NAME

     rarpd - reverse address resolution protocol daemon


SYNOPSIS

     rarpd [-d[level]] network-name ...


DESCRIPTION

     Rarpd listens on the given networks  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.

     Under MINIX 3 the program forks as needed to give each  net-
     work  its own server.  Under Minix-vmd all networks are han-
     dled in the same program using async I/O.

  Private Ethernet Addresses
     For VU practical work, where students have to  create  their
     own  IP  stack starting at the bottom with RARP, this imple-
     mentation recognizes Ethernet addresses starting with  octet
     0x76  as  special.   The  next octet is used as a additional
     host number and the next and  last  four  octets  as  an  IP
     address  that  this Ethernet address is additional for.  The
     IP address is translated back to a name, and the first  com-
     ponent  of  that  name  gets  a dash and the additional host
     number added to it.  That hostname is then looked up and its
     IP address returned in a RARP reply.  Example:

          76:3:c0:a8:e7:fa        Additional        3,         IP
          192.168.231.250

          flotsam.example.com     Reverse        lookup        on
          192.168.231.250

          flotsam-3.example.com   Splicing in additional number

          192.168.231.42          Forward lookup

     In this example  a  RARP  query  for  76:3:c0:a8:e7:fa  gets
     192.168.231.42 as reply.


OPTIONS

     -d[level]
          Turns on debugging messages  at  the  given  level,  by
          default  1.   At level 1 you will be shown what answers
          are sent, and at level 2 or higher  you  will  be  told
          about  queries  from unknown hosts or host on the wrong
          network.  The debug level can also be increased by 1 at
          runtime by sending signal SIGUSR1 or turned off (set to
          0) with SIGUSR2.


SEE ALSO

     ifconfig(8),   ethers(5),   hosts(5),   inet(8),    boot(8),
     dhcpd(8), irdpd(8), inetd(8), nonamed(8).


NOTES

     A "network name" is the device name of the IP  device  of  a
     network, i.e.  ip0, ip1, ...

     The RARP protocol has gone out of fashion in favour of DHCP.


AUTHOR

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