Where is "/etc/HOSTNAME"?

correro · 03-17-2003, 03:05 AM

I remember there was "/etc/HOSTNAME" in RedHat 7.x, in which the hostname is specified. But I did not find this file in RedHat 8.0

Does RH8 rely on another file for hostname? What is that file?

doublefailure · 03-17-2003, 03:14 AM

i don't use redhat8
but prolly changing /etc/hosts would work
add
127.0.0.1 yourhostname.abc.com yourhostname

u can change abc.com whatever u like or put your actual dns if u have one

correro · 03-17-2003, 03:25 AM

"/etc/hosts" is supposed to be read by "named".

If "named" is not running locally, how would the system know what the local hostname is?

acid_kewpie · 03-17-2003, 03:31 AM

/etc/hosts is not for named, it's for everythign that wants to resolve a host name

the acutal hostname file is normally in /etc/sysconfig/hostname afaik

correro · 03-17-2003, 03:46 AM

But I didn't fine "hostname" in "/etc/sysconfig/". Are you sure it should be sitting there? And "/etc/HOSTNAME" no longer exists in RH8?

michaelk · 03-17-2003, 06:54 AM

The actual file name is called network located in the /etc/sysconfig folder. Change the hostname= line.

The command hostname will display or change the PC hostname.

nakkaya · 03-17-2003, 02:44 PM

/etc/HOSTNAME is /etc/hosts thats where u configure your hostname

correro · 03-17-2003, 09:51 PM

So there are "/etc/hosts" and "/etc/sysconfig/network", in both of which I can modify the hostname. Is this correct?

What would be the safe way to do this without causing problems to hostname-related services (like sendmail, etc.)?

Unseen · 03-18-2003, 09:54 AM

I just changed my /etc/sysconfig/network file to reflect my desired hostname. This changed it effectively for everything... I don't have sendmail running on this particular machine, so I couldn't answer that particular question...

correro · 03-18-2003, 07:10 PM

will the files keep consistent automatically?

that is, if you specify hostname in "/etc/hosts", it will be reflected in "/etc/sysconfig/network", and vice versa. is this correct?

rmartine · 03-18-2003, 07:17 PM

THANK YOU CORRERO!!! I had been pulling my hair out forever trying to change the hostname. I tried chasing the script files around to see who sets or checks the HOSTNAME var but I couldn't find it. Freaking RedHat moved it. I used to just change the value in /etc/HOSTNAME.

On another note, changing the HOSTNAME in /etc/sysconfig/network did not change /etc/hosts. Mine still says localhost.localdomain. Should I change that also to be consistent??

Thanks again

correro · 03-18-2003, 07:26 PM

you know what, i'm always the one who asks questions. this is the first time that someone thanked me for my posts

now i understand why there're so many helping hands around here

rmartine · 03-18-2003, 08:17 PM

Itzac · 03-19-2003, 03:51 PM

changing /etc/sysconfig/network will change your hostname at next boot time, but some programs will use /etc/hosts, so you have to change that too.

/etc/hosts is really a legacy thing from before DNS. If you want you can alias servers you acces regularly in that file.

Later all,