Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
TCP/IP Configuration Files
Solaris 9 uses several files to configure the TCP/IP environment. These files
are used to identify both the hostname and the IP address of the system. The
following three files are used to configure TCP/IP:
➤
/etc/inet/hosts
➤
/etc/nodename
➤
/etc/hostname.
interface
The next few sections look at these files in depth.
The /etc/inet/hosts File
The
/etc/hosts
file (which is a symbolic link to
/etc/inet/hosts
) contains
a listing of hostnames and their associated IP addresses. This file is used to
convert hostnames to IP addresses. Table 10.2 summarizes the format of the
/etc/inet/hosts
file.
Table 10.2
The /etc/inet/hosts File Format
Column
Description
IP Address
IP address in dotted decimal notation
Hostname
Hostname or node name of the system
Alias
Alternative hostname(s) for the system
The columns are separated by one or more tab or space characters. If more
than one alias is defined, they should be separated using either spaces or tabs.
At a minimum, the
/etc/inet/hosts
file should contain an entry for localhost (IP
address
127.0.0.1
) and an entry for each network interface installed on the system.
Additional entries can be added to the
/etc/inet/hosts
file for other sys-
tems. This allows access to the remote systems using hostnames instead of IP
addresses.
The /etc/nodename File
The
/etc/nodename
file contains only one entry: the default hostname of the
local system. The hostname or node name should be assigned in accordance
with RFC 952,
DOD Internet Host Table Specification
.
