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)