# WHATPORT(3986)

## NAME

port 3986 — Unisys MAPPER/BIS workstation server — The workstation-server port of Unisys MAPPER, now sold as Business Information Server (BIS).

Protocol: TCP  
IANA: mapper-ws_ethd

## DESCRIPTION

IANA registers 3986 as mapper-ws_ethd, "MAPPER workstation server". MAPPER is a fourth-generation language and application environment that came out of Sperry Univac in the 1970s and survives as Unisys BIS on ClearPath and Windows; this port carries workstation clients into the server. It is worth knowing that port scanners print "mapper-ws_ethd" for 3986 straight from the IANA name, so a scan label alone is not evidence that a Unisys mainframe environment is present.

## EXPOSURE

**Do not expose.** A line-of-business application server for a mainframe-era environment: front it with a VPN rather than putting the workstation protocol on a public address.

## CHECK

```sh
nc -vz TARGET 3986
```

## SEE ALSO

- docs — [Unisys — Business Information Server for Microsoft Windows (administration guide)](https://public.support.unisys.com/mapper/docs/BIS15.1/78460268-020.pdf) (public.support.unisys.com)
- iana — [IANA port registry — 3986 (mapper-ws_ethd)](https://www.iana.org/assignments/service-names-port-numbers/service-names-port-numbers.xhtml?search=3986) (iana.org)

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