From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Nov 20 14:54:53 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3A46D16A4E3 for ; Thu, 20 Nov 2003 14:54:53 -0800 (PST) Received: from smtpout.mac.com (A17-250-248-85.apple.com [17.250.248.85]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6D7C743FE9 for ; Thu, 20 Nov 2003 14:54:52 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from cswiger@mac.com) Received: from mac.com (smtpin07-en2 [10.13.10.152]) by smtpout.mac.com (Xserve/MantshX 2.0) with ESMTP id hAKMshWQ025472; Thu, 20 Nov 2003 14:54:43 -0800 (PST) Received: from [10.1.1.193] (dpvc-68-161-244-25.ny325.east.verizon.net [68.161.244.25]) (authenticated bits=0)hAKMsgPd025278; Thu, 20 Nov 2003 14:54:43 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: References: Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v606) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Message-Id: <8734D8C5-1BAC-11D8-B94F-003065ABFD92@mac.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Charles Swiger Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 17:54:42 -0500 To: fbsd_user@a1poweruser.com X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.606) cc: "freebsd-questions@FreeBSD. ORG" Subject: Re: need info on hostname X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 22:54:53 -0000 On Nov 20, 2003, at 5:34 PM, fbsd_user wrote: > Thanks for your reply, but you missed the meaning of my question. I > am not interested in how hostname is used on the public internet and > DNS stuff, I know that stuff. I want to know what the FBSD operating > system does with it. Nothing, particularly. The FreeBSD operating system doesn't care what hostname you set, or even whether you set one at all: you could use localhost to refer to the current machine (via the 127.0.0.1 loopback interface) if the hostname was not explicitly set. > More explicatively during the install of FBSD > when asked to fill in the hostname prompt, what informative > information should be given to the user so they can enter the > correct stuff. Reading the /etc/hosts file provides no useful info. > Is there any place in FBSD that explains how to fill in the install > hostname prompt during the install? If you're configuring a standalone machine, the hostname doesn't matter. If one is configuring a machine to run on a network, one asks your local network admin, or ISP, or whoever is responsible for that network to provide you with the "network configuration" information. Often, simply using DHCP (run "dhclient" from the command line) to configure the machine will set all of this for you. -- -Chuck