[comp.sys.mips] setting uucp nodename: summary of replies

lamy@sobeco.com (Jean-Francois Lamy) (09/01/90)

[ the question was: how do I get a machine called netserv.sobeco.com --
  sysname = netserv, to assume the UUCP node name sobeco. I had in
  mind setting its node name, as netserv is meant to *be* sobeco, not
  merely a backup for a machine named sobeco. ]

As far as the kernel is concerned, calling hostname at boot time does
set all three names (sysname, nodename and hostname).  There is then
no way (using standard utilities) to have the *kernel* think it has a
different nodename.  There is, however, a way to set the name used
for our UUCP connections.

The kludge consists of altering all the MACHINE entries in the BNU/HDB
Permissions file so they contain the option MYNAME=xxx . In this case
this is in effect making our machine an alias for a machine xxx that doesn't
exist, which is something different semantically than telling your machine it
is the one and only xxx.  In particular, we may have to go stomping on things
like mailer config files that will use the kernel node name for UUCP address
rewriting, and god only knows what else.

So we'll probably try both stomping on the nodename and doing it gently
via the Permissions file, to see which makes our life easier...

Jean-Francois Lamy               lamy@sobeco.com, uunet!sobeco!lamy
Groupe Sobeco, 505 ouest, bd Rene-Levesque, Montreal Canada H2Z 1Y7