Hosts (/etc/hosts)

This window allows you to view and edit the /etc/hosts file. Sometimes the filer reads the /etc/hosts file when it needs to resolve host names. Whether the filer uses the file to resolve a name depends on whether you use DNS or NIS (or both), and the order in which the different kinds of name databases are queried. The DNS configuration page, NIS configuration page, and Name service configuration page have more information about configuring name service.

NOTE: If you use DNS, you can configure the filer to use files to look up host addresses before sending queries to the name server. Therefore, it is important that each entry in /etc/hosts contains accurate information. To reduce the need for updating information in /etc/hosts, when using dns, keep only a minimum number of entries in /etc/hosts.If you use nis, you can modify the Makefile of the nis master to copy the nis master's /etc/hosts to the filer when it is changed or you can have the filer use NIS directly.

The window provides the following information for the known hosts in the network:

• IP address: The IP address of the host in conventional "." (dot) notation.
• Host name: The official name of the host.
• Aliases: The names of any aliases associated with the host.

The window also provides buttons that allow you to add hosts to, or modify and delete hosts in the /etc/hosts file. The window provides the following buttons:

• Reload. Click this button to reload the existing /etc/hosts file from the filer.
• Save. Click this button to save the changes to the /etc/hosts file. Changes to the /etc/hosts file take effect immediately; however, if you change the IP address for a network interface, the new IP address will not take effect until you reboot the filer.

  NOTE: You should reboot the filer after changing any /etc file to make sure the new configuration works correctly.

• Insert. Click anywhere in the display box and click Insert to add a host to the /etc/hosts file.
• Modify. Click the appropriate host in the display box and click Modify to modify the information for a host in the /etc/hosts file.
• Delete. Click the appropriate host in the display box and click Delete to delete a host from the /etc/hosts file.