Domainname and how to deal with /etc/hosts [Solved]

nein · Guru Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 346 Location: Spain

Hi,

I did not set the domain name for my laptop during the installation, but yesterday I decided I did not want to see the greeting "This is myhost.(none)" at the login prompt.
I edited /etc/dnsdomainname and wrote "valhala" in it and added dnsdomainname to the defualt boot level.

Next time I rebooted I expected to see "This is myhost.valhala" but I still get "(none)" as domain. In my desktop box it did work but for that box I have a real domain name and not just a fake one.

Any ideas about what is happening ?

yosi · Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2004 8:58 am Post subject:

shouldn't you have this line

domain valhala

before "nameserver" in resolv.conf?
thats what I have
_________________
// yosi

nein · Guru Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 346 Location: Spain

I don't have my laptop here. I will report later but it sounds good. I forgot about resolv.conf

smart · Guru Joined: 19 Nov 2002 Posts: 455

nein · Guru Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 346 Location: Spain

I edited the /etc/hosts file and it did the trick . Thanks

Now the question is, do I need to change /etc/hosts manually if I get my ip address by DHCP ? Is there a way to get this file updated automatically after eth0 gets configured.

I know how to patch /etc/hosts with a script or by editing /etc/init.d/net.eth0, but I was wondering if this has already been solved

smart · Guru Joined: 19 Nov 2002 Posts: 455

nein · Guru Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 346 Location: Spain

Thank you very much. First I was surprised because that was how my /etc/hosts looked like before posting. So I thought I had to add another entry with the eth0 ip address.

Having a look at my backups I noticed the change that makes the difference:
I had:

powdahound · n00b Joined: 21 Jan 2004 Posts: 26 Location: NH, USA

Incoming noob questions here...

I set /etc/dnsdomainname and I still get "atomic.(none)" when I boot up. How do I add dnsdomainname to startup? I don't see any script for it in /etc/init.d/

When I start up I see the line "Setting DNS domainname to powdahound.com... [ok]" but I still show up as atomic.(none)...

Thanks.

nein · Guru Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 346 Location: Spain

See my previous post. In /etc/hosts you need a line like this one:

127.0.0.1 atomic.powdahound.com localhost

It seems that the domain name is read form /etc/hosts so you have to give the full name of your computer in that file.

powdahound · n00b Joined: 21 Jan 2004 Posts: 26 Location: NH, USA

Ah ok. I had 127.0.0.1 atomic localhost
Didn't know I needed the full thing.

Think it'd be a little more clear...

Although now when I start up apache2 fails to start saying

cdunham · Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2004 8:55 pm Post subject:

This seems so un-Gentoo like.

What I really want to be able to do is manage machine names through dnsmasq, and do as little locally as possible, and have other things work. To wit:

- /etc/ethers contains MAC to IP mappings (works, optional)
- dnsmasq server /etc/hosts has IP to A mappings (works)
- workstations get IP address, ntp server, proxy server, host name, routes, etc. etc. through DHCP (works)
- workstations know that 'localhost' is 127.0.0.1 and login prompts, etc. all show host name or fqdn (not working)

If /etc/hosts contains

cdunham · Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2004 8:57 pm Post subject:

Oh, and having the fqdn in /etc/hosts, the hostname in /etc/hostname, the domain in both /etc/resolv.conf AND /etc/dnsdomainname (where is is aparently ignored by everyone except dnsdomainname(1), for some reason), is both redunant and counter to the desire to centrally manage host names without having to set them in the workstations.
_________________
This post more meaningful in a scalar context.