VDQ : machine names??

[Phil Meyer]

Beartooth wrote:
> 	I know it's a Very Dumb Question; I just can't find a general 
> answer that works. 
>
> 	I want to stop calling all the machines on my LAN 
> localhost.localdomain, and give them distinctive names. I have found two 
> or three ways of doing so; but they don't stick. 
>
> 	The only way that really works, for me at least, is to think of 
> it (and be ready) while doing a fresh install. When anaconda asks me 
> whether to use dhcp, I can click on manual, type in a name, click back to 
> using dhcp, and that name lasts.
>
> 	I'm not even sure now whether it's mere logging out and back in, 
> or just actual reboots that do it, but in a location subject to longer 
> power failures than the UPSs I can afford will ride out, I get enough 
> reboots, too (alas!).
>
> 	One other way that I've tried is to use system-config-network, 
> and edit the configuration of eth0; but that seems to be little more than 
> a pacifier. I want something that shows up in the prompts, and that I can 
> use in ssh and scp, without having to look up IP numbers on the router 
> all the time -- especially since not all LAN machines are on one floor.
>
> 	Clue, please? Pretty please?
>
>   
Three files can affect the system name.

The name seen in the prompt is from the hostname command, which gets set 
from:
/etc/sysconfig/network
HOSTNAME=

When your system connects to the network, it can tell the network which 
name it wants to be known as.  This name, which dynamic DNS servers can 
receive from the DHCP service, are configured in the network 
configuration script, such as:
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
DHCP_HOSTNAME=

Programs on your local system use a consistent method to look up IP 
addresses and associated host names.  In most cases, the local 
/etc/hosts file is consulted first, and then DNS or other services.  
Therefore, some applications on your system, like sendmail, can get 
hostname from:
/etc/hosts

These three files/methods cover %99 of user systems, and are very likely 
all you would need to look at.

Good Luck!