# default: off
# description: The tftp server uses the trivial file transfer \
#       protocol.  The tftp protocol is often used to boot diskless \
#       workstations, download configuration files to network printers, \
#       and to start the installation process for some operating systems.
service tftp
{
        socket_type             = dgram
        protocol                = udp
        wait                    = yes
        user                    = root
        server                  = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd
        server_args             = -s /tftpboot
        disable                 = yes
}

Lines that start with # are comments. The actual entry begins with the service command. The attributes enclosed in the curly braces ({}) define the characteristics of the specified service.

The service, socket_type, protocol, wait, user, server, and server_args values all parallel values shown in the tftp example from the Solaris inetd.conf file. These attributes perform exactly the same functions for xinetd that their positional counterparts did for inetd.

One item, disable = yes, needs a little explanation. disable = yes prevents xinetd from starting tftp on demand. disable = yes is equivalent to commenting tftp out of the inetd.conf file. To enable tftp, edit this file and change it to disable = no.

Red Hat 7 uses xinetd. However, you won't find the network services listed in the /etc/xinetd.conf file on a Red Hat system. In the Red Hat configuration, xinetd.conf includes by reference all of the files defined in the directory /etc/xinetd.d. The listing shown above is actually the contents of the /etc/xinetd.d/tftp file from our sample Red Hat system. Each service has its own configuration file.