Systemd/man/nss-myhostname.xml
Lennart Poettering a8ba86ce6a man: always use the same example in nss module documentation
Show the same recommended example file in all three man pages, just
highlight the different, relevant parts.

This should be less confusing for users, and clarify what we actually
recommend how /etc/nsswitch.conf is set up.
2015-09-04 09:07:30 +02:00

154 lines
5.5 KiB
XML

<?xml version='1.0'?> <!--*-nxml-*-->
<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
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Copyright 2011 Lennart Poettering
Copyright 2013 Tom Gundersen
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<refentry id="nss-myhostname" conditional='HAVE_MYHOSTNAME'>
<refentryinfo>
<title>nss-myhostname</title>
<productname>systemd</productname>
<authorgroup>
<author>
<contrib>Developer</contrib>
<firstname>Lennart</firstname>
<surname>Poettering</surname>
<email>lennart@poettering.net</email>
</author>
</authorgroup>
</refentryinfo>
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>nss-myhostname</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>nss-myhostname</refname>
<refname>libnss_myhostname.so.2</refname>
<refpurpose>Provide hostname resolution for the locally
configured system hostname.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<para><filename>libnss_myhostname.so.2</filename></para>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para><command>nss-myhostname</command> is a plugin for the GNU
Name Service Switch (NSS) functionality of the GNU C Library
(<command>glibc</command>) primarily providing hostname resolution
for the locally configured system hostname as returned by
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>gethostname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
The precise hostnames resolved by this module are:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>The local, configured hostname is resolved to
all locally configured IP addresses ordered by their scope, or
— if none are configured — the IPv4 address 127.0.0.2 (which
is on the local loopback) and the IPv6 address ::1 (which is the
local host).</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>The hostname <literal>localhost</literal> is
resolved to the IP addresses 127.0.0.1 and
::1.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>The hostname <literal>gateway</literal> is
resolved to all current default routing gateway addresses,
ordered by their metric. This assigns a stable hostname to the
current gateway, useful for referencing it independently of the
current network configuration state.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>Various software relies on an always-resolvable local
hostname. When using dynamic hostnames, this is traditionally
achieved by patching <filename>/etc/hosts</filename> at the same
time as changing the hostname. This is problematic since it
requires a writable <filename>/etc</filename> file system and is
fragile because the file might be edited by the administrator at
the same time. With <command>nss-myhostname</command> enabled
changing <filename>/etc/hosts</filename> is unnecessary, and on
many systems the file becomes entirely optional.</para>
<para>To activate the NSS modules, <literal>myhostname</literal>
has to be added to the line starting with
<literal>hosts:</literal> in
<filename>/etc/nsswitch.conf</filename>.</para>
<para>It is recommended to place <literal>myhostname</literal>
last in the <filename>nsswitch.conf</filename> line to make sure
that this mapping is only used as fallback, and any DNS or
<filename>/etc/hosts</filename> based mapping takes
precedence.</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Example</title>
<para>Here's an example <filename>/etc/nsswitch.conf</filename>
file, that enables <command>myhostname</command> correctly:</para>
<programlisting>passwd: compat mymachines
group: compat mymachines
shadow: compat
hosts: files resolve mymachines <command>myhostname</command>
networks: files
protocols: db files
services: db files
ethers: db files
rpc: db files
netgroup: nis</programlisting>
<para>To test, use <command>glibc</command>'s <command>getent</command> tool:</para>
<programlisting>$ getent ahosts `hostname`
::1 STREAM omega
::1 DGRAM
::1 RAW
127.0.0.2 STREAM
127.0.0.2 DGRAM
127.0.0.2 RAW</programlisting>
<para>In this case the local hostname is <varname>omega</varname>.</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>See Also</title>
<para>
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>nss-resolve</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>nss-mymachines</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>nsswitch.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>getent</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>