Xinetd

A replacement for inetd. This daemon can be configured by inserting individual configuration files, one for each service to be run under xinetd, into the xinetd directory. Typically, (e.g. under RedHat), there is a Gnome application too that configures services. Adding a service via this tool enables the service entry in the xinetd directory. RPMs and other install programs add service entries to this directory (in either enabled or disabled form).

If you wish to add a service that isn't installed in the usual way, you can fabricate an entry in this directory by hand.

/etc/xinetd.d/servname:

Here is a sample service entry for rsync (note that the descripton comment has a continuation at the end of the line so that the description can be longer than a single line):

     # default: off
     # description: The rsync server is a good addition to am ftp server, as it \
     #       allows crc checksumming etc.
     service rsync
     {
          disable = no
          socket_type     = stream
          wait            = no
          user            = root
          server          = /usr/bin/rsync
          server_args     = --daemon
          log_on_failure  += USERID
     }