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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!platinum.sge.net!como.dpie.gov.au!news.gan.net.au!act.news.telstra.net!vic.news.telstra.net!news.mira.net.au!news.netspace.net.au!news.mel.connect.com.au!munnari.OZ.AU!uunet!in1.uu.net!206.246.124.37!nntp.newsfirst.com!nntp.crosslink.net!news.magicnet.net!news.thenet.net!news.kei.com!nntprelay.mathworks.com!europa.clark.net!dispatch.news.demon.net!demon!awfulhak.demon.co.uk!awfulhak.demon.co.uk!shift.lan.awfulhak.org!nobody From: brian@shift.lan.awfulhak.org (Brian Somers) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Hostname for box w/ part time internet connection Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 02:59:18 +0100 Organization: Awfulhak Ltd. Message-ID: <mt37p5.vq1.ln@shift.lan.awfulhak.org> References: <24a9fb8b.u9t27e.14589@slip106.termserv.siu.edu> Reply-To: brian@awfulhak.org, brian@utell.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Host: shift.lan.awfulhak.org X-NNTP-Posting-Host: awfulhak.demon.co.uk [158.152.17.1] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Newsreader: knews 0.9.8 Lines: 128 Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:43718 In article <24a9fb8b.u9t27e.14589@slip106.termserv.siu.edu>, jimd@slip106.termserv.siu.edu (Jim Dutton) writes: > Hi Brian, on Jun 28 you wrote: > >> In article <33B462A3.C9A68B9C@auburn.campus.mci.net>, >> Anthony Jenkins <ajenkins@auburn.campus.mci.net> writes: >> > What do I set as the host name for my machine, which occasionally >> > dials-up a connection to the internet? Do I use the domain name of= > =20my >> > ISP, or would that be naughty? I have a single PC running FreeBSD >> > (Win95 on another partition), no network (though I soon hope to del= > ve >> > into the wonderful, hair-pulling world of small network admin. when= > =20I >> > get another box), and dial-up PPP access to the internet. >>=20 >> localhost.my.domain ? Alternatively, pick a name that's not >> likely to be real (ending with say .lan) and give it an IP >> number that's not real (say 10.0.0.1). >>=20 >> > Thanks in advance, >> > Anthony >>=20 >> --=20 >> Brian <brian@awfulhak.org> <brian@freebsd.org> >> <http://www.awfulhak.org> > > > Brian - I am surprised at this lame-brain suggestion (just pick a name)= > =2E > No WONDER there are so many BOGUS hosts on the Internet! Eh ? Now you've got me started :) <RANT> If the truth's to be known, IMO, a machine name is bogus to start with. If I have a machine with N network interfaces, then by definition, I have N names. So what makes any one of these names better than the other ? To prove this, set up the following network (not uncommon): -------------- 'NET--------| 158.152.17.1 | - | | | | 10.0.1.1 |----| -------------- | | LAN | | -------------- |----| 10.0.1.4 | | -------------- - Bearing in mind that 10.0.1.1 isn't any sort of router for anything (10.0.1.4 *doesn't* want to be 'net connected, or has some other gateway). Now, run some sort of application that believes in host names (X is the worst example!). I try to start a client on 10.0.1.4, and X in its infinite wisdom sends the "hostname", and *not* the name on the interface it's connecting on (ie 10.0.1.1). 10.0.1.4 has no idea what a 158.152.17.1 is ! </RANT> > We had a student on our campus who likewise thought that such a naming > convention was acceptable, until he just happened to choose a name that > was registered to another organization in B.C, Canada (and we are in > Illinois). <RANT> So what ? Any problems resulting are IMO software bugs. Of course in the above example, 10.0.1.4 shouldn't really be allowed to do things like send mail and post to usenet - there's no way for that machine to create correct From: lines or to create unique message ids. This is circumvented (in my case) by hacking sendmail full of things like MASQUERADE_AS, and setting "reply-to" addresses in usenet. A good example is this message. It's posted from that 10.0.1.4 machine (ok, in practice, 10.0.1.1 *is* a gateway!). I've called my LAN "lan.awfulhak.org" because I own "awfulhak.org" and know that "lan.awfulhak.org" isn't registered - this sorts out the "uniqueness" of my message ids. The From: line is bogus though, so if people don't use the reply-to: line, they get bounces. This is probably why I get very little spam (cheshire cat type cheesy *grin*). </RANT> > Anthony - take a look at the MANual page for PPPD. It should have some > information on setting up an "IP-UP" script for use with PPP which you > SHOULD USE to properly set your hostname and IP address to what is > determined during the PPP negotiation. I can post a sample script later > (with IFCONFIG, and HOSTNAME commands) if need be. I hope this doesn't involve changing your "hostname" while running. This gets tricky. You've got to at least HUP sendmail (assuming it's being run with a full path name), and you must restart things like rwhod & (old versions of) nmbd and any other brainos that use hostname. Hmmm, I must fix rwhod. > > =20 /// A M M I GGGGG A Senior Sys Prog - Network Admin > =20 /// AA MM|MM I G AA Southern Illinois University, USA > \\\ /// A A M M M I G GGG A A =20 > =20\\\/// AAAA M M I G G AAAA jimd at dutton2.it.siu.edu = > =20=20 > =20 \/// A A M M I GGGGG A A jimd at slip106.termserv.siu.edu > > _______________________________________________________________________= > _ > SIU.EDU - DNS Admin, Postmaster, SMTP Admin, Netnews Admin > SIUCVMB.SIU.EDU - DNS Admin, Postmaster, SMTP Admin, TCP/IP Sys Prog > SIUCMVSA.SIU.EDU - DNS Admin, Postmaster, SMTP Admin, Sr TCP/IP Sys Pro= > g > SIUCVMB, SIUCMVSA- Senior RSCS, VTAM, NCP Systems Programmer > Systems Admin - 2.0 Suns, 0.4 IBM RS/6000's, 2 FreeBSD, 1 NetBSD > Behemoth Admin - Suzuki Cavalcade > -- Brian <brian@awfulhak.org> <brian@freebsd.org> <http://www.awfulhak.org> Don't _EVER_ lose your sense of humour !