

RARPD(8)                  Minix Programmer's Manual                   RARPD(8)


NAME
     rarpd - reverse address resolution protocol daemon

SYNOPSIS
     rarpd [-d]

DESCRIPTION
     Rarpd listens on the ethernet for broadcast packets  asking  for  reverse
     address resolution.  These packets are sent by hosts at boot time to find
     out their IP address.  Rarpd looks up the six octet  ethernet  number  in
     the /etc/ethers file finding a host name.  This name is translated to the
     IP address of the host by a DNS lookup.  The IP address is then  sent  to
     the host.

     The first thing rarpd does when started is to send  an  unsolicited  RARP
     reply  to the local host if it can be found in the /etc/hosts file.  This
     way the host gets to know its IP address at boot time even  if  no  other
     RARP  server  is  present.   Note  that the hostname must be found in the
     hosts file by an exact match.  The DNS is not yet running,  so  it  can't
     translate a simple name to a fully qualified name.

     Warning! Sun diskless workstations assume that the first RARP server that
     answers  is  the  host they are to boot from.  For this to work all other
     Sun RARP servers delay their answer if they are not also  the  requestors
     boot  server.   The  Minix  rarpd  does  not  have this kludge so it will
     happily engage the Sun boot server to  see  who  can  answer  the  client
     first.   Unless your Minix host can actually serve a Sun diskless client,
     it is better not  to  list  any  more  hosts  in  the  ethers  file  than
     necessary.

OPTIONS

     -d   Turns on debugging messages.

SEE ALSO
     ifconfig(8), ethers(5), hosts(5), set_net_default(8), boot(8),  inetd(8),
     irdpd(8), nonamed(8).

AUTHOR
     Kees J. Bot (kjb@cs.vu.nl)


















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