In OpenBSD 5.6, the prototype and man-page for hosts.equiv(5) have disappeared. However, this file is still referenced in sshd_config(5) and (if I'm searching the sources correctly) in /usr/src/usr.bin/ssh auth-rhosts.c which is included in the sshd/Makefile.
Is the removal accidental or an indication that its use is deprecated? If the latter, what is the [new] recommended "best practices" for HostBasedAuthentication within a cluster of trusted servers? Thanks in advance.