NAME

networks − network name database

/etc/inet/networks
/etc/networks

DESCRIPTION

The networks file is a local source of information regarding the networks which comprise the Internet.  The networks  file can be used in conjunction with, or instead of, other networks sources, including the NIS maps networks.byname and networks.byaddr and the NIS+ table networks.  Programs use the getnetbyname(3N) routines to access this information. 

The network file has a single line for each network, with the following information:

official-network-namenetwork-numberaliases

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.  This file is normally created from the official network database 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. 

Network numbers may be specified in the conventional dot (‘.’) notation using the inet_network routine from the Internet address manipulation library, inet(7P).  Network names may contain any printable character other than a field delimiter, NEWLINE, or comment character. 

SEE ALSO

getnetbyaddr(3N), getnetbyname(3N), inet(3N), nsswitch.conf(4), inet(7P)

NOTES

The official SVR4 name of the networks file is /etc/inet/networks.  The symbolic link /etc/networks exists for BSD compatibility. 

The network database does not support subnet masks in general, so getnetbyaddr(3N) cannot differentiate between networks of 11.128.0.0/255.192.0.0 and 11.128.0.0/255.240.0.0. 

SunOS 5.6  —  Last change: 2 Jun 1997