---
name: "atalkd"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "atalkd"
version: "4.2.3~ds-1+deb13u2"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/atalkd"
---

# atalkd(8)

userland AppleTalk network manager daemon

## Name

atalkd — userland AppleTalk network manager daemon

## Synopsis

**atalkd** \[-f *configfile*\] \[-P *pidfile*\] \[-1\] \[-2\] \[-d\] \[-t\]

**atalkd** \[-v \| -V\]

## Description

**atalkd** is responsible for all user level AppleTalk network management. This includes routing, name registration and lookup, zone lookup, and the AppleTalk Echo Protocol (similar to [**ping**(8)](/ping/8.md)). Specifically, this corresponds to the RTMP, NBP, ZIP, and AEP protocols in the AppleTalk protocol family.

The init system of your OS will typically start the **atalkd** daemon at bootup. The daemon first reads from its configuration file, **atalkd.conf**. If there is no configuration file, or if no interfaces have been defined, **atalkd** will attempt to configure all available interfaces and will create a configuration file. See [**atalkd.conf**(5)](/atalkd.conf/5.md) for details on the configuration file format.

## Options

- **-1**

  Forces AppleTalk Phase 1.

- **-2**

  Forces AppleTalk Phase 2.

- **-d**

  Do not disassociate daemon from terminal. Writes some additional debugging information to stdout.

- **-f** *configfile*

  Consult *configfile* instead of **atalkd.conf** for the configuration information.

- **-P** *pidfile*

  Specifies the file in which **atalkd** stores its process id.

- **-t**

  Turns on transition routing.

- **-v** \| **-V**

  Print version information and exit.

## Routing

If you are connecting an **atalkd** router to an existing AppleTalk network, you should first contact your local network administrators to obtain appropriate network addresses.

**atalkd** can provide routing between interfaces by configuring multiple interfaces. Each interface must be assigned a unique net-range between 1 and 65279 (0 and 65535 are illegal, and addresses between 65280 and 65534 are reserved for startup). It is best to choose the smallest useful net-range, i.e. if you have three machines on a LAN, choose a net-range below 1000. Each net-range may have an arbitrary list of zones associated with it.

Note that **atalkd** automatically acts as a router if there is more than one interface, and no other configurations are present.

## Files

*atalkd.conf* configuration file

## See Also

[atalkd.conf(5)](/atalkd.conf/5.md)

## Author

Contributors to the Netatalk Project (https://netatalk.io/contributors)