
In that global /etc/xientd.conf you would usually find an "includedir /etc/xinetd.d" line.
This is the directory where specific definitions for each xinetd service will reside, each in a file of its own usually named like the service itself (e.g. tftp, rsync etc).
Usually most distros have most or all of the xinetd services "disable = yes" per default, unless some package manager's postinstall script configured that service to be "disable = no".
So I would advise you get hold of some linux installation and have a look at those files to get an impression of the format and most common configuration directives.
Usually you would edit one such service's config file and then send the xinetd proc a SIGHUP (e.g. pkill -1 xinetd) which should then start a listening socket for that service (check by e.g. "netstat -tlnp | grep ").
You could and should also have a look at man xinetd.conf which describes all possible configuration options.

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi John:

As Ralph noted, 'xinetd' is a GNU/Linux (and Apple) variant of the familiar 'inetd' daemon and is not indigenous to HP-UX. A look at the manpages for 'xinetd.conf' [ as Ralph also suggested ] will begin to help you. Of course, having a Linux server (or perhaps something like CentOS) on a laptop or PC is very helpful.

Regards!

...JRF...

[john guardian]

Thx to all who replied.

The HP-UX version is 11.23 (v2). Don't know why the subject of xinetd was brought up. I suspect it has something to do w/the new IT Director who is a Linux person and feels that all servers should use the same methodologies.

I'll have to set up a RedHat machine and get a look at the xinetd files.

Thx again!