[Techtalk] closing ports in /etc/services

[Caitlyn Martin]

On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 11:46:58 -0700
Laurel Fan <laurel at sdf.lonestar.org> wrote:
> 
> The author might have been confused about /etc/services and
> /etc/inetd.conf.  inetd.conf is the config file for the inetd server,
> which typically controls several different "small" services (such as
> ftp, mail).  Commenting out a line in inetd.conf will actually stop
> inetd from running that service.

...except that most modern Linux distros no longer use /etc/inetd.conf 
If the distro uses xinetd each service controlled has it's own
configuration file.  

Many UNIX flavors require a service to be in /etc/services in order for
it to run.  This may be because of how the service in question is called
at boot time, but the net effect is that it DOES work.  If the service
isn't running nothing will answer on that port.

All the best,
Caity