[comp.unix.internals] Now that resolver is used, mail ignores 'mailhost' in /etc/hosts

unhd (Roger Gonzalez ) (11/30/90)

System: Sun 3/160 running SunOS 4.1, *no* YP

I had been having problems getting ftp, telnet, finger, etc. to use the
nameserver.  I received a suggestion to rebuild /usr/lib/libc.so with
the inclusion of some .o's from libresolv.a.  This worked pretty well;
all address resolution was now done through the nameserver.  Unfortunately,
this makes /etc/hosts completely ignored.  Its not *that* intolerable,
but the /etc/hosts contained some convenient nicknames for local machines
that the resolver doesn't know about.  C'est la vie.

Worse, however, is the fact that sendmail no longer knows what 'mailhost'
is.  Outgoing mail is completely dead with regards to non-local sites.
Am I doing something wrong, or are there some changes that I need to make
in sendmail.cf?

thanks,
Roger

-- 
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting
 than the question of whether a submarine can swim" - Edsgar W. Dijkstra 
rg@unhd.unh.edu               |  UNH Marine Systems Engineering Laboratory
r_gonzalez@unhh.bitnet        |  Durham, NH  03824-3525

rbj@uunet.UU.NET (Root Boy Jim) (12/11/90)

In article <1990Nov30.135031.25038@uunet!unhd> rg@unhd.unh.edu (Roger Gonzalez ) writes:
>System: Sun 3/160 running SunOS 4.1, *no* YP

>I had been having problems getting ftp, telnet, finger, etc. to use the
>nameserver.  I received a suggestion to rebuild /usr/lib/libc.so with
>the inclusion of some .o's from libresolv.a.  This worked pretty well;
>all address resolution was now done through the nameserver.  Unfortunately,
>this makes /etc/hosts completely ignored.  Its not *that* intolerable,
>but the /etc/hosts contained some convenient nicknames for local machines
>that the resolver doesn't know about.  C'est la vie.

So add your nicknames to your nameserver database with CNAME records.
The easiest place is in your named.local file. I put things there
because (1) the info never changes (2) this is the one domain that
everyone is an authority for. Purists may groan, as the information
really doesn't "belong" there, but it works.

;
;	@(#)named.local	1.1	(Berkeley)	86/01/21
;
@	IN	SOA	host.do.main postmaster.host.do.main  (
			        901106	; Serial
                                3600	; Refresh
                                300	; Retry
                                3600000	; Expire
                                14400 )	; Minimum
	IN	NS	host.do.main
1	IN	PTR	LOCALHOST.
;
;	*** Add Alises Here *** DON'T FORGET THE DOTS!
;
mailhost.	IN	CNAME	localhost.
loghost.	IN	CNAME	localhost.
-- 

	Root Boy Jim Cottrell <rbj@uunet.uu.net>
	Close the gap of the dark year in between