rpc(3N)

rpc - library routines for remote procedure calls

As shipped in IRIX 6.5.22. Last changed in IRIX 6.5.19.

NAME
     rpc - library routines for remote procedure calls

DESCRIPTION
     RPC routines allow C language programs to make procedure calls on other
     machines across a network.  First, the client calls a procedure to send a
     data packet to the server.  On receipt of the packet, the server calls a
     dispatch routine to perform the requested service, and then sends back a
     reply.

     The following sections describe data objects use by the RPC package.

   Nettype
     Some of the high-level RPC interface routines take a nettype string as
     one of the parameters [for example, clnt_create, svc_create, rpc_reg,
     rpc_call].  This string defines a class of transports which can be used
     for a particular application.  The transports are tried in left to right
     order in the NETPATH variable or in top to down order in the
     /etc/netconfig file.

     nettype can be one of the following:

     netpath   Choose from the transports which have been indicated by their
               token names in the NETPATH variable.  If NETPATH is unset or
               NULL, it defaults to visible.  netpath is the default nettype.

     visible   Choose the transports which have the visible flag (v) set in
               the /etc/netconfig file.

     circuit_v This is same as visible except that it chooses only the
               connection oriented transports from the entries in
               /etc/netconfig file.

     datagram_v
               This is same as visible except that it chooses only the
               connectionless datagram transports from the entries in
               /etc/netconfig file.

     circuit_n This is same as netpath except that it chooses only the
               connection oriented datagram transports

     datagram_n
               This is same as netpath except that it chooses only the
               connectionless datagram transports.

     udp       It refers to Internet UDP.

     tcp       It refers to Internet TCP.

     raw       This is for memory based RPC, mainly for performance
               evaluation.

     If nettype is NULL, it defaults to netpath.

   Data Structures
     Some of the data structures used by the RPC package are shown below.

   The AUTH Structure
     union des_block {
         struct {
             u_int32 high;
             u_int32 low;
         } key;
         char c[8];
     };
     typedef union des_block des_block;
     extern bool_t xdr_des_block();

     /*
      * Authentication info. Opaque to client.
      */
     struct opaque_auth {
         enum_t  oa_flavor;  /* flavor of auth */
         caddr_t oa_base;    /* address of more auth stuff */
         u_int   oa_length;  /* not to exceed MAX_AUTH_BYTES */
     };

     /*
      * Auth handle, interface to client side authenticators.
      */
     typedef struct {
         struct  opaque_auth  ah_cred;
         struct  opaque_auth  ah_verf;
         union   des_block    ah_key;
         struct auth_ops {
             void   (*ah_nextverf)();
             int    (*ah_marshal)();  /* nextverf & serialize */
             int    (*ah_validate)(); /* validate verifier */
             int    (*ah_refresh)();  /* refresh credentials */
             void   (*ah_destroy)();  /* destroy this structure */
         } *ah_ops;
         caddr_t ah_private;
     } AUTH;

   The CLIENT Structure
     /*
      * Client rpc handle.
      * Created by individual implementations
      * Client is responsible for initializing auth, see e.g. auth_none.c.
      */
     typedef struct {
         AUTH           *cl_auth;             /* authenticator */
         struct clnt_ops {
             enum clnt_stat  (*cl_call)();    /* call remote procedure */
             void            (*cl_abort)();   /* abort a call */
             void            (*cl_geterr)();  /* get specific error code */

             bool_t          (*cl_freeres)(); /* frees results */
             void            (*cl_destroy)(); /* destroy this structure */
             bool_t          (*cl_control)(); /* the ioctl() of rpc */
         } *cl_ops;
         caddr_t         cl_private;          /* private stuff */
         char            *cl_netid;           /* network token */
         char            *cl_tp;              /* device name */
     } CLIENT;

   The SVCXPRT Structure
     enum xprt_stat {
         XPRT_DIED,
         XPRT_MOREREQS,
         XPRT_IDLE
     };

     /*
      * Server side transport handle
      */
     typedef struct {
         int                 xp_fd;
     #define xp_sock         xp_fd
     #endif
         u_short             xp_port;         /* associated port number.
                                               * Obsolete, but still used to
                                               * specify whether rendezvouser
                                               * or normal connection
                                               */
         struct xp_ops {
             bool_t         (*xp_recv)();     /* receive incoming requests */
             enum xprt_stat (*xp_stat)();     /* get transport status */
             bool_t         (*xp_getargs)();  /* get arguments */
             bool_t         (*xp_reply)();    /* send reply */
             bool_t         (*xp_freeargs)(); /* free mem allocated for args */
             void           (*xp_destroy)();  /* destroy this struct */
         } *xp_ops;
         int         xp_addrlen;              /* length of remote addr. Obsolete */
         char        *xp_tp;                  /* transport provider device name */
         char        *xp_netid;               /* network token */
         struct netbuf       xp_ltaddr;       /* local transport address */
         struct netbuf       xp_rtaddr;       /* remote transport address */
         char                xp_raddr[16];    /* remote address. Obsolete */
         struct opaque_auth xp_verf;          /* raw response verifier */
         caddr_t             xp_p1;           /* private: for use by svc ops */
         caddr_t             xp_p2;           /* private: for use by svc ops */
         caddr_t             xp_p3;           /* private: for use by svc lib */
     } SVCXPRT;

   The XDR Structure
     /*
      * Xdr operations.  XDR_ENCODE causes the type to be encoded into the
      * stream.  XDR_DECODE causes the type to be extracted from the stream.
      * XDR_FREE can be used to release the space allocated by an XDR_DECODE
      * request.
      */
     enum xdr_op {
         XDR_ENCODE=0,
         XDR_DECODE=1,
         XDR_FREE=2
     };

     /*
      * This is the number of bytes per unit of external data.
      */
     #define BYTES_PER_XDR_UNIT    (4)
     #define RNDUP(x)  ((((x) + BYTES_PER_XDR_UNIT - 1) / BYTES_PER_XDR_UNIT) \
                 * BYTES_PER_XDR_UNIT)

     /*
      * A xdrproc_t exists for each data type which is to be encoded or decoded.
      *
      * The second argument to the xdrproc_t is a pointer to an opaque pointer.
      * The opaque pointer generally points to a structure of the data type
      * to be decoded.  If this pointer is 0, then the type routines should
      * allocate dynamic storage of the appropriate size and return it.
      * bool_t (*xdrproc_t)(XDR *, caddr_t *);
      */
     typedef   bool_t (*xdrproc_t)();

     /*
      * The XDR handle.
      * Contains operation which is being applied to the stream,
      * an operations vector for the particular implementation (for example,
      * see xdr_mem.c), and two private fields for the use of the
      * particular implementation.
      */
     typedef struct {
         enum xdr_op x_op;            /* operation; fast additional param */
         struct xdr_ops {
             bool_t  (*x_getlong)();  /* get a long from underlying stream */
             bool_t  (*x_putlong)();  /* put a long to " */
             bool_t  (*x_getbytes)(); /* get some bytes from " */
             bool_t  (*x_putbytes)(); /* put some bytes to " */
             u_int   (*x_getpostn)(); /* returns bytes off from beginning */
             bool_t  (*x_setpostn)(); /* lets you reposition the stream */
             long *  (*x_inline)();   /* buf quick ptr to buffered data */
             void    (*x_destroy)();  /* free privates of this xdr_stream */
         } *x_ops;
         caddr_t     x_public;        /* users' data */
         caddr_t     x_private;       /* pointer to private data */
         caddr_t     x_base;          /* private used for position info */
         int         x_handy;         /* extra private word */
     } XDR;

   Index to Routines
     The following table lists RPC routines and the manual reference pages on
     which they are described:
          RPC Routine             Manual Page
     ____________________________________________
     auth_destroy             rpc_clnt_auth(3N)
     authdes_getucred         secure_rpc(3N)
     authdes_seccreate        secure_rpc(3N)
     authnone_create          rpc_clnt_auth(3N)
     authsys_create           rpc_clnt_auth(3N)
     authsys_create_default   rpc_clnt_auth(3N)
     clnt_call                rpc_clnt_calls(3N)
     clnt_control             rpc_clnt_create(3N)
     clnt_create              rpc_clnt_create(3N)
     clnt_destroy             rpc_clnt_create(3N)
     clnt_dg_create           rpc_clnt_create(3N)
     clnt_freeres             rpc_clnt_calls(3N)
     clnt_geterr              rpc_clnt_calls(3N)
     clnt_pcreateerror        rpc_clnt_create(3N)
     clnt_perrno              rpc_clnt_calls(3N)
     clnt_perror              rpc_clnt_calls(3N)
     clnt_raw_create          rpc_clnt_create(3N)
     clnt_spcreateerror       rpc_clnt_create(3N)
     clnt_sperrno             rpc_clnt_calls(3N)
     clnt_sperror             rpc_clnt_calls(3N)
     clnt_tli_create          rpc_clnt_create(3N)
     clnt_tp_create           rpc_clnt_create(3N)
     clnt_vc_create           rpc_clnt_create(3N)
     getnetname               secure_rpc(3N)
     host2netname             secure_rpc(3N)
     key_decryptsession       secure_rpc(3N)
     key_encryptsession       secure_rpc(3N)
     key_gendes               secure_rpc(3N)
     key_setsecret            secure_rpc(3N)
     netname2host             secure_rpc(3N)
     netname2user             secure_rpc(3N)
     rpc_broadcast            rpc_clnt_calls(3N)
     rpc_call                 rpc_clnt_calls(3N)
     rpc_control              rpc_control(3N)
     rpc_reg                  rpc_svc_calls(3N)
     svc_create               rpc_svc_create(3N)
     svc_destroy              rpc_svc_create(3N)
     svc_dg_create            rpc_svc_create(3N)
     svc_fd_create            rpc_svc_create(3N)
     svc_freeargs             rpc_svc_reg(3N)
     svc_getargs              rpc_svc_reg(3N)
     svc_getreqset            rpc_svc_reg(3N)
     svc_getrpccaller         rpc_svc_reg(3N)
     svc_raw_create           rpc_svc_create(3N)
     svc_reg                  rpc_svc_calls(3N)

     svc_run                  rpc_svc_reg(3N)
     svc_sendreply            rpc_svc_reg(3N)
     svc_tli_create           rpc_svc_create(3N)
     svc_tp_create            rpc_svc_create(3N)
     svc_unreg                rpc_svc_calls(3N)
     svc_vc_create            rpc_svc_create(3N)
     svcerr_auth              rpc_svc_err(3N)
     svcerr_decode            rpc_svc_err(3N)
     svcerr_noproc            rpc_svc_err(3N)
     svcerr_noprog            rpc_svc_err(3N)
     svcerr_progvers          rpc_svc_err(3N)
     svcerr_systemerr         rpc_svc_err(3N)
     svcerr_weakauth          rpc_svc_err(3N)
     user2netname             secure_rpc(3N)
     xdr_accepted_reply       rpc_xdr(3N)
     xdr_authsys_parms        rpc_xdr(3N)
     xdr_callhdr              rpc_xdr(3N)
     xdr_callmsg              rpc_xdr(3N)
     xdr_opaque_auth          rpc_xdr(3N)
     xdr_rejected_reply       rpc_xdr(3N)
     xdr_replymsg             rpc_xdr(3N)
     xprt_register            rpc_svc_calls(3N)
     xprt_unregister          rpc_svc_calls(3N)

FILES
     /etc/netconfig

SEE ALSO
     environ(5), getnetconfig(3N), getnetpath(3N), rpc_clnt_auth(3N),
     rpc_clnt_calls(3N), rpc_clnt_create(3N), rpc_control(3N),
     rpc_svc_calls(3N), rpc_svc_create(3N), rpc_svc_err(3N), rpc_svc_reg(3N),
     rpc_xdr(3N), rpcbind(3N), secure_rpc(3N), xdr(3N), netconfig(4)