Files
oldlinux-files/docs/Install-Guide/install-guide-2.2.2/node190.html
2024-02-19 00:23:35 -05:00

80 lines
4.4 KiB
HTML

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3O//DTD W3 HTML 2.0//EN">
<!Converted with LaTeX2HTML 95.1 (Fri Jan 20 1995) by Nikos Drakos (nikos@cbl.leeds.ac.uk), CBLU, University of Leeds >
<HEAD>
<TITLE>4.10.2 Setting the hostname</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<meta name="description" value="4.10.2 Setting the hostname">
<meta name="keywords" value="gs">
<meta name="resource-type" value="document">
<meta name="distribution" value="global">
<P>
<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html4178 HREF="node191.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4176 HREF="node188.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4172 HREF="node189.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4180 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4181 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4179 HREF="node191.html">4.11 What To Do </A>
<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4177 HREF="node188.html">4.10 Miscellaneous Tasks</A>
<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4173 HREF="node189.html">4.10.1 System startup files</A>
<BR> <HR> <P>
<H2><A NAME=SECTION006102000000000000000>4.10.2 Setting the hostname</A></H2>
<A NAME=secsethostname>&#160;</A>
<A NAME=5055>&#160;</A>
<A NAME=5095>&#160;</A>
In a networked
environment, the hostname is used to uniquely identify a particular
machine, while in a standalone environment the hostname just gives
the system personality and charm. It's like naming a pet: you can
always address to your dog as ``The dog,'' but it's much more interesting
to assign the dog a name such as Spot or Woofie.
<P>
Setting the system's hostname is a simple matter of using the
<tt>hostname</tt> command. If you are on a network, your
hostname should be the full hostname of your machine, such as
<tt>goober.norelco.com</tt>. If you are not on a network of any kind,
you can choose an arbitrary host and domainname, such as
<tt>loomer.vpizza.com</tt>, <tt>shoop.nowhere.edu</tt>, or <tt>floof.org</tt>.
<P>
When setting the hostname, the hostname must appear in the file
<tt>/etc/hosts</tt>, which assigns an IP address to each host. Even
if your machine is not on a network, you should include your own hostname
in <tt>/etc/hosts</tt>.
<P>
For example, if you are not on a TCP/IP network, and your hostname
is <tt>floof.org</tt>, simply include the following line in <tt>/etc/hosts</tt>:
<P><TT> 127.0.0.1 floof.org localhost
<P></TT>
This assigns your hostname, <tt>floof.org</tt>, to the loopback address
127.0.0.1 (used if you're not on a network). The <tt>localhost</tt>
alias is also assigned to this address.
<P>
If you are on a TCP/IP network, however, your real IP address and hostname
should appear in <tt>/etc/hosts</tt>. For example, if your hostname is
<tt>goober.norelco.com</tt>, and your IP address is 128.253.154.32, add
the following line to <tt>/etc/hosts</tt>:
<P><TT> 128.253.154.32 goober.norelco.com
<P></TT>
<P>
If your hostname does not appear in <tt>/etc/hosts</tt>, you will
not be able to set it.
<P>
To set your hostname, simply use the <tt>hostname</tt> command. For
example, the command
<P><TT> # <em>hostname -S goober.norelco.com</em>
<P></TT>
sets the hostname to <tt>goober.norelco.com</tt>. In most cases, the
<tt>hostname</tt> command is executed from one of the system startup
files, such as <tt>/etc/rc</tt> or <tt>/etc/rc.local</tt>. Edit these
two files and change the <tt>hostname</tt> command found there to
set your own hostname; upon rebooting the system the hostname will
be set to the new value.
<P>
<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html4178 HREF="node191.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4176 HREF="node188.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4172 HREF="node189.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4180 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html4181 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4179 HREF="node191.html">4.11 What To Do </A>
<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4177 HREF="node188.html">4.10 Miscellaneous Tasks</A>
<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html4173 HREF="node189.html">4.10.1 System startup files</A>
<BR> <HR> <P>
<BR> <HR>
<P><ADDRESS>
<I>Matt Welsh <BR>
mdw@sunsite.unc.edu</I>
</ADDRESS>
</BODY>