networks(4)                                              networks(4)


       NAME
             networks - network name data base

       SYNOPSIS
             /etc/networks

       DESCRIPTION
             The networks file contains information regarding the known
             networks which comprise the DARPA Internet.  This file is
             normally created from the official network 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 and/or unknown networks.

          Files
             /var/yp/domainname/networks.byaddr      Corresponding NIS map
                                                     containing names of
                                                     networks know to your
                                                     system and their IP
                                                     addresses.  The IP
                                                     address is the key in
                                                     the map.
             /var/yp/domainname/networks.byname      Same as
                                                     networks.byaddr,
                                                     except key is name of
                                                     network instead of IP
                                                     address.

       USAGE
             The networks file allows the usage of symbolic names instead
             of an IP address in the output of networking commands (for
             example, netstat -r).

             For each network a single line should be present with the
             following information:

                   network-name network-number aliases

             Items are separated by any number of SPACE and/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.

             network-number may be specified in the conventional `.'
             notation (for example, 193.4.56.0) using the inet_network
             routine from the Internet address manipulation library,


                           Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 1

      networks(4)                                              networks(4)


            inet(3N).

            network-name may contain any printable character other than a
            field delimiter, NEWLINE, or comment character.

            When the Network Information Service (NIS) is in use, it
            references the NIS maps networks.byaddr or networks.byname on
            the NIS server instead of /etc/networks.

      REFERENCES
            getnetent(3N), inet(7), netstat(1M)

      NOTICES
            A name server should be used instead of a static file.  A
            binary indexed file format should be available for fast
            access.
































                          Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 2