 |
Index for Section 4 |
|
 |
Alphabetical listing for H |
|
 |
Bottom of page |
|
hosts(4)
NAME
hosts - The host name data base
SYNOPSIS
/etc/hosts
DESCRIPTION
The hosts file contains information regarding the known hosts on the
network. For each host a single line should be present with the following
information:
IP_address canonical_hostname aliases
Items are separated by any number of blanks and/or tab characters. The #
(number sign) indicates the beginning of a comment; characters up to the
end of the line are not interpreted by routines which search the file.
The following is an example of an /etc/hosts file:
127.0.0.1 localhost
192.168.201.38 esterbrook.stylos.plume.net esterbrook este es
192.168.201.3 wirt.stylos.plume.net wirt # DNS server
192.168.201.6 eclipse.stylos.plume.net eclipse # DNS server
192.168.112.155 carter.stylos.plume.net carter # NIS server
192.168.112.163 chilton.stylos.plume.net chilton # NIS server
The first two or more entries include the default 127.0.0.1 loopback
interface and any local network interfaces that the ifconfig command needs
when you boot your system. In this case, there is one (primary) network
interface on the local system. It is called esterbrook, but because it has
such a long name, users on the local system can refer to it by the aliases
este or es for convenience.
The remaining entries are for other hosts in your network. If you are not
running a naming service, such as BIND, you need to add an entry for any
system to which you will refer by a host name. If you are running a naming
service, you need only add entries for the most critical systems with which
you will communicate. In the event that the naming service fails, the
hosts file will serve as a backup.
This file may be created from the official host data base maintained at the
Network Information Control Center (NIC), though local changes may be
required to bring it up to date regarding unofficial aliases and/or unknown
hosts. As the data base maintained at NIC is incomplete, use of the name
server is recommend for sites on the DARPA Internet.
Network addresses are specified in the conventional . notation using the
inet_addr() routine from the Internet address manipulation library,
inet_addr(3). Host names may contain any printable character other than a
field delimiter, newline, or comment character.
SEE ALSO
Commands: ifconfig(8), named(8)
Functions: gethostbyname(3)
 |
Index for Section 4 |
|
 |
Alphabetical listing for H |
|
 |
Top of page |
|