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rfc:rfc953

Network Working Group K. Harrenstien (SRI) Request for Comments: 953 M. Stahl (SRI) Obsoletes: RFC 811 E. Feinler (SRI)

                                                          October 1985
                          HOSTNAME SERVER

STATUS OF THIS MEMO

 This RFC is the official specification of the Hostname Server
 Protocol.  This edition of the specification includes minor revisions
 to RFC 811 which brings it up to date.  Distribution of this memo is
 unlimited.

INTRODUCTION

 The NIC Internet Hostname Server is a TCP-based host information
 program and protocol running on the SRI-NIC machine.  It is one of a
 series of internet name services maintained by the DDN Network
 Information Center (NIC) at SRI International on behalf of the
 Defense Communications Agency (DCA).  The function of this particular
 server is to deliver machine-readable name/address information
 describing networks, gateways, hosts, and eventually domains, within
 the internet environment.  As currently implemented, the server
 provides the information outlined in the DoD Internet Host Table
 Specification [See RFC-952].  For a discussion of future developments
 see also RFC-921 concerning the Domain Name System.

PROTOCOL

 To access this server from a program, establish a TCP connection to
 port 101 (decimal) at the service host, SRI-NIC.ARPA (26.0.0.73 or
 10.0.0.51).  Send the information request (a single line), and read
 the resulting response.  The connection is closed by the server upon
 completion of the response, so only one request can be made for each
 connection.

QUERY/RESPONSE FORMAT

 The name server accepts simple text query requests of the form
    <command key> <argument(s)> [<options>]
 where square brackets ("[]") indicate an optional field.  The command
 key is a keyword indicating the nature of the request.  The defined
 keys are explained below.
 The response, on the other hand, is of the form
    <response key> : <rest of response>

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RFC 953 October 1985 Hostname Server

 where <response key> is a keyword indicating the nature of the
 response, and the rest of the response is interpreted in the context
 of the key.
 NOTE:  Care should be taken to interpret the nature of the reply
 (e.g, single record or multiple record), so that no confusion about
 the state of the reply results.  An "ALL" request will likely return
 several hundred or more records of all types, whereas "HNAME" or
 "HADDR" will usually return one HOST record.

COMMAND/RESPONSE KEYS

 The currently defined command keywords are listed below.  NOTE:
 Because the server and the features available will evolve with time,
 the HELP command should be used to obtain the most recent summary of
 implemented features, changes, or new commands.
    Keyword   Response
    HELP      This information.
    VERSION   "VERSION: <string>" where <string> will be different for
              each version of the host table.
    HNAME <hostname>
              One or more matching host table entries.
    HADDR <hostaddr>
              One or more matching host table entries.
    ALL       The entire host table.
    ALL-OLD   The entire host table without domain style names.
    DOMAINS   The entire top-level domain table (domains only).
    ALL-DOM   Both the entire domain table and the host table.
    ALL-INGWAY
              All known gateways in TENEX/TOPS-20 INTERNET.GATEWAYS
              format.
 Remember that the server accepts only a single command line and
 returns only a single response before closing the connection.  HNAME
 and HADDR are useful for looking up a specific host by name or
 address; VERSION can be used by automated processes to see whether a
 "new" version of the host table exists without having to transfer the

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RFC 953 October 1985 Hostname Server

 whole table.  Note, however, that the returned version string is only
 guaranteed to be unique to each version, and nothing should currently
 be assumed about its format.
 Response Keys:
    ERR       entry not found, nature of error follows
    NET       entry found, rest of entry follows
    GATEWAY   entry found, rest of entry follows
    HOST      entry found, rest of entry follows
    DOMAIN    entry found, rest of entry follows
    BEGIN     followed by multiple entries
    END       done with BEGIN block of entries
 More keywords will be added as new needs are recognized.  A more
 detailed description of the allowed requests/responses follows.

QUERY/RESPONSE EXAMPLES

 1. HNAME Query - Given a name, find the entry or entries that match
 the name.  For example:
    HNAME SRI-NIC.ARPA <CRLF>
       where <CRLF> is a carriage return/ linefeed, and 'SRI-NIC.ARPA'
       is a host name
    The likely response is:
    HOST : 26.0.0.73, 10.0.0.51 : SRI-NIC.ARPA,SRI-NIC,NIC :
           DEC-2060 : TOPS20 : TCP/TELNET,TCP/SMTP,TCP/TIME,TCP/FTP,
           TCP/ECHO,ICMP :
    A response may stretch across more than one line.  Continuation
    lines always begin with at least one space.
 2. HADDR Query - Given an internet address (as specified in RFC 796)
 find the entry or entries that match that address. For example:
    HADDR 26.0.0.73 <CRLF>
       where <CRLF> is a carriage return/ linefeed, and '26.0.0.73' is
       a host address.
    The likely response is the same as for the previous HNAME request.

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RFC 953 October 1985 Hostname Server

 3. ALL Query - Deliver the entire internet host table in a
 machine-readable form.  For example:
    ALL <CRLF>   ;where <CRLF> is a carriage return/linefeed
    The likely response is the keyword 'BEGIN' followed by a colon
    ':', followed by the entire internet host table in the format
    specified in RFC-952, followed by 'END:'.

ERROR HANDLING

 ERR Reply - may occur on any query, and should be permitted in any
 access program using the name server.  Errors are of the form
    ERR : <code> : <string> :
      as in
    ERR : NAMNFD : Name not found :
 The error code is a unique descriptor, limited to 8 characters in
 length for any given error.  It may be used by the access program to
 identify the error and, in some cases, to handle it automatically.
 The string is an accompanying message for a given error for that case
 where the access program simply logs the error message.  Current
 codes and their associated interpretations are
    NAMNFD    Name not found; name not in table
    ADRNFD    Address not found; address not in table
    ILLCOM    Illegal command; command key not recognized
    TMPSYS    Temporary system failure, try again later

REFERENCES

 1. Harrenstien, K., Stahl, M., and Feinler, E., "Official DoD
    Internet Host Table Specification," RFC-952, DDN Network
    Information Center, SRI International, October 1985.
 2. Pickens, J., Feinler, E., and Mathis, J., "The NIC Name Server," A
    Datagram-based Information Utility, RFC-756, Network Information
    Center, SRI International, July 1979.
 3. Postel, J., "Address Mappings," RFC-796, Information Sciences
    Institute, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey,
    September 1981.
 4. Postel, J., "Domain Name System Implementation Schedule", RFC-921,
    Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California,
    Marina del Rey, October 1984.

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RFC 953 October 1985 Hostname Server

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