Since there are so many distributions that don't come with xinetd already installed by default, I'll go through the process of getting and installing xinetd from its web site. Those who have access to this tool already or through their distribution's package management system might prefer to install from there insteadlook for the distribution version first, that will make your life much easier since it will ensure your distribution knows the program is installed.

Point your browser to the xinetd site, and download the source file. You'll find that it's remarkably small, and that the installation is a pretty standard process. To compile and install this software, do the following:

1. Uncompress and unpackage it by typing tar xzvf xinetd-version*. You might find as I did that, oddly, the file came through with an extra .tar on the end. You'll need to rename the file so that it ends in .tar.gz, not .tar.gz.tar, if that happens to you.
2. Change to the directory created during this process.
3. Type ./configure to run the autoconfiguration routine. You might be told that you need to add particular software packages. If so, do that now, and start Step 3 again.
4. Type make to compile the program. The speed of your machine, its RAM, and what else you're doing all are factors in how long this process will take. However, even on my PIII 450 it took less than five minutes.
5. Type make install to put the package and its files into place. This process finishes quite fast.
6. If you want to base your xinetd configuration on your current inetd configuration, then make sure you have Perl installed, and then type the following as suggested by the xinetd team:

   xinetd/xconv.pl < /etc/inetd.conf > /tmp/xinetd.conf
   

That's the first stage. Notice that your new configuration file was copied into /tmp. Do not try to use the default file. It likely won't work.

Next: Understanding xinetd Configuration Files »