code: 9ferno

ref: e16b4d85dd6b1cf14834387b765113114dabeae2
dir: /man/6/ndb/

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.TH NDB 6
.SH NAME
ndb \- network data base
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B /lib/ndb/local
.br
.B /lib/ndb/inferno
.br
.B /lib/ndb/dns
.br
.B /lib/ndb/common
.SH DESCRIPTION
Network configuration data is stored in one or more files in the directory
.BR /lib/ndb ,
in the attribute data base format defined by
.IR attrdb (6).
Most applications that use it start with
.B /lib/ndb/local
by default.
That can refer (using a
.B database
entry) to other files that form part of the same logical database.
They are stored in distinct files to allow different configurations
to avoid duplicating data by sharing some common content.
For example,
.B /lib/ndb/common
associates service names with port numbers for Internet protocols,
and
.B /lib/ndb/inferno
provides the Inferno-specific port mapping.
A database is automatically reread if any component file has
changed since it was last read (based on its modification time).
.PP
A network database gives particular meaning to the following attributes:
.TF dnsdomainxx
.TP
.B auth
name or address of authentication server
.TP
.B bootf
name of the file to send to a device on request when booting
.TP
.B dns
name or address of DNS resolver (see also the
.B ns
attribute below)
.TP
.B dnsdomain
domain in which the local host lives (used to qualify unqualified names)
.TP
.B dom
Internet domain name (host or DNS zone)
.TP
.B ether
Ethernet address in the form accepted by
.IR ether (2)
.TP
.B fs
name or address of file server
.TP
.B il
IL service name
.TP
.B infernosite
empty-valued attribute that labels default site parameters
.TP
.B ip
Internet address
.TP
.B ipgw
name or address of Internet gateway
.TP
.B ipmask
Internet network mask
.TP
.B ipnet
network or subnetwork name
.TP
.B ipv4proto
IPv4 protocol number (see also
.BR protocol )
.TP
.B mx
mail exchanger
.TP
.B ns
name of a DNS name server for an associated
.B dom
.TP
.B port
port number for a service
.TP
.B protocol
protocol name
.TP
.B soa
start of area (value is empty if locally authoritative, or
.RB ` delegated '
if another server is authoritative)
.TP
.B sys
system name (short local name for a host)
.TP
.B tcp
TCP service name
.TP
.B udp
UDP service name
.PD
.PP
Internet addresses and masks can be written in any form
accepted by
.IR Ip (2).
Network applications might use other attributes of their own,
which they document on their own pages.
.PP
.IR Cs (8)
interprets a host name of the form
.BI $ server
as referring to the set of names and addresses that are values
of the attribute
.I server
in the network data base.
Attributes in general use include some of those above, and the following:
.TF FILESERVER
.TP
.B FILESERVER
older name for file server
.B fs
file server
.TP
.B pop3
mail reading service using the POP3 protocol
.TP
.B PROXY
firewall proxy for
.IR ftpfs (4)
.TP
.B SIGNER
Inferno authentication server running
.IR logind (8)
and/or
.IR signer (8)
.TP
.B smtp
mail delivery gateway using the SMTP protocol
.PD
.PP
Other such symbolic server names are mentioned in the manual pages for associated applications.
.PP
.IR Dns (8)
interprets
.BR dns
and
.BR dnsdomain
values in any
.B infernosite
entry, and
.BR dom ,
.BR ip ,
and
.BR ns
values more generally.
When resolving a domain name,
.I dns
looks first in this data base to see if there is a
.B dom
entry for the name, and if so, whether there is either an associated
.B ns
attribute giving a name server to ask, or an
.B ip
attribute giving the name's IP address.
Failing that, it works up the name hierarchy looking for name servers to ask.
Failing that, it looks for a
.B dnsdomain
entry with
.B dns
attributes listing other resolvers to ask.
Bootstrap data is commonly stored in
.BR /lib/ndb/dns ;
by default it defines the root name servers:
.IP
.EX
dom=    # root
	ns=a.root-servers.net
	ns=b.root-servers.net
	\f1...\fP
dom=a.root-servers.net ip=198.41.0.4
dom=b.root-servers.net ip=128.9.0.107
	\f1...\fP
.EE
.SH EXAMPLE
Specify the site's default DNS domain name and resolvers for
.IR dns (8),
and a collection of symbolic service names for
.IR cs (8):
.IP
.EX
infernosite=
	dnsdomain=vitanuova.com
	dns=200.1.1.11
	dns=158.152.1.58
	dns=158.152.1.43
	SIGNER=doppio
	FILESERVER=doppio
	smtp=doppio
	pop3=doppio
	PROXY=doppio
	GAMES=vivido
	IRMSERVER=vivido
.EE
.SH FILES
.B /lib/ndb/*
.SH SEE ALSO
.IR attrdb (2),
.IR attrdb (6),
.IR bootpd (8),
.IR cs (8),
.IR dns (8)