ref: 43de7b8419fa3582af6df803473ef1bde2ce5c23
dir: /man/6/ndb/
.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 .I 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)