UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hi there,

Could anyone tell me what is wrong with this entry in the /etc/hosts file

127.0.0.1 localhost hostname.lcl hostname #loghost
1.2.3.4 hostname

I have sendmail runing. IF I remove hostname.lcl and hostname from the localhost(127.0.0.1)'s line, sendmail complains of "unqualified domain name..bla..bla." every few minutes, which is ANNOYING!

Is it okay to have the hostname bind to IP say 1.2.3.4 and in the localhost line?

IF I don't specify the hostname in localhost line, sendmail complains..is there any workaround?

Try adding a fully qualified hostname to the 1.2.3.4 line. Sometimes you can get away with just adding a ".", e.g.

Code:

127.0.0.1   localhost
1.2.3.4     hostname    hostname.

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately, I have tried that but my mails aren't going through.

Now my question was

1) what happens if the server reboots and the /etc/hosts has these

127.0.0.1 localhost hostname.lcl hostname #loghost
1.2.3.4 hostname

2) Will the server have difficulty in determining the IP address, after reboot?

Thanks in advance

2) Quite possibly, yes. I would change the hosts file to the correct format, and then try adjusting your sendmail configuration to fix the error messages. What is the exact error message you are getting?

Hi Anni,

I have removed the entry of hostname.lcl and hostname from localhost line.

Some users were unable to login remotely so a smart guy rebooted the machine, unfortunatley it could not determine the ip so they /etc/hosts entry in the localhost was commented out. Then a second reboot was done.

The problem was not due to /etc/hosts but a failed disk, however when the machine rebooted the the ip conflict issue surfaced.

Anyway, regarding the sendmail issue I have solved with an entry like this:

1.2.3.4 hostname hostname.lcl

I don't see the annoying messages anymore.

IF I just put in a dot after the hostname, sendmail doesn't deliver the mail and I get the error 5.5.0.

Thanks