HOSTS(5)							File Formats Manual							  HOSTS(5)

NAME

       hosts - hostname to IP address database

SYNOPSIS

       /etc/hosts

DESCRIPTION

       The  hosts  database  lists the IP addresses and the hostnames that translate to these IP addresses.  It is used by nonamed(8) in a network
       without name servers.  A simple /etc/hosts may look like this:

	      127.0.0.1      localhost
	      192.9.200.1    darask
	      192.9.200.2    burask

       The localhost entry lists a special address that refers to the local host itself (a kind of /dev/tty for hosts.)  You should only  list	it
       if nonamed needs it!  The other entries are actual machines.  The file may contain comments marked with '#'.

       You  can  have  aliases	(more  hostnames on the same line), but it is not recommended, because nonamed can't present them to the system as
       CNAME records.  An often seen form like

	      192.9.200.1    darask.home.cs.vu.nl  darask

       is harmless though, and has the small advantage that you can use the short name in /etc/ethers so rarpd can match it at boot time.

FILES

       /etc/hosts     Hosts database.

SEE ALSO

       ethers(5), nonamed(8), rarpd(8), boot(8).

AUTHOR

       Kees J. Bot (kjb@cs.vu.nl)

																	  HOSTS(5)