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168 Chapter12
Configuring Domain Name Files
Create or Modify the Hosts File
Create or Modify the Hosts File
The host name data base file, (HOSTS.NET.SYS), associates internet
addresses with official host names and aliases. This allows a user to
refer to a host by a symbolic name instead of an internet address.
When you have configured the name server, this file serves only as a
backup when the server is not running. In this circumstance, it is a
common practice that HOSTS.NET.SYS contains a few addresses of
machines on the local network.
To create the hosts file, perform the following steps:
Step 1. Copy the sample file, HOSTSAMP.NET.SYS, to HOSTS.NET.SYS.
Step 2. Modify HOSTS.NET.SYS using any ASCII editor so that it contains
information about the nodes on your network.
To modify an already existing HOSTS.NET.SYS file, simply use your
editor to update and save the existing file.
Enter a single line for each host, including the following information:
[internet address] [local host name] [aliases]
A line cannot start with a space. Items are separated by any number of
blanks and/or tab characters. A pound sign (#) indicates the beginning
of a comment.
Network addresses are specified in dot format, with leading zeros
omitted and a period between each grouping. (See example addresses in
Figure 12-2.)
Host names can contain any printable character other than a white
space, newline, or comment character.
NOTE
It is very important that you omit the leading zeros in the network
addresses. If you enter the leading zeros here, the domain name
resolver will interpret the numbers as octal numbers.