macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install inetutilslocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install inetutilsMacPorts ports tree · net/inetutils/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew
Install inetutils with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, dnf, zypper, winget
GNU utilities for networking. Version 2.8 via Homebrew; verified 2026-04-30.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install inetutils-ftpDebian stable package indexes · inetutils-ftp · source: deb.debian.org
Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#inetutilsnixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/in/inetutils/package.nix · source: api.github.com
Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S inetutilsArch Linux sync databases · inetutils · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install ftpFedora Rawhide package metadata · ftp · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install ftpopenSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · ftp · source: download.opensuse.org
Windows
Windows Package Managerverified · 92%
winget install --id kmiya-culti.RLogin -eWindows Package Manager source index · kmiya-culti.RLogin · source: cdn.winget.microsoft.com
overview
Package summary
GNU utilities for networking
Project links
Commands and aliases
- ftp
- ftpd
- gdnsdomainname
- gftp
- ghostname
- gifconfig
- glogger
- gping6
- grcp
- grexec
- grlogin
- grsh
- gtalk
- gtelnet
- gtftp
- gtraceroute
- gwhois
- inetd
- ping6
- rcp
- rexec
- rexecd
- rlogin
- rlogind
- rsh
- rshd
- syslogd
- talk
- talkd
- telnetd
- tftp
- tftpd
history
Project history and usage
GNU Inetutils is the GNU collection of traditional network clients, servers, and small administrative tools. It includes programs such as ftp, telnet, inetd, rsh, rlogin, tftp, talk, syslogd, ping, traceroute, whois, hostname, dnsdomainname, ifconfig, logger, and uucpd.
Project history
The GNU project presents Inetutils as a distribution of common networking utilities and servers. The manual says the individual utilities were originally derived from the 4.4BSD-Lite2 distribution, with later work integrating features from NetBSD, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, GNU/Linux, and GNU contributors.
Inetutils preserves old Unix networking commands in GNU form. That history is visible in its command mix: some tools, such as telnet, rsh, rlogin, rexec, and talk, are mostly historical or controlled-environment tools, while others, such as ping, traceroute, hostname, logger, and inetd, remain useful in diagnostics, compatibility testing, and stripped-down systems.
GNU release announcements continue to ship Inetutils as stable source tarballs with checksums, signatures, and mailing-list announcements. The 2.8 announcement in April 2026 described a release with 55 commits by five contributors since 2.7.
Adoption history
Inetutils is adopted mostly through operating-system packaging rather than as a standalone app brand. GNU provides the source releases and manual, while distributions decide which binaries to install, rename, prefix, or split because many names overlap with platform-native tools. The Homebrew package prefixes several commands with g, reflecting the GNU-on-macOS convention used to avoid replacing BSD userland tools.
How it is used
Users install Inetutils to get GNU implementations of classic network commands, to run inetd-style services, to test compatibility with legacy protocols, or to build environments that expect GNU command behavior. Security-sensitive deployments generally treat plaintext remote-login tools as legacy compatibility rather than preferred administration paths.
Why package nerds care
Inetutils is package-nerd bedrock: one source package produces a fleet of commands whose names collide with base-system tools, whose protocols carry decades of Unix history, and whose packaging choices reveal how each operating system balances GNU compatibility against native userland behavior.
It also illustrates why package metadata can be weird: the package is one GNU project, but downstream formulas and distro packages may expose only clients, only daemons, prefixed commands, or individual subpackages.
Timeline
- 1990s: GNU Inetutils lineage derives many utilities from 4.4BSD-Lite2 code.
- 2000: The GNU Inetutils manual copyright range begins in the published manual.
- 2021: GNU project page update documents the package as common GNU network programs.
- 2026: GNU Inetutils 2.8 stable release announced on info-gnu.
Related projects
- BSD userlands are the original lineage for many commands. NetBSD, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and GNU/Linux contributed later feature ideas. net-tools, iputils, OpenSSH, syslog implementations, and platform inetd replacements are adjacent packages that often overlap or supersede parts of Inetutils.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: blue
broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.
Risk classifier
blue risk · medium confidence · tool
Why
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
Signals
- text:network,ftp
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Installs with 1 runtime dependencies.
- Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
ftp | cli | global executable | |
ftpd | cli | global executable | |
gdnsdomainname | cli | global executable | |
gftp | cli | global executable | |
ghostname | cli | global executable | |
gifconfig | cli | global executable | |
glogger | cli | global executable | |
gping6 | cli | global executable | |
grcp | cli | global executable | |
grexec | cli | global executable | |
grlogin | cli | global executable | |
grsh | cli | global executable | |
gtalk | cli | global executable | |
gtelnet | cli | global executable | |
gtftp | cli | global executable | |
gtraceroute | cli | global executable | |
gwhois | cli | global executable | |
inetd | cli | global executable | |
ping6 | cli | global executable | |
rcp | cli | global executable | |
rexec | cli | global executable | |
rexecd | cli | global executable | |
rlogin | cli | global executable | |
rlogind | cli | global executable | |
rsh | cli | global executable | |
rshd | cli | global executable | |
syslogd | cli | global executable | |
talk | cli | global executable | |
talkd | cli | global executable | |
telnetd | cli | global executable | |
tftp | cli | global executable | |
tftpd | cli | global executable | |
traceroute | cli | global executable | |
uucpd | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-07-08
manager version2.8
manager updated2026-04-30
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/none confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:inetutils |
|---|---|
| Version | 2.8 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/inetutils |
| Homepage | https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/ |
| Repository | https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/inetutils.git |
| Upstream docs | https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils |
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later |
| Source archive | https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/gnu/inetutils/inetutils-2.8.tar.gz |
| Last updated | 2026-04-30T01:50:44Z |
| Pulse | updated |
| Dependencies | libidn2 |
| Build dependencies | help2man |
| Uses from macOS | libxcrypt, ncurses |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
| Caveats | Only the following commands have been installed without the prefix 'g'. dnsdomainname ftp rcp rexec rlogin rsh telnet If you really need to use other commands with their normal names, you can add a "gnubin" directory to your PATH from your bashrc like: PATH="$HOMEBREW_PREFIX/opt/inetutils/libexec/gnubin:$PATH" |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | inetutils |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Conflicts With |
|
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt95%
inetutils-ftp 2:2.6-3+deb13u3
File Transfer Protocol client
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-ftp- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
inetutils-ftpd 2:2.6-3+deb13u3
File Transfer Protocol server
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-ftpd- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 9 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
inetutils-inetd 2:2.6-3+deb13u3
internet super server
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-inetd- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 7 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
inetutils-ping 2:2.6-3+deb13u3
ICMP echo tool
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-ping- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 2 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
inetutils-syslogd 2:2.6-3+deb13u3
system logging daemon
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-syslogd- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 4 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
inetutils-talk 2:2.6-3+deb13u3
talk to another user
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-talk- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 4 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
inetutils-talkd 2:2.6-3+deb13u3
remote user communication server
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-talkd- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 8 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
inetutils-telnet 2:2.6-3+deb13u3
telnet client
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-telnet- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 6 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
inetutils-telnetd 2:2.6-3+deb13u3
telnet server
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-telnetd- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 12 dependencies
- 2 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
inetutils-tools 2:2.6-3+deb13u3
base networking utilities (experimental package)
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-tools- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
inetutils-traceroute 2:2.6-3+deb13u3
trace the IPv4 route to another host
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-traceroute- Section: net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 2 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
telnet 0.17+2.6-3+deb13u3
transitional dummy package for inetutils-telnet default switch
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install telnet- Section: oldlibs
- Architecture: all
- Source Package: inetutils
- 1 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Debian apt95%
telnetd 0.17+2.6-3+deb13u3
transitional dummy package for inetutils-telnetd default switch
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install telnetd- Section: oldlibs
- Architecture: all
- Source Package: inetutils
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Nix95%
inetutils
nix profile install nixpkgs#inetutils- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Ubuntu apt95%
inetutils-ftp 2:2.5-3ubuntu4
File Transfer Protocol client
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-ftp- Section: universe/net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 3 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
Ubuntu apt95%
inetutils-ftpd 2:2.5-3ubuntu4
File Transfer Protocol server
https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
sudo apt install inetutils-ftpd- Section: universe/net
- Architecture: amd64
- Source Package: inetutils
- 9 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Inetutils
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment