samba - Nov 2002 - Hosts files

Hi, I have put entries into the "hosts" file for all the machines
which need
to connect to our Samba server.  Everything seems to be working correctly
but I'm curious.... can anyone tell me what the other files
"hosts.deny" and
"hosts.allow" are for.

Thanks

Mike

On Friday 08 November 2002 3:41 pm, Mike Stewart wrote:
> Hi, I have put entries into the "hosts" file for all the machines
which
> need to connect to our Samba server.  Everything seems to be working
> correctly but I'm curious.... can anyone tell me what the other files
> "hosts.deny" and "hosts.allow" are for.
>
> Thanks
>
> Mike
They are for controlling access to your machine.  ;)  On freebsd 'man 
hosts_access' to get an overview.  I'm not sure what the appropriate
page is
under linux, try reading the /etc/hosts.allow file and see if it will give 
you a clue.

Hiya!

Where hosts does local IP to name translation, the hosts.deny and
hosts.allow will let you fine tune who is allowed or denied access to your
server.  There are interactions between the two files that have security
risks, I'd advise you to print out the man page on them so you can annotate
what they say to really get the gist of the control they give you.  IIRC,
the O'Reilly/Spafford _UNIX Security_ book has more details on the
interaction and risks, but I don't have my copy in front of me so I
can't
quote chapter & verse.

HTH/HAND,

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Stewart [mailto:mike@powys-training.co.uk]
Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 7:41 AM
To: samba@lists.samba.org
Subject: [Samba] Hosts files


Hi, I have put entries into the "hosts" file for all the machines
which need
to connect to our Samba server.  Everything seems to be working correctly
but I'm curious.... can anyone tell me what the other files
"hosts.deny" and
"hosts.allow" are for.

Thanks

Mike