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diff --git a/erts/doc/src/epmd.xml b/erts/doc/src/epmd.xml index d9f580d081..311483022d 100644 --- a/erts/doc/src/epmd.xml +++ b/erts/doc/src/epmd.xml @@ -28,242 +28,259 @@ <docno>1</docno> <approved></approved> <checked></checked> - <date>98-01-05</date> + <date>1998-01-05</date> <rev>A</rev> <file>epmd.xml</file> </header> <com>epmd</com> - <comsummary> - <p>Erlang Port Mapper Daemon</p> - <taglist> - <tag><c><![CDATA[epmd [-d|-debug] [DbgExtra...] [-address Addresses] [-port No] [-daemon] [-relaxed_command_check]]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>Starts the port mapper daemon</p> - </item> - <tag><c><![CDATA[epmd [-d|-debug] [-port No] [-names|-kill|-stop Name]]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>Communicates with a running port mapper daemon</p> - </item> - </taglist> - </comsummary> + <comsummary>Erlang Port Mapper Daemon</comsummary> + <description> - <p>This daemon acts as a name server on all hosts involved in - distributed Erlang computations. When an Erlang node - starts, the node has a name and it obtains an address from the host - OS kernel. - The name and the address are sent to the + <taglist> + <tag><c><![CDATA[epmd [-d|-debug] [DbgExtra...] [-address Addresses] + [-port No] [-daemon] [-relaxed_command_check]]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Starts the port mapper daemon.</p> + </item> + <tag><c><![CDATA[epmd [-d|-debug] [-port No] + [-names|-kill|-stop Name]]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Communicates with a running port mapper daemon.</p> + </item> + </taglist> + + <p>This daemon acts as a name server on all hosts involved in + distributed Erlang computations. When an Erlang node starts, + the node has a name and it obtains an address from the host + OS kernel. The name and address are sent to the <c><![CDATA[epmd]]></c> daemon running on the local host. In a TCP/IP environment, the address consists - of the IP address and a port number. The name of the node is + of the IP address and a port number. The node name is an atom on the form of <c><![CDATA[Name@Node]]></c>. The job of the <c><![CDATA[epmd]]></c> daemon is to keep track of which node name listens on which address. Hence, <c><![CDATA[epmd]]></c> maps symbolic node names to machine addresses.</p> - <p>The TCP/IP <c>epmd</c> daemon actually only keeps track of + <p>The TCP/IP <c>epmd</c> daemon only keeps track of the <c>Name</c> (first) part of an Erlang node name. The <c>Host</c> part (whatever is after the <c><![CDATA[@]]></c>) is implicit in the - node name where the <c>epmd</c> daemon was actually contacted, + node name where the <c>epmd</c> daemon was contacted, as is the IP address where the Erlang node can be reached. Consistent and correct TCP naming services are therefore required for an Erlang network to function correctly.</p> <taglist> - <tag>Starting the port mapper daemon</tag> - <item> - - <p>The daemon is started automatically by the <c>erl</c> - command if the node is to be distributed and there is no - running instance present. If automatically launched, - environment variables have to be used to alter the behavior of - the daemon. See the <seealso - marker="#environment_variables">Environment - variables</seealso> section below.</p> - - <p>If the -daemon argument is not given, - <c><![CDATA[epmd]]></c> runs as a normal program with the - controlling terminal of the shell in which it is - started. Normally, it should run as a daemon.</p> - - <p>Regular start-up options are described in the - <seealso marker="#daemon_flags">Regular options</seealso> - section below.</p> - - <p>The <c>DbgExtra</c> options are described in the - <seealso marker="#debug_flags">DbgExtra options</seealso> - section below.</p> - - </item> - <tag>Communicating with a running port mapper daemon</tag> - <item> - - <p>Communicating with the running epmd daemon by means of the - <c>epmd</c> program is done primarily for debugging - purposes.</p> - - <p>The different queries are described in the <seealso - marker="#interactive_flags">Interactive options</seealso> - section below.</p> - - </item> - </taglist> + <tag>Starting the port mapper daemon</tag> + <item> + <p>The daemon is started automatically by command + <seealso marker="erl"><c>erl(1)</c></seealso> + if the node is to be distributed and no running + instance is present. If automatically launched + environment variables must be used to change the behavior + of the daemon; see section + <seealso marker="#environment_variables">Environment + Variables</seealso>.</p> + <p>If argument <c>-daemon</c> is not specified, + <c><![CDATA[epmd]]></c> runs as a normal program with the + controlling terminal of the shell in which it is + started. Normally, it is to be run as a daemon.</p> + <p>Regular startup options are described in section + <seealso marker="#daemon_flags">Regular Options</seealso>.</p> + <p>The <c>DbgExtra</c> options are described in section + <seealso marker="#debug_flags">DbgExtra Options</seealso>.</p> + </item> + <tag>Communicating with a running port mapper daemon</tag> + <item> + <p>Communicating with the running <c>epmd</c> daemon by the + <c>epmd</c> program is done primarily for debugging purposes.</p> + <p>The different queries are described in section <seealso + marker="#interactive_flags">Interactive options</seealso>.</p> + </item> + </taglist> </description> + <section> <marker id="daemon_flags"></marker> - <title>Regular options</title> + <title>Regular Options</title> + <p>These options are available when starting the name server. The name + server is normally started automatically by command + <seealso marker="erl"><c>erl(1)</c></seealso> (if not already available), + but it can also be started at system startup.</p> - <p>These options are available when starting the actual name server. The name server is normally started automatically by the <c>erl</c> command (if not already available), but it can also be started at i.e. system start-up.</p> <taglist> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-address List]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>Let this instance of <c>epmd</c> listen only on the - comma-separated list of IP addresses and on the loopback address - (which is implicitly added to the list if it has not been - specified). This can also be set using the - <c><![CDATA[ERL_EPMD_ADDRESS]]></c> environment variable. See the - section <seealso marker="#environment_variables">Environment - variables</seealso> below.</p> - </item> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-port No]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>Let this instance of epmd listen to another TCP port than - default 4369. This can also be set using the - <c><![CDATA[ERL_EPMD_PORT]]></c> environment variable. See the - section <seealso marker="#environment_variables">Environment - variables</seealso> below</p> - </item> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-d | -debug]]></c></tag> - <item> - - <p>Enable debug output. The more <c>-d</c> flags given, the more - debug output you will get (to a certain limit). This option is - most useful when the epmd daemon is not started as a daemon.</p> - </item> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-daemon]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>Start epmd detached from the controlling terminal. Logging will end up in syslog when available and correctly configured. If the epmd daemon is started at boot, this option should definitely be used. It is also used when the <c>erl</c> command automatically starts <c>epmd</c>.</p> - </item> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-relaxed_command_check]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>Start the epmd program with relaxed command checking (mostly for backward compatibility). This affects the following:</p> - <list type="bulleted"> - <item> - <p>With relaxed command checking, the <c>epmd</c> daemon can be killed from the localhost with i.e. <c>epmd -kill</c> even if there are active nodes registered. Normally only daemons with an empty node database can be killed with the <c>epmd -kill</c> command.</p> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-address List]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Lets this instance of <c>epmd</c> listen only on the + comma-separated list of IP addresses and on the loopback address + (which is implicitly added to the list if it has not been + specified). This can also be set using environment variable + <c><![CDATA[ERL_EPMD_ADDRESS]]></c>; see section <seealso + marker="#environment_variables">Environment Variables</seealso>.</p> + </item> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-port No]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Lets this instance of <c>epmd</c> listen to another TCP port than + default 4369. This can also be set using environment variable + <c><![CDATA[ERL_EPMD_PORT]]></c>; see section <seealso + marker="#environment_variables">Environment Variables</seealso>.</p> + </item> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-d | -debug]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Enables debug output. The more <c>-d</c> flags specified, the more + debug output you will get (to a certain limit). This option is most + useful when the <c>epmd</c> daemon is not started as a daemon.</p> + </item> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-daemon]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Starts <c>epmd</c> detached from the controlling terminal. Logging + ends up in syslog when available and correctly configured. If the + <c>epmd</c> daemon is started at boot, this option is definitely + to be used. It is also used when command <c>erl</c> automatically + starts <c>epmd</c>.</p> + </item> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-relaxed_command_check]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Starts the <c>epmd</c> program with relaxed command checking + (mostly for backward compatibility). This affects the following:</p> + <list type="bulleted"> + <item> + <p>With relaxed command checking, the <c>epmd</c> daemon can be + killed from the local host with, for example, command + <c>epmd -kill</c> even if active nodes are registered. Normally + only daemons with an empty node database can be killed with + <c>epmd -kill</c>.</p> </item> <item> - <p>The <c>epmd -stop</c> command (and the corresponding messages to epmd, as can be given using <c>erl_interface/ei</c>) is normally always ignored, as it opens up the possibility of a strange situation where two nodes of the same name can be alive at the same time. A node unregisters itself by just closing the connection to epmd, which is why the <c>stop</c> command was only intended for use in debugging situations.</p> - <p>With relaxed command checking enabled, you can forcibly unregister live nodes.</p> + <p>Command <c>epmd -stop</c> (and the corresponding messages to + <c>epmd</c>, as can be specified using <seealso + marker="erl_interface:ei"><c>erl_interface:ei(3)</c></seealso>) is + normally always ignored. This because it can cause a strange + situation where two nodes of the same name can be alive at the + same time. A node unregisters itself by only closing the + connection to <c>epmd</c>, which is why command <c>stop</c> + was only intended for use in debugging situations.</p> + <p>With relaxed command checking enabled, you can forcibly + unregister live nodes.</p> </item> - </list> - <p>Relaxed command checking can also be enabled by setting the environment variable <c>ERL_EPMD_RELAXED_COMMAND_CHECK</c> prior to starting <c>epmd</c>.</p> - <p>Only use relaxed command checking on systems with very limited interactive usage.</p> - </item> - </taglist> + </list> + <p>Relaxed command checking can also be enabled by setting environment + variable <c>ERL_EPMD_RELAXED_COMMAND_CHECK</c> before starting + <c>epmd</c>.</p> + <p>Use relaxed command checking only on systems with very limited + interactive usage.</p> + </item> + </taglist> </section> <section> <marker id="debug_flags"></marker> - <title>DbgExtra options</title> - <p>These options are purely for debugging and testing epmd clients. They should not be used in normal operation.</p> + <title>DbgExtra Options</title> + <note> + <p>These options are only for debugging and testing <c>epmd</c> clients. + They are not to be used in normal operation.</p> + </note> <taglist> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-packet_timeout Seconds]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>Set the number of seconds a connection can be - inactive before epmd times out and closes the - connection (default 60).</p> - </item> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-delay_accept Seconds]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>To simulate a busy server you can insert a delay between when epmd - gets notified that a new connection is requested and - when the connection gets accepted.</p> - </item> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-delay_write Seconds]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>Also a simulation of a busy server. Inserts - a delay before a reply is sent.</p> - </item> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-packet_timeout Seconds]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Sets the number of seconds a connection can be + inactive before <c>epmd</c> times out and closes the + connection. Defaults to 60.</p> + </item> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-delay_accept Seconds]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>To simulate a busy server, you can insert a delay between when + <c>epmd</c> gets notified that a new connection is requested and + when the connection gets accepted.</p> + </item> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-delay_write Seconds]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Also a simulation of a busy server. Inserts + a delay before a reply is sent.</p> + </item> </taglist> </section> + <section> <marker id="interactive_flags"></marker> - <title>Interactive options</title> - <p>These options make <c>epmd</c> run as an interactive command, displaying the results of sending queries to an already running instance of <c>epmd</c>. The epmd contacted is always on the local node, but the <c>-port</c> option can be used to select between instances if several are running using different ports on the host.</p> - <taglist> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-port No]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>Contacts the <c>epmd</c> listening on the given TCP port number - (default 4369). This can also be set using the - <c><![CDATA[ERL_EPMD_PORT]]></c> environment variable. See the - section <seealso marker="#environment_variables">Environment - variables</seealso> below.</p> - </item> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-names]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>List names registered with the currently running epmd</p> - </item> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-kill]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>Kill the currently running <c>epmd</c>.</p> + <title>Interactive Options</title> + <p>These options make <c>epmd</c> run as an interactive command, + displaying the results of sending queries to an already running + instance of <c>epmd</c>. The <c>epmd</c> contacted is always on the + local node, but option <c>-port</c> can be used to select between + instances if several are running using different ports on the host.</p> - <p>Killing the running <c>epmd</c> is only allowed if <c>epmd - -names</c> shows an empty database or - <c>-relaxed_command_check</c> was given when the running - instance of <c>epmd</c> was started. Note that - <c>-relaxed_command_check</c> is given when starting the - daemon that is to accept killing when it has live nodes - registered. When running epmd interactively, - <c>-relaxed_command_check</c> has no effect. A daemon that is - started without relaxed command checking has to be killed - using i.e. signals or some other OS specific method if it has - active clients registered.</p> - </item> - <tag><c><![CDATA[-stop Name]]></c></tag> - <item> - <p>Forcibly unregister a live node from <c>epmd</c>'s database</p> - - <p>This command can only be used when contacting <c>epmd</c> - instances started with the <c>-relaxed_command_check</c> - flag. Note that relaxed command checking has to be enabled for - the <c>epmd</c> daemon contacted. When running epmd - interactively, - <c>-relaxed_command_check</c> has no effect.</p> - </item> - </taglist> + <taglist> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-port No]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Contacts the <c>epmd</c> listening on the specified TCP port + number (default 4369). This can also be set using environment + variable <c><![CDATA[ERL_EPMD_PORT]]></c>; see section <seealso + marker="#environment_variables">Environment Variables</seealso>.</p> + </item> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-names]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Lists names registered with the currently running <c>epmd</c>.</p> + </item> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-kill]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Kills the currently running <c>epmd</c>.</p> + <p>Killing the running <c>epmd</c> is only allowed if + <c>epmd -names</c> shows an empty database or if + <c>-relaxed_command_check</c> was specified when the running + instance of <c>epmd</c> was started.</p> + <p>Notice that <c>-relaxed_command_check</c> is specified when + starting the daemon that is to accept killing when it has live + nodes registered. When running <c>epmd</c> interactively, + <c>-relaxed_command_check</c> has no effect. A daemon that is + started without relaxed command checking must be killed using, + for example, signals or some other OS-specific method if it has + active clients registered.</p> + </item> + <tag><c><![CDATA[-stop Name]]></c></tag> + <item> + <p>Forcibly unregisters a live node from the <c>epmd</c> database.</p> + <p>This command can only be used when contacting <c>epmd</c> + instances started with flag <c>-relaxed_command_check</c>.</p> + <p>Notice that relaxed command checking must enabled for the + <c>epmd</c> daemon contacted. When running <c>epmd</c> + interactively, <c>-relaxed_command_check</c> has no effect.</p> + </item> + </taglist> </section> + <section> <marker id="environment_variables"></marker> - <title>Environment variables</title> + <title>Environment Variables</title> <taglist> <tag><c><![CDATA[ERL_EPMD_ADDRESS]]></c></tag> <item> - <p>This environment variable may be set to a comma-separated - list of IP addresses, in which case the <c>epmd</c> daemon - will listen only on the specified address(es) and on the - loopback address (which is implicitly added to the list if it - has not been specified). The default behaviour is to listen on - all available IP addresses.</p> + <p>Can be set to a comma-separated + list of IP addresses, in which case the <c>epmd</c> daemon + will listen only on the specified address(es) and on the + loopback address (which is implicitly added to the list if it + has not been specified). The default behavior is to listen on + all available IP addresses.</p> </item> <tag><c><![CDATA[ERL_EPMD_PORT]]></c></tag> <item> - <p>This environment variable can contain the port number epmd will use. - The default port will work fine in most cases. A different port can - be specified to allow several instances of epmd, representing - independent clusters of nodes, to co-exist on the same host. - All nodes in a cluster must use the same epmd port number.</p> + <p>Can contain the port number <c>epmd</c> will use. + The default port will work fine in most cases. A different port can + be specified to allow several instances of <c>epmd</c>, representing + independent clusters of nodes, to co-exist on the same host. + All nodes in a cluster must use the same <c>epmd</c> port number.</p> </item> <tag><c><![CDATA[ERL_EPMD_RELAXED_COMMAND_CHECK]]></c></tag> <item> - <p>If set prior to start, the <c>epmd</c> daemon will behave - as if the <c>-relaxed_command_check</c> option was given at - start-up. Consequently, if this option is set before starting - the Erlang virtual machine, the automatically started - <c>epmd</c> will accept the <c>-kill</c> and <c>-stop</c> - commands without restrictions.</p> + <p>If set before start, the <c>epmd</c> daemon behaves + as if option <c>-relaxed_command_check</c> was specified at + startup. Consequently, if this option is set before starting + the Erlang virtual machine, the automatically started + <c>epmd</c> accepts the <c>-kill</c> and <c>-stop</c> + commands without restrictions.</p> </item> </taglist> </section> @@ -271,41 +288,45 @@ <section> <title>Logging</title> <p>On some operating systems <em>syslog</em> will be used for - error reporting when epmd runs as an daemon. To enable - the error logging you have to edit <path unix="" windows="">/etc/syslog.conf</path> - file and add an entry</p> + error reporting when <c>epmd</c> runs as a daemon. To enable + the error logging, you must edit the + <path unix="" windows="">/etc/syslog.conf</path> file and add an + entry:</p> + <code type="none"><![CDATA[ - !epmd - *.*<TABs>/var/log/epmd.log - ]]></code> - <p>where <TABs> are at least one real tab character. Spaces will - silently be ignored. - </p> + !epmd + *.*<TABs>/var/log/epmd.log +]]></code> + + <p>where <c><TABs></c> are at least one real tab character. + Spaces are silently ignored.</p> </section> + <section> - <title>Access restrictions</title> - <p>The <c>epmd</c> daemon accepts messages from both localhost and - remote hosts. However, only the query commands are answered (and - acted upon) if the query comes from a remote host. It is always an - error to try to register a nodename if the client is not a process - located on the same host as the <c>epmd</c> instance is running on- - such requests are considered hostile and the connection is - immediately closed.</p> + <title>Access Restrictions</title> + <p>The <c>epmd</c> daemon accepts messages from both the local host and + remote hosts. However, only the query commands are answered (and + acted upon) if the query comes from a remote host. It is always an + error to try to register a node name if the client is not a process + on the same host as the <c>epmd</c> instance is running on. Such + requests are considered hostile and the connection is closed + immediately.</p> - <p>The queries accepted from remote nodes are:</p> - <list type="bulleted"> - <item> - <p>Port queries - i.e. on which port does the node with a given - name listen</p> - </item> - <item> - <p>Name listing - i.e. give a list of all names registered on + <p>The following queries are accepted from remote nodes:</p> + + <list type="bulleted"> + <item> + <p>Port queries, that is, on which port the node with a specified + name listens</p> + </item> + <item> + <p>Name listing, that is, gives a list of all names registered on the host</p> - </item> - </list> - <p>To restrict access further, firewall software has to be used.</p> - </section> + </item> + </list> + <p>To restrict access further, firewall software must be used.</p> + </section> </comref> |