HOSTS(5,F)                  AIX TCP/IP User's Guide                  HOSTS(5,F)



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hosts



PURPOSE

Contains information regarding the known hosts on the network.

SYNOPSIS

/etc/hosts

DESCRIPTION

The hosts file contains information regarding the known hosts on the network.
A single line should be present, for each host, including the following
information:

   internet_address
   official_host_name
   aliases (optional)

Items are separated by any number of blanks or tab characters.  A # indicates
the beginning of a comment; characters up to the end of the line are not
interpreted by routines which search the file.

When using the nameserver named, this file provides a backup when the
nameserver is not running.  For the nameserver, it is suggested that only a few
addresses be filed.  These include addresses for the local interfaces that the
ifconfig command needs at boot time and a few machines on the local network.

This file may be created from the official host data base maintained at the
Network Information Control Center (NIC), though local changes may be required
to bring it up-to-date regarding unofficial aliases or unknown hosts.  As the
data base maintained at NIC is incomplete, use of the nameserver is recommended
for sites on the DARPA Internet.

Network addresses are specified in the conventional (.) notation using the
inet_addr routine.  Host names may contain any printable character other than a
field delimiter, new line, or comment character.

EXAMPLES












Processed October 29, 1990        HOSTS(5,F)                                  1

HOSTS(5,F)                  AIX TCP/IP User's Guide                  HOSTS(5,F)



  127.0.0.1                   localhost
  193.255.2.1                 fafnir
  193.255.2.2                 frodo
  193.255.2.3                 atlas
  193.255.2.4                 swords
  193.255.2.5                 hardy
  193.255.2.6                 sirius
  193.255.2.7                 coins
  193.255.2.8                 spica
  193.255.2.9                 smeagol
  193.255.2.10                antares
  193.255.10.10               antares.tkr
  193.255.2.11                darryl
  193.255.2.12                polaris

FILES

/etc/hosts

RELATED INFORMATION

In this book:
"ifconfig"
"named"
gethostbyname, refer to the AIX Operating System Technical Reference
inet_addr, inet_network, inet_ntoa, inet_makeaddr, inet_inaof, inet_netof;
refer to the AIX Operating System Technical Reference




























Processed October 29, 1990        HOSTS(5,F)                                  2