Why is my domain set to btopenworld.com?

ageo · 12-28-2007, 07:34 PM

Hi!

In my local network, I connect a laptop that's set for DHCP, and I noticed that the hostname is being set to <ip>.in-addr.btopenworld.com. Laptop is running Fedora 7 (no SE Linux because I have Oracle services and configuring them through the Linux firewall is a pain.

I have a Lynksys router and all workstations connect to that. Another pc that has a fixed IP gets the domain I have set for my local network.

Why is this happening?

reddazz · 12-28-2007, 07:47 PM

Is the DHCP option enabled on your router and did you configure Fedora to not change the hostname via dhcp using the network configuration tool?

ageo · 12-29-2007, 12:27 AM

Router is set to DHCP. Laptop is set to obtain address dynamically (DHCP) but I'm explicitly setting the hostname.

When I issue the command hostname I see the hostname I set. But when I ssh into another box I get the reply...

Last login: Fri Dec 28 23:24:21 2007 from host<local-IP>.in-addr.btopenworld.com

And then if I issue the command "who" I see...

<user> pts/0 2007-12-28 23:27 (host<local-IP>.in-addr.btopenworld.com)

I did not see an option in Fedora 7 where I'm allowing the hostname to be set/changed dynamically.

reddazz · 12-29-2007, 02:02 PM

Instead of setting the hostname using the hostname command, have you tried using system-config-network to do this and then reboot?

ageo · 12-30-2007, 10:34 AM

>>Instead of setting the hostname using the hostname command, have you tried using system-config-network to do this and then reboot?<<

The hostname is set in the system-config-network utility. If I append the domain right there in the hostname field it all gets set as a hostname. I don't see a field to set the domain name explicitly unless I'm using a static IP.

It is the domainname what is being changed somehow to btopenworld.com.

Thx!

reddazz · 01-01-2008, 09:24 AM

How about setting the host and domain name in /etc/sysconfig/network. Does that make any difference?

PTrenholme · 01-01-2008, 10:21 AM

Could that information be set by your DNS lookup? I looked atbtopenworld on whois and found a U.K. site offering broadband access and modems, and they own the whole 213.-.-.- address range, so, if you're using an address in that range, DNS will, I presume, return btopenworld (Which, I assume, is an abbreviation for "British Telecoms Open World.")

Note: The above is just a guess, since I've never had occasion to use ssh, and have no idea if it uses a reverse DNS lookup to find the name of the address to which it's pointed.

reddazz · 01-01-2008, 10:38 AM

You are correct, BT OpenWorld is a British Telecom ISP. I know some distros have an option to "override" the settings sent by the DNS server so on the local network you should see your hostname.domain instead of the your ISPs. I thought system-config-network had this option, but I've just realised that I was thinking about the Mandriva network configuration tool.