bsd man page for hostid

HOSTID(1)						      General Commands Manual							 HOSTID(1)

NAME
       hostid - set or print identifier of current host system

SYNOPSIS
       hostid [ identifier ]

DESCRIPTION
       The  hostid command prints the identifier of the current host in hexadecimal.  This numeric value is expected to be unique across all hosts
       and is commonly set to the host's Internet address.  The super-user can set the hostid by giving a hexadecimal argument	or  the  hostname;
       this is usually done in the startup script /etc/rc.local.

SEE ALSO
       gethostid(2), sethostid(2)

4.2 Berkeley Distribution					    May 5, 1986 							 HOSTID(1)