Node and Host Name Sizes on HP-UX: Using the Expanded Capabilities of HP-UX

Your network administrator should be able to provide a host/node name label of 63 bytes. The local

network domain can be added (with dot delimiters) to form an FQDN. This results in an FQDN that is

longer than 63 bytes and ensures that the host name string manipulated by the application exceeds

the default limits.

You might want to set up a separate domain hierarchy with 255-63-1 = 191 total bytes, including

delimiters (you’ll need at least three levels). This allows testing with the maximum-length host name.

For many applications, however, setting up an environment with very long names does not require the

attention of the network administrator. Before executing tests, the node and host names can be

assigned arbitrary, made-up names. Then, after test execution, the original names should be

restored.

Any long names used in testing should not have the same first 8 bytes as another full host name in the

same domain. Using names whose first 8 bytes are unique ensures that any use of names truncated

to 8 bytes do not allow successful name lookups (which can hide real errors).

Caution: Testing does not substitute for investigation. Testing can often miss problems that are easily

identified by investigation. Testing should always be treated only as a final validation.