Changing the host name search order

How the host name search order is determined

If you use more than one method for host name resolution, you must specify the order in which each name resolution service is used. This order is specified in the /etc/nsswitch.conf file in the filer's root volume.

The default /etc/nsswitch.conf file

Data ONTAP creates a default nsswitch.conf file when you run the setup command on your filer. The contents of the default file are as follows:

hosts: files nis dns

passwd: files nis ldap

netgroup: files nis

group: files nis ldap

shadow: files nis

Note
Only the hosts entry in the /etc/nsswitch.conf file pertains to host name resolution. For information about other entries, see the Storage Management Guide and the NetApp nsswitch.con(5) manual page.

By default, the host information is searched in the following order:

/etc/hosts file
NIS
DNS

If you want to change this order, you can do so in either of these ways:

By using FilerView
See Changing the host name search order with FilerView.
By editing the /etc/nsswitch.conf file
See Editing the /etc/nsswitch.conf file.

Changing the host name search order with FilerView

To change the host name search order with FilerView, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	In FilerView, click Network in the list on the left.
2	In the list under Network, click Manage DNS and NIS Name Service.
3	In the Name Service section, select the desired values in the Hosts drop-down lists.

Editing the /etc/nsswitch.conf file

To change the order in which Data ONTAP searches for host information, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	If an /etc/nsswitch.conf file does not exist in the filer's root volume, create it.
2	Edit the file, entering each line in the following format: map: service ... map for the host name resolution service is hosts. service is one or more of the following: `files, dns, nis`. For example, to change the resolution order to use NIS exclusively, change the hosts line to read as follows: hosts: nis
3	Save the file.

Step

Action

If an /etc/nsswitch.conf file does not exist in the filer's root volume, create it.

Edit the file, entering each line in the following format:

map: service ...

map for the host name resolution service is hosts.

service is one or more of the following: files, dns, nis.

For example, to change the resolution order to use NIS exclusively, change the hosts line to read as follows:

hosts: nis

Save the file.