Hi

i m using slackware 12 that has a hostname "localhost". i want to change that name but dont know how. i ll be glad if anyone can help.

i have used "hostname newname " but when i restart computer it's changed into localhost again.

I don't know slackware but see if there is a /etc/sysconfig/network file.

Brian

localhost is a necessary name, in /etc/hosts.

To change your hostname, type as root: (for example) hostname myhostname, or add aliases to the hosts file (in addition to localhost, not instead of).

example /etc/hosts:

127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.1 superlinuxbox.somedomain.net superlinuxbox

man hostname for more details.

In slackware, there is an additional file /etc/HOSTNAME
I am not sure if the hostname command changes this file, but it should match whatever is in /etc/hosts. Edit it if necessary. It should only contain the hostname and (optionally) domain, not the IP.
i.e. superlinuxbox.somedomain.net or simply superlinuxbox

Thank you for your reply brian..

That's the problem. There is no /etc/sysconfig/network file. Can't change it.

i think it's not that neccessary cause i have changed

127.0.0.1 anyname
127.0.0.1 anyname.somename.net anyname

and it works (:.

Btw there is no /etc/HOSTNAME file in slackware. i was looking for it. And as i said before "hostname newhostname" does not work when i restart pc it changed into "localhost" again .

Now try to ping localhost and I bet it fails. Removing that alias will break some things. I highly recommend restoring it.

There is, or at least definitely should be a /etc/HOSTNAME file (match case) in any default slackware installation. If it doesn't exist, create it. Add a line containing anyname.somename.net and all should be well. It needs to belong to root.root with 644 permissions.

Yeap it works.
That was my mistake. i was looking for /etc/hostname instead of /etc/HOSTNAME ..
Now it works. My hostname is changed when i change /etc/HOSTNAME.

Thanx.

I second this recommendation.

If you need a quick and safe way try netconfig command as root. With it you can change the name of the machine as well. Default is darkstar.

I wish there was a GUI way in Slackware to modify only the box host name, without having to use netconfig. By GUI I include ncurses. Yes, there is the trusty command line, which I use almost daily, but newbies are not inclined to use the command line.

Any script wizards here who can snip the host name code from netconfig and create a separate utility? The new option also should appear in pkgtools/setup. Ideally the netconfig script calls the hostname script in order not to duplicate code. I'm available for testing.

Oh, come on... If a user can't be bothered to open *any* text editor to edit /etc/HOSTNAME, then I don't know what to say.

By the way, since nobody mentioned it, it's pretty simple to go ahead and change the box's hostname after editing that file too (no reboot required)

I'm not offended or upset that most computer users avoid the command line. I use the command line and text editor regularly, but I do not expect typical computer users to follow. My non-expectation partly drives why I maintain my Slackware Desktop Enhancement Guide.

I don't expect Slackware ever to evolve into a distro that typical users embrace, but that does not mean Slackware would not benefit from certain user interface tweaks. The number one hit at my web site Slackware Desktop Enhancement Guide is how to configure the mouse scroll wheel. Mouse scroll wheels have been around for years and Slackware still does not automate that configuration. Next popular at my web site are nuisance messages, configuring the bash startup scripts, installing GRUB, configuring a GUI startup, and configuring ntpd. I interpret these repeated hits to mean that Slackware would benefit from some simple tweaks, even if those tweaks were in the ncurses pkgtools setup applets.

Although modifying the host name is straightforward for typical Slackers, I remain available for testing if anybody creates a new pkgtool applet script to configure only the host name.

12.0 handles that just fine, or rather, the version of X in 12.0 does. Run X -configure and you'll see

All of those are worth discussion and/or howto-style documents, but since they're user and/or system specific things, there's only so much that can be done in Slackware proper.

Is it something wrong with using localhost or domain name as hostname?

If there's more than one computer on the network or domain then trying to access a remote machine named 'localhost' would be a pretty frustrating exercise.