Net::Netrc(3perl) Perl Programmers Reference Guide Net::Netrc(3perl)
NAME
Net::Netrc - OO interface to users netrc file
SYNOPSIS
use Net::Netrc;
$mach = Net::Netrc->lookup('some.machine');
$login = $mach->login;
($login, $password, $account) = $mach->lpa;
DESCRIPTION
"Net::Netrc" is a class implementing a simple interface to the .netrc
file used as by the ftp program.
"Net::Netrc" also implements security checks just like the ftp program,
these checks are, first that the .netrc file must be owned by the user
and second the ownership permissions should be such that only the owner
has read and write access. If these conditions are not met then a
warning is output and the .netrc file is not read.
The .netrc File
The .netrc file contains login and initialization information used by
the auto-login process. It resides in the user's home directory. The
following tokens are recognized; they may be separated by spaces, tabs,
or new-lines:
machine name
Identify a remote machine name. The auto-login process searches the
.netrc file for a machine token that matches the remote machine
specified. Once a match is made, the subsequent .netrc tokens are
processed, stopping when the end of file is reached or an- other
machine or a default token is encountered.
default
This is the same as machine name except that default matches any
name. There can be only one default token, and it must be after all
machine tokens. This is normally used as:
default login anonymous password user@site
thereby giving the user automatic anonymous login to machines not
specified in .netrc.
login name
Identify a user on the remote machine. If this token is present,
the auto-login process will initiate a login using the specified
name.
password string
Supply a password. If this token is present, the auto-login process
will supply the specified string if the remote server requires a
password as part of the login process.
account string
Supply an additional account password. If this token is present,
the auto-login process will supply the specified string if the
remote server requires an additional account password.
macdef name
Define a macro. "Net::Netrc" only parses this field to be compatible
with ftp.
Class Methods
The constructor for a "Net::Netrc" object is not called new as it does
not really create a new object. But instead is called "lookup" as this
is essentially what it does.
"lookup($machine[, $login])"
Lookup and return a reference to the entry for $machine. If $login
is given then the entry returned will have the given login. If
$login is not given then the first entry in the .netrc file for
$machine will be returned.
If a matching entry cannot be found, and a default entry exists,
then a reference to the default entry is returned.
If there is no matching entry found and there is no default defined,
or no .netrc file is found, then "undef" is returned.
Object Methods
login()
Return the login id for the netrc entry
password()
Return the password for the netrc entry
account()
Return the account information for the netrc entry
lpa()
Return a list of login, password and account information for the
netrc entry
EXPORTS
None.
KNOWN BUGS
See <https://rt.cpan.org/Dist/Display.html?Status=Active&Queue=libnet>.
SEE ALSO
Net::Cmd.
AUTHOR
Graham Barr <gbarr@pobox.com <mailto:gbarr@pobox.com>>.
Steve Hay <shay@cpan.org <mailto:shay@cpan.org>> is now maintaining
libnet as of version 1.22_02.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1995-1998 Graham Barr. All rights reserved.
Copyright (C) 2013-2014, 2020 Steve Hay. All rights reserved.
LICENCE
This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself, i.e. under the terms of either the
GNU General Public License or the Artistic License, as specified in the
LICENCE file.
VERSION
Version 3.15
DATE
20 March 2023
HISTORY
See the Changes file.
perl v5.40.1 2026-08-30 Net::Netrc(3perl)
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