---
name: "rarpd"
section: "8"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/rarpd"
---

# rarpd(8)

reverse ARP daemon

## NAME

**rarpd** – reverse ARP daemon

## SYNOPSIS

**rarpd** \[**-adflt**\] *if0* \[*...* *ifN*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**rarpd** services Reverse ARP requests on the Ethernet connected to the specified interfaces. Upon receiving a request, **rarpd** maps the target hardware address to an IP address via its name, which must be present in both the [ethers(5)](/ethers/5.md) and [hosts(5)](/hosts/5.md) databases. If a host does not exist in both databases, the translation cannot proceed and a reply will not be sent.

In normal operation, **rarpd** forks a copy of itself and runs in the background. Anomalies and errors are reported via [syslog(3)](/syslog/3.md).

The options are as follows:

- **-a**

  Listen on all the Ethernets attached to the system. If **-a** is omitted, a list of interfaces must be specified.

- **-d**

  Run in debug mode, with all the output to stderr. This option implies the **-f** option.

- **-f**

  Run in the foreground.

- **-l**

  Log all requests to [syslog(3)](/syslog/3.md).

- **-t**

  Only honour a request if the server (the host that **rarpd** is running on) can "boot" the target; that is, if a file or directory called */tftpboot/ipaddr* exists, where *ipaddr* is the target IP address expressed in uppercase hexadecimal (only the first 8 characters of filenames are checked).

## FILES

- */etc/ethers*

  Ethernet host name database.

- */etc/hosts*

  Host name database.

## SEE ALSO

[bpf(4)](/bpf/4.md), [diskless(8)](/diskless/8.md)

## STANDARDS

R. Finlayson, T. Mann, J. Mogul, and M. Theimer, *A Reverse Address Resolution Protocol*, RFC 903, June 1984.

## AUTHORS

Craig Leres ⟨*leres@ee.lbl.gov*⟩ and Steven McCanne ⟨*mccanne@ee.lbl.gov*⟩, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA.