arp -f

[David Bandel]

On 8/27/06, Man-wai CHANG <mwchang at i-cable.com> wrote:
> What I don't really understand was why an entry in /etc/ethers, follwed
> by arp -f, would deny the listed IP from reaching the host itself?
>

Because he rewrote the arp cache, which contains the ARP<->IP
translation.  So by putting a bogus ARP entry in /etc/ethers and
running arp -f, he shot himself in the foot.  The Linux system no
longer sent out arp-who-has for the system entered in /etc/ethers,
just tried to send to aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff, and since that wasn't your
friends system, the packets went out on the wire and into the bit
bucket.

Ciao,

David A. Bandel
-- 
Focus on the dream, not the competition.
            - Nemesis Air Racing Team motto