ethers(4)

NAME

     ethers - Ethernet address to hostname database or domain

DESCRIPTION

     The ethers file is a local source of information  about  the
     (48  bit)  Ethernet  addresses of hosts on the Internet. The
     ethers file can be used in conjunction with  or  instead  of
     other  ethers sources, including the NIS maps  ethers.byname
     and  ethers.byaddr and the NIS+ table  ethers. Programs  use
     the ethers(3SOCKET) routines to access this information.

     The  ethers file has one line for each host on an  Ethernet.
     The line has the following format:

          Ethernet-address official-host-name

     Items are separated by any number of SPACE and/or TAB  char-
     acters. A `#' indicates the beginning of a comment extending
     to the end of line.

     The standard form for Ethernet  addresses  is  "x:x:x:x:x:x"
     where x is a hexadecimal number between 0 and ff, represent-
     ing one byte. The address bytes are always in network order.
     Host  names  may  contain any printable character other than
     SPACE, TAB, NEWLINE, or comment character.

FILES

     /etc/ethers

SEE ALSO

     ethers(3SOCKET), hosts(4), nsswitch.conf(4)