Re: Host Name Problem

["Anthony E . Greene" <agreene pobox com>]

On Sun, 31 Dec 2000 14:46:51 Rik Burt wrote:
>1.  Can I give my computer its own hostname?

Yes, use the "hostname" command. If you only have one interface (the LAN
card using DHCP) then make your hosts file look like this:

127.0.0.1	localhost.localdomain		localhost	mycomputername

That entry ignores the LAN card and assigns your computer's name to the
loopback interface. That way it will have a stable IP address that does not
depend on the address assigned by your ISP. GNOME and other network apps
should operate correctly like this.

If you have a second interface (a LAN card connected to an internal network)
then I would recommend adding a second entry and putting the computer's
hostname there:

127.0.0.1	localhost.localdomain		localhost
192.168.1.1	mycomputername.localdomain	mycomputername

>2.  If not then where in all the data my ISP provides through DHCP is my
>hostname or is it even there?

The data that the ISP provides may include a hostname, or it may not. All
you really need from them is:

 - an IP address for your LAN card

 - the address of their gateway

 - the address of their DNS server(s)


Tony
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