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Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 12:13:52 -0400
From: kelly@fsl.noaa.gov (Sean Kelly)
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To: kcw@grumpy.ksc.nasa.gov
Cc: questions@FreeBSD.org
In-Reply-To: <9504181312.AA08658@grumpy.ksc.nasa.gov> (kcw@grumpy.ksc.nasa.gov)
Subject: Re: PPP and dynamic IPs
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>>>>> "Ken" == Ken Whedbee <kcw@grumpy.ksc.nasa.gov> writes:

    Ken> I'm connecting to the internet (from FreeBSD2.0 patched)
    Ken> through a dialup PPP (Internet Service Provider) account
    Ken> which assigns an IP number dynamically.

Same here, although at work we're supposedly getting permanently
assigned IP addresses for our home hosts ... waiting ... waiting ...

    Ken> My question is, do I have to setup anything in my /etc/hosts
    Ken> and /etc/host.conf files or should my machine become aware of
    Ken> its IP automagically ?

Nah, no need to do anything special.

    Ken> Do I need to specify my hostname in the /etc/hosts file ?

Pick any host name and IP address you want.

    Ken> What order should DNS lookup and /etc/hosts lookup be in the
    Ken> /etc/host.conf file ?

I think any order will work; but I use /etc/hosts first for when I'm
not connected to my service provider.

    Ken> I was tring to talk to the ISP's nntp server (telnet to the
    Ken> port number) and it was saying "host not in nntp access file
    Ken> .. error code 502".  The ISP claims their floating IPs are in
    Ken> the nntp access file.

They're lying.

    Ken> If I ping myself it shows the dynamically assigned IP.

Good.

    Ken> Any insights ?

I haven't had a good insight in years.

--
Sean Kelly
NOAA Forecast Systems Lab, Boulder Colorado USA

If they ever come up with a swashbuckling school, I think one of the
courses should be Laughing, Then Jumping Off Something.
-- Jack Handey