HOSTS.EQUIV(5)

NAME
/etc/hosts.equiv - list of hosts and users that are granted "trusted" r command access to your system

DESCRIPTION
The hosts.equiv file allows or denies hosts and users to use the r-commands (e.g. rlogin, rsh or rcp) without supplying a password.

The file uses the following format:

[ + | - ] [hostname] [username]

The hostname is the name of a host which is logically equivalent to the local host. Users logged into that hosts are allowed to access like-named user accounts on the local host without supplying a password. The hostname may be (optionally) preceeded by a plus (+) sign. If the plus sign is used alone it allows any host to access your system. You can expicitly deny access to a host by preceeding the hostname by a minus (-) sign. Users from that host must always supply a password. For security reasons you should always use the FQDN of the hostname and not the short hostname.

The username entry grants a specific user access to all user accounts (except root) without supplying a password. That means the user is NOT restricted to like-named accounts. The username may be (optionally) preceeded by a plus (+) sign. You can also explicitly deny access to a specific user by preceeding the username by a minus (-) sign. This says that the user is not trusted no matter what other entries for that host exist.

Netgroups can be specified by preceeding the netgroup by an @ sign.

Be extremly careful when using the plus (+) sign. A simple typographical error could result in a standalone plus sign. A standalone plus sign is a wildcard character that means "any host"!

FILES
/etc/hosts.equiv

SEE ALSO
rhosts(5), rshd(8), rlogind(8)