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The ethers file is a local source of information about the (48 bit) Ethernet addresses of hosts on the Internet. The ethers file can be used in conjunction with
or instead of other ethers sources, including the NIS maps ethers.byname and ethers.byaddr and the NIS+
table ethers. Programs use the ethers(3SOCKET)
routines to access this information.
The ethers file has one line for each host on an Ethernet. The line has the following format:
Ethernet-address official-host-name
Items are separated by any number of SPACE and/or TAB characters. A `#' indicates the beginning of a comment extending
to the end of line.
The standard form for Ethernet addresses is "x:x:x:x:x:x" where x is a hexadecimal number between 0 and ff, representing
one byte. The address bytes are always in network order. Host names may contain any printable character other than SPACE, TAB, NEWLINE, or comment character.
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