Warning: the OpenBSD man pages are very good! This is stated as a warning for those from certain other UNIX-like systems where man pages are a bottom priority. The OpenBSD developers' passion for completeness and accuracy shows in many facets of the system, including the man pages.
New administrators are particularly admonished to read the man page afterboot early on in your days as an OpenBSD administrator.
Also, remember to peruse the Frequently Asked Questions, since new administrators almost all ask the same questions.
Please use the mailing lists as a last resort, after consulting the man pages (perhaps aided and abetted by the table below), and RTFM (Read The FAQ, man).
This web page is copyright (c) 2000 by Ian F. Darwin. It may be printed or referred to for use in learning or using OpenBSD. It may not be copied for use with operating systems other than OpenBSD.
The following table is being reorganized to have separate columns for programs and config files; for now, take with grain of salt.
| Service | Program | Enable/Disable in | Config File | Reload | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Add user | adduser(8) | - | /etc/adduser.conf | - | Interactive; useradd batch | |
| AFS (Andrew File System) | - | rc.conf | afs=YES | /etc/afs? | - | |
| AMD (Auto Mount Daemon) | amd(8) | rc.conf | amd=YES | |||
| Apache | see httpd | |||||
| APM (APM daemon, for notebooks and ATX PCs) | apmd(8) | rc.conf | ||||
| backups | dump(8), restore(8) | - | - | - | See also amanda in ports/packages | |
| biff service | comsat(8) | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| BIND | see named | |||||
| bootparamd | bootparamd(8) | rc.conf | ||||
| bootps | bootps(8) | inetd.conf | ? | HUP inetd | ||
| CCD (Concat. Disk) | - | rc.conf | /etc/ccd.conf | |||
| chargen | inetd internal | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| console login | see tty login | - | - | - | Switch with CTRL/ALT/F[1-8] | |
| daytime service | inetd internal | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| DHCP server | dhcpd(8) | rc.conf | dhcpd.conf + dhcpd.interface | HUP dhcpd | ||
| DHCP, client | dhclient(8) | - | /etc/dhclient.conf | |||
| discard service | inetd internal | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| DNS | see named | |||||
| dns resolver | named(8) | /etc/resolv.conf | /etc/resolv.conf | |||
| domain, setting | domainname | - | /etc/defaultdomain | |||
| echo server | inetd internal | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| finger server | fingerd(8) | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| firewall | see ip filtering | |||||
| ftp, anonymous | see ftpd(8) | |||||
| ftpd | ftpd(8) | inetd.conf/rc.conf | various | |||
| Games, daytime limitations | /usr/games | /etc/dm.conf | - | |||
| gated | gated(8) | rc.conf | gated=YES | |||
| hostname, setting | hostname(8) | /etc/myname | - | hostname command | ||
| httpd | httpd(8) | rc.conf | /var/www/conf/ | apachectl restart | Apache 1.3.12 | |
| identd | identd(8) | rc.conf or inetd.conf | ||||
| IDS (Intrusion Detection) | - | - | - | See ports/net/{snort,nfr, ...} | ||
| inetd | inetd(8) | rc.conf | inetd.conf | HUP inetd | ||
| IP address | ifconfig | /etc/hostname.xxy | ifconfig | Min. format: inet 192.168.1.44 | ||
| IP aliases | ifconfig | /etc/ifaliases | ifconfig alias | |||
| IP masquerading | See NAT | |||||
| ipfilter | ipfilter(8) | rc.conf | ipf.rules | run it | Kernel option and sysctl.conf | |
| IPMON logging | - | rc.conf | ||||
| ipnat | see NAT | |||||
| IPV6 | - | rc.conf | various, and kernel config | |||
| isakmp key exchange | isakmpd | rc.conf | ? | |||
| kauth | kauthd | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| kerberos server | kerbd? | rc.conf | ? | HUP inetd | See 'info kth-krb' | |
| kernel configuration | config(8) | - | - | config;make;reboot | config(8) | |
| klogin | klogin | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| ksh (Korn shell) | /bin/ksh | pdksh in base - | - | See /usr/ports/shells after 2.7 | ||
| kshell(Kerberos rsh) | kshelld | - | inetd.conf | HUP inetd | ||
| kx (Kerberos X11) | kxd | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| lpd | lpd | rc.conf | printcap | lpc | See also ports/printing/lptng | |
| mail transport, map names to commands | - | - | /etc/mailer.conf | |||
| man, sections, ordering | man(1) | - | /etc/man.conf | |||
| mopd (DEC boot) | mopd(8) | rc.conf | ? | |||
| Multicast routing | mrouted(8) | rc.conf | - | - See also netstart | ||
| named | named(8) | rc.conf | /var/named/namedb/* | HUP named | ||
| NAT | ipnat(8) | rc.conf | ipnat.rules | re-run it | Need ipfilter and sysctl.conf and kernel option; see man ipnat(8) | |
| network address | see IP address | |||||
| network address translation | see NAT | |||||
| network time protocol | see xntpd | |||||
| NFS client | - | rc.conf fstab | re-mount | also yp_init | ||
| NFS lockd | lockd(8) | rc.conf | ||||
| nfs server | mountd(8) | rc.conf | /etc/exports | HUP mountd | also yp_init | |
| NIS | see YP | |||||
| nsswitch.conf | - | /etc/resolv.conf | - | Only "lookup"; see resolv.conf(5) | ||
| ntalk | ntalkd(8) | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| NTP | see xntpd | |||||
| Oakley key exchange | see iskamp | |||||
| passwd command | passwd(1) | - | /etc/passwd.conf | - | Multiple encryption algorithms | |
| passwd file edit | vipw(8) | - | - | - | Edits master.passwd (extra fields, see master.passwd(5)) | |
| perl | perl(1) | - | - | - | Included with base system | |
| photuris key exchange | photurisd(8) | rc.conf | /etc/photuris/ | |||
| PHP | - | - | - | - | Add from ports/packages /usr/ports/www/PHP3 | |
| POP3 | - | - | - | - | Add from ports/packages /usr/ports/mail/? | |
| printing | see lpd | |||||
| python | - /usr/ports/lang/python | Add from ports/packages | ||||
| quotas | - | rc.conf | - | edquota each f/sys | ||
| quote of the day service | - | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| RARP | rarpd(8) | rc.conf | /etc/ethers | - | ||
| rbootd | rbootd(8) | rc.conf | /etc/rbootd.conf | |||
| rexec | - | inetd.conf | HUP inetd | |||
| rlogin | - | inetd.conf | HUP inetd | |||
| root, become | sudo(8) | - | /etc/sudoers | sudo or su | ||
| route, default | route(8) | - | /etc/defaultroute | route add default | - | |
| routed | routed | - | rc.conf | |||
| RPC | portmap(8) | rc.conf | /etc/rpc | restart portmap | needed for NFS, NIS, rusers, ... | |
| rquotad | inetd.conf | edquota in each filesystem | HUP inetd | |||
| rsh | rshd(8) | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| rstatd | rstatd(8) | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| rusersd | rpc.rusersd | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| rwho service | rwhod | rc.conf | - | HUP inetd | ||
| sendmail | sendmail(8) | rc.conf | /etc/mail/sendmail.cf | HUP sendmail | ||
| shared libs, adding directory | rc.conf | shlib_dirs= | ||||
| smtpfwdd | smtpfwdd(8) | rc.conf | - | - | And smtpd in inetd.conf | |
| sprayd | sprayd(8) | inetd.conf | - | - | HUP inetd | |
| SSH service | sshd(8) | rc.conf | ||||
| syslog, message filing | /etc/syslog.conf | |||||
| syslog, rotation | /etc/newsyslog.conf | |||||
| system options | - | Kernel config, and /etc/sysctl.conf | ||||
| Talk service | see ntalkd | |||||
| TCP options | - | - | /etc/sysctl.conf | sysctl -w | ||
| telnetd | inetd.conf | HUP inetd | ||||
| tftp server | tftpd(8) | inetd.conf | HUP inetd | |||
| time server, new | See xntpd | |||||
| time server, old | See timed | |||||
| tty login | /usr/libexec/getty | - | /etc/ttys | - | Set "insecure" to refuse root login, use sudo | |
| user | - | see also passwd file | ||||
| uucpd | inetd.conf | HUP inetd | ||||
| VPN | - | See vpn(8), isakmpd, photuris, ipsecadm | ||||
| walld | /usr/libexec/rpc.rwalld | inetd.conf | - | HUP inetd | portmap=yes in rc.conf | |
| web server | see httpd | |||||
| XDM | rc.conf | - | - | - | maybe disable getty in ttys | |
| xntp | /usr/local/sbin/xntpd | rc.conf | /etc/ntp.conf | HUP xntpd | Install xntpd port/package | |
| YP system | /usr/sbin/ypinit | - | - | To disable, rm -r /var/yp/binding |