Jun 8 14:57:50 rinetd[21939]: accept(0): Socket operation on non-socket

For the record.

Jun 8 14:57:50 rinetd[21939]: accept(0): Socket operation on non-socket

I had this syslog message filling my hard disk due to a configuration problem of rinetd.

I was setting it to list in a IP address which was not set to the network interfaces. I usually setup many IP’s for external interfaces in a host. I had disabled a certain IP for some time (ip addr del ..) and rinetd got crazy.

Fix: check what IP it is trying to listen in.
# /etc/init.d/rinetd stop

# tail -f /var/log/syslog |less

in another screen:

# /etc/init.d/rinetd start

You will see:

Jun 8 14:57:48 rinetd[21939]: couldn’t bind to address port (Cannot assign requested address)
Jun 8 14:57:48 rinetd[21939]: Starting redirections…

Then just go and remove that reference in rinetd.conf and you’re done.