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 your storage system'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 storage system. The contents of the default file are as follows:

hosts: files nis dns

passwd: files nis ldap

netgroup: files nis ldap

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 Data ONTAP System Administration Guide and the na_nsswitch.conf(5) man 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 the /etc/nsswitch.conf file does not exist in your storage system'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 the /etc/nsswitch.conf file does not exist in your storage system'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.