HP-UX Internet Services Administrator's Guide (May 2010)

For more information, type man 1 nsquery at the HP-UX prompt.
Configuring an Internet Address
This section describes how to configure your host to find other hosts on the network,
by host name or IP address. It discusses the following topics:
• “Choosing a Name Service” (page 28)
• “Editing the /etc/hosts File” (page 29)
• “Configuring a Route” (page 29)
• “Changing a Host’s IP Address” (page 31)
Choosing a Name Service
HP-UX provides ways to translate host names to IP addresses or IP addresses to host
names:
• BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain), which is Berkeley’s implementation of
the Domain Name System (DNS).
• The /etc/hosts file, a simple ASCII file that is searched sequentially.
• NIS (Network Information Service), one of the NFS services (previously called
“Yellow Pages”).
By configuring the name service switch, you can use these name services in any order
you choose. See “Configuring the Name Service Switch” (page 25).
If you have a large network, or if you need to connect to Internet hosts outside your
local network, use BIND as your primary name service. When you use BIND, you
administer a central database containing only the hosts on your local network, and you
have access to the databases on all the other hosts on the Internet. See “Configuring
and Administering the BIND Name Service” in the HP-UX IP Address and Client
Management Administrator’s Guide at the URL
http://www.docs.hp.com/hpux/netcom/index.html#Internet%20Services,
for instructions on configuring BIND.
If you have a large network and little need for Internet connectivity, you can use NIS
as your primary name service. The NIS hosts database is administered centrally on one
of your hosts. However, this database must contain the names and IP addresses of all
the other hosts in your network.
Alternatively, you can use the /etc/hosts file as your primary name service. Each
host in your network needs a copy of the /etc/hosts file containing the names and
addresses of all the other hosts in your network. For information on the /etc/hosts
file, see “Editing the /etc/hosts File” (page 29).
28 Installing and Configuring Internet Services