Berkeley r-commands

Berkeley r-commands
Developer(s)Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley
Initial releaseJune 1981; 43 years ago (1981-06)
Operating systemUnix and Unix-like
TypeCommand suite
LicenseBSD
Internet protocol suite
Application layer
Transport layer
Internet layer
Link layer

The Berkeley r-commands are a suite of computer programs designed to enable users of one Unix system to log in or issue commands to another Unix computer via TCP/IP computer network.[1] The r-commands were developed in 1982 by the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley, based on an early implementation of TCP/IP (the protocol stack of the Internet).[2]

The CSRG incorporated the r-commands into their Unix operating system, the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). The r-commands premiered in BSD v4.1.[2] Among the programs in the suite are: rcp (remote copy), rexec (remote execution), rlogin (remote login), rsh (remote shell), rstat, ruptime, and rwho (remote who).[2][3]

The r-commands were a significant innovation, and became de facto standards for Unix operating systems.[4][5] With wider public adoption of the Internet, their inherent security vulnerabilities became a problem,[6] and beginning with the development of Secure Shell protocols and applications in 1995, its adoption entirely supplanted the deployment and use of r-commands (and Telnet) on networked systems.[7]

Overview
Service Port Transport Refs
Client Daemon
rcp rshd 514 TCP
rexec rexecd 512 TCP [8]
rlogin rlogind 513 TCP [9]
rsh rshd 514 TCP
rstat rstatd UDP
ruptime rwhod 513 UDP [10]
rwho [9][10]
  1. ^ Horwitz, Jeff (2003) [2002]. "Using the Berkeley r-commands Without a Password". Unix System Management: Primer Plus. Sams Publishing. p. 339. ISBN 978-0-672-32372-0. Retrieved 2018-03-04 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b c McKusick, Marshall Kirk (1999). "Twenty Years of Berkeley Unix: From AT&T-Owned to Freely Redistributable". Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution. O'Reilly & Associates. Section: "4.2BSD". ISBN 978-1-56592-582-3. Retrieved 2018-03-03.
  3. ^ Pyles, James; Carrell, Jeffrey L.; Tittel, Ed (2017). "Which IP Services Are Most Vulnerable?". Guide to TCP/IP: IPv6 and IPv4 (5th ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 659. ISBN 978-1-305-94695-8 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Casad (2008), p. 346
  5. ^ Negus, Christopher (2004-07-02). "About "r" Commands". Red Hat Fedora Linux 2 Bible. Wiley. ISBN 0-7645-5745-9. OCLC 441918216. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  6. ^ "A Case Study of Using a Secure Network Layer Protocol". CiteSeerX 10.1.1.178.8497.
  7. ^ Nicholas Rosasco; David Larochelle. "How and Why More Secure Technologies Succeed in Legacy Markets: Lessons from the Success of SSH" (Conference Paper). Harvard University. doi:10.1007/1-4020-8090-5_18. S2CID 19035681. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  8. ^ "REXEC command—Execute a command on the remote host and receive the results on your local host". z/OS Communications Server: IP User's Guide and Commands. 2013 [1990]. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  9. ^ a b "More on Ports". FreeBSD Network Administrators Guide. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  10. ^ a b Casad (2008), pp. 350–51