This isn't exactly a bug, but I think it matters whether 'localhost' appears first in the list of aliases. Changing the order as suggested in the URL removed the unknown_domain string that appears before the login prompt. Reproducible: Sometimes Steps to Reproduce: 1. Please see the URL Actual Results: The dnsdomainname was resolved successfully Expected Results: Not applicable?
I don't really see what message in that entire thread you are referring to. What do you think is wrong with the two /etc/hosts that are listed in the handbook? """ 127.0.0.1 localhost 192.168.0.5 jenny.homenetwork jenny 192.168.0.6 benny.homenetwork benny 192.168.0.7 tux.homenetwork tux """ and """ 127.0.0.1 tux.homenetwork tux localhost """
Fair enough comment. My orignal request in the thread was an attempt at trying to understand how the dnsdomainname is set in the scenario drawn. The reason that mattered is because the welcome message at the login prompt "This is hostname.domainname (Linux ..." didn't work, it displayed "This is hostname.unknown_domain (Linux ...". The specific bit of the documentation that I think isn't completely correct is Code Listing 20 "127.0.0.1 tux.homenetwork tux localhost". I think "127.0.0.1 tux.homenetwork localhost tux" is interpreted differently and on my build it then sets the dnsdomainname correctly. Please see the bit about "hostname -v -d" and "hostname -F < /etc/hosts" in the thread for more details if you need it. I know that it shouldn't matter, but it appears that it does. Thanks
I can't see anything wrong with the current doc either. I remember seeing a lot of confusion about what sets which domain name in the mentioned thread on forums.g.o. I can't read again because f.g.o pining for the fields at the moment. I'll try to sum it up for you: * Setting the hostname You just need the name in /etc/hostname, name only, NO FQDN. # echo "basil" > /etc/hostname Add hostname to your runlevel * Setting the dns domain name You only need to list it in resolv.conf FYI, the init script domainename will only read /etc/dnsdomainname and write it to /etc/resolv.conf. You do not need it in your runlevel. # echo -e "domain a.la.maison\nnameserver x.y.z.t" > /etc/resolv.conf Replace x.y.z.t with your nameserver IP, it could be the internal IP of your router or the IP of your ISP's nameserver. * Login prompt /bin/login displays the hostname previously set up followed by 'login:' What you call the login prompt "This is...." is in fact displayed by agetty and is the content of /etc/issue. # man agetty Edit /etc/issue and replace \o by \O if appropriate. \o (lowercase letter O) is a placeholder for the nis domain name \O (uppercase letter O) is a paceholder for the dns domain name, the one you want. The current default is 'This is \n.\O (\s \m \r) \t' * Resolver # echo "127.0.0.1 basil.a.la.maison basil localhost" > /etc/hosts will do the trick basil ~ # hostname -fv gethostname()=`basil' Resolving `basil' ... Result: h_name=`basil.a.la.maison' Result: h_aliases=`basil' Result: h_aliases=`localhost' Result: h_addr_list=`127.0.0.1' basil.a.la.maison basil ~ # hostname -d a.la.maison Both aliases will resolve to 127.0.0.1: basil ~ # ping -c1 basil PING basil.a.la.maison (127.0.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from basil.a.la.maison (127.0.0.1): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.093 ms basil ~ # ping -c1 localhost PING basil.a.la.maison (127.0.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data. 64 bytes from basil.a.la.maison (127.0.0.1): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.091 ms Please let us know if this does not solve your problem. Hth
Thank you very much for that very detailed and thorough answer. I have two 'differences' 1. "my" /etc/resolv.conf has only one entry and it is 'nameserver 192.168.0.1' which is set from the DHCP server at 192.168.0.1, I assume. That is, there is no domain information in my /etc/resolv.conf file. The dhcp server doesn't provide a domain name as far as I can tell. 2. "my" hostname -fv & hostname -d commands operate as you explain now, however prior to me having "127.0.0.1 hostname.domainname localhost hostname" and NOT "127.0.0.1 hostname.domainname hostname localhost" set in my /etc/hosts, hostname -d couldn't resolve the domainname. 'Strangely', now that it is working, the order doesn't matter anymore! The way that you outline the 'process' is exactly how I expected it to work, but it didn't until I changed my /etc/hosts to have the 127.0.0.1 alias list set with localhost as the first in the list, not second as per the handbook? I'm thinking the 'resolver' as you outline it might care about the order? I suppose that something else could have triggered the 'permanent' change in operation as well, but I didn't do anything else apart from this change? Am happy to 'play' with the system if you need any additional info, but not till tomorrow :-) Lastly, just to clear. 'My' problem is resolved. As far as I know it was resolved by changing the order or the alias list in /etc/hosts, hence my comment/request to have the handbook modified. (I'm guessing from the number of confused unknown_domain posts on the forums that his is happening for others as well, but then I'm a n00b to linux so could just be talking out of my a...) fractoon
Swapping aliases in /etc/hosts may look like it solves your problem but all it does is make a symptom go away. The problem is still there: no domain in /etc/resolv.conf Any reason you want to use your router as a nameserver/dhcp server? Anyway, dhcpcd overwrites /etc/resolv.conf (look for a /etc/resolv.conf.sv) and if your router is not set up to provide a domain name, you won't get any. To prevent dhcpcd from overwriting your /etc/resolv.conf, use -R option in /etc/conf.d/net: dhcpcd_eth0="-R" Looking at /etc/conf.d/net.example, it looks like you can use peer_dns="no"
Thank you for that info Xavier. I understand about 'treating the symptom, not the cause', but the state the laptop (hence the desire for dhcp) is in now doesn't allow for me to experiment as I can not undo the domain resolution after having made that specific change. I'm also assumming that using wlan0 instead of eth0 in my situtation should be fine for configuring the name resolution as suggested? The router is acting as a dhcp server as it is an all-in-one singular device. I can disable this functionality of course, but I' rather fixed the linux box than mess with the router. Anyway ... if anyone has any suggestions as how to 'break' it again so I can try all the other things suggested I'm willing to do so to really get to the bottom of this. The last thing I'll comment on is the fact that prior to swapping the order of the alias list that hostname -vd did not work, coming back with an unknown error? I can't reproduce this though, but you can have look at the forum thread to check the detailed 'error' messages. fractoon
I too think localhost should be listed first after 127.0.0.1 in /etc/hosts, but for a different reason: I have found that to access the 'SWAT' configuration tool for samba (which is run from xinetd) by typing 'http://localhost:901' in my web browser I have to have localhost is listed first. Now... man xinetd.conf says that with 'only_from' set to 'localhost' (which is the default), xinetd will do a reverse lookup to determine if the canonical name of the IP address trying to access SWAT is 'localhost', i.e. you want 'hostname -fv' to return "Result: h_name='localhost'" and the way to achieve this is to have 'localhost' first. BTW, I have my domainname in /etc/resolv.conf and dhcpcd_eth0="-R" in /etc/conf.d/net
I've set localhost to be first after 127.0.0.1 again.
