[linux-help] Re: $HOSTNAME

[Jonathan Hall <jonhall@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Here is where my lack of professional networking experience cases me a bit
> of confusion.
> 
> I don't know what my host name is....I know I am a part of the sd.cox.net
> domain, but do I need to call my ISP to get my host name?

Your host name is something you make up.  Since your hostname doesn't exist
in the "real world", it can be anything you wish, so long as it begins with
a letter, and contains nothing but lowercase letters (a-z), numbers (0-9),
and dashes (-).


> When I was using windows, I didn't need it because I just made up a NetBIOS
> name which was whatever I wanted it to be.
> 
> I don't have a file /etc/hostname, and under /etc/hosts all I have is:
> 127.0.0.1            localhost.localdomain        localhost

Edit /etc/hostname and put your hostname in it.  Then edit /etc/hosts, and
simply add your chosen hostname to the end of the line already there.  For
instance:

--- BEGIN /etc/hostname
garfield
--- END

--- BEGIN /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1       localhost.localdomain   localhost       garfield
--- END


> I don't have any trouble running KDE, sending mail from KDE with KMail,
> running other processes, etc, but when it comes to sending mail from the
> command line with sendmail I constantly get MAILER-DAEMON letters to root
> saying I can't send mail because "xxx.sd.cox.net" is not a legitimate fully
> qualified domain name, where "xxx" is whatever name I chose for my host.

Do you ever need to send mail to the outside world from the commandline?  If
you do, I would probably recommend not using sendmail, as it's a bit
daunting to configure for your situation.  Exim would probably be a much
better choice for you.

If you never send mail to the outside world from the command line, then you
can configure sendmail to do local delivery only.  You can configure exim
that way, too, and that may also be easier.

-- Jonathan


--
"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the
intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon". -- Sir John Eric Ericksen,
British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.
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