[comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains] Why keep /etc/hosts?

thorinn@DIKU.DK (Lars Henrik Mathiesen) (11/15/90)

Most UNIX systems are set up in a way that uses name<->address
translation before named is started during the boot process (starting
with ifconfig xx0 `hostname`). So you have to have a small /etc/hosts
on each host. It should contain localhost, the host itself, and any
other hosts you might want to access (or allow access) in single user
state; you probably need YP (NIS) servers and NFS servers for diskless
machines, as well, to avoid problems with sequencing. On some Sun
systems, for example, named uses getservbyname which is a YP service.

The easiest solution for us was just to keep a centrally updated
/etc/hosts of all, and only, our own machines, and then rdist.

--
Lars Mathiesen, DIKU, U of Copenhagen, Denmark      [uunet!]mcsun!diku!thorinn
Institute of Datalogy -- we're scientists, not engineers.      thorinn@diku.dk