Re: one more quick question about identd

From: Barid Bel Medar (icarus@berkshire.net)
Date: 06/29/96


On Sat, 29 Jun 1996, Ben Leibig wrote:

> The ident thing that lets you see the full address of players entering the mud

What is this supposed to mean?

> how meny players have whats needed on their end.  

Is this a question, or a statement?

Anyone who's running an ident daemon.  Telnet to port 113 of a computer 
and see if it answers.  If it does, an identd is being run.

> IE how often does it work

Whenever it's running and you have the correct information.

> i dont wanna take the time to set it up if it only works every once in 
> a while.  BUt if it generaly works it might be worth looking at.  

It always works.  Do you expect it to just not answer or something?  
Linux has it on by default.  SunOS does not, but it can be easily 
enabled.  In other words, about 75-80% of the people who visit your MUD 
will have an identd running or be able to run one.  Dynamic IP accounts 
MUST add an identd to the system, which are found everywhere (for IRC, 
usually).

> IF 
> anyone knows about it and could let me know that would be helpful.
> 

Try the Internet Requests for Comments (RFC's).  Go to Yahoo, search for 
"RFC".  Look for the RFC list, then choose the RFC index.  Once it's 
loaded, search for the word "identification" (search by browser, not web 
page).  Then click on the RFC number nearby.  It will tell you the 
implementation of identd as used on all UNIX systems.

Be aware that the RFC suggests waiting for *at least* 30 seconds to 
accomadate network lag.  During that time, CircleMUD will not be able to 
log on new users.  If you plan on running a busy MUD, either find a way 
around this or don't use an identd.

You must also write the ident function yourself.  It's pretty easy, but 
you have to be prepared to handle all the errors correctly (i.e., only 
throw someone off if he refuses to identify himself).  There are a lot of 
possible responses: connect refused, user hidden, no user present on that 
port, and so on.  Only in the last two cases should you (normally) throw 
users off, as that indicates that you've got someone up to no good on the 
other side.

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Barid Bel Medar                               icarus@berkshire.net
Knights of the Cosmos            Shayol Ghul Resort and Health Spa
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"I  am  returning  this otherwise good typing paper to you because
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