inetd.conf protocol field

The Protocol Field

As you might guess, this selects the protocol to be used for the socket. This value must be a valid entry that appears in the /etc/protocols file (see the section in Chapter 7 titled,

"Consulting /etc/protocols File"). Two often-used selections are

• tcp for the TCP protocol 
• udp for the UDP protocol

Other possibilities also exist, but these are the most commonly used.