On 17 Nov 1999, Eilert Brinkmann wrote:
And 2) from within inetd.conf, can I set which interface(s) I want a particular service to bind to, or is it a service-by-service config (as I've found with many, e.g., afpd)?
AFAIK inetd always binds to all interfaces. Perhaps it's possible to use a wrapper which checks on which interface a connection is coming in -- never tried this. Service-by-service configs will only work for servers running in daemon mode. For inetd-controlled services inetd binds to the ports/interfaces, and inetd doesn't know about any service-specific configuration.
What you say is correct. And the answer to the question actually is: use xinetd instead of or in addition to inetd. Xinetd offers superior configurability (e.g. the "interface" clause enables bind to a specific address) and is proven in the field. And SuSE Linux contains is. There is a slightly misleading comment in /etc/rc.config, however. It states that inetd and xinetd cannot be used together because they both provide the same service. Actually it should say "*if* they provide the same service". It is perfectly okay to have inetd bind to e.g. ftp and xinetd to telnet. Nevertheless, many people will stick to xinetd once they find out it exists and see that it has a richer functionality and nicer syntax than inetd.
Eilert
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