/etc/services
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Internal
Overview
/etc/services is called the "services file" and it stores the mapping between a conventional name and standard port numbers allocated to services and the associated protocol (UDP or TCP). It can optionally store aliases and comments.
The idea behind storing the name - port number mapping in a file is that programs (services) can do a getportbyname() socket call and get the port number they should use. For example, PostgreSQL does a getportbyname ("postgres") and gets 5432/tcp. If the service always uses getportbyname(), then no matter what service is run, the port number can be always reconfigured by editing /etc/services.
Syntax
name port/protocol aliases comments