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Command: hosts | Section: 5 | Source: 4.4BSD | File: hosts.5
HOSTS(5) FreeBSD File Formats Manual HOSTS(5)
NAME
hosts - host name data base
DESCRIPTION
The hosts file contains information regarding the known hosts on the
network. For each host a single line should be present with the
following information:
official host name
Internet address
aliases
Items are separated by any number of blanks and/or tab characters. A
``#'' indicates the beginning of a comment; characters up to the end of
the line are not interpreted by routines which search the file.
When using the name server named(8), this file provides a backup when the
name server is not running. For the name server, it is suggested that
only a few addresses be included in this file. These include address
for the local interfaces that ifconfig(8) needs at boot time and a few
machines on the local network.
This file may be created from the official host data base maintained at
the Network Information Control Center (NIC), though local changes may be
required to bring it up to date regarding unofficial aliases and/or
unknown hosts. As the data base maintained at NIC is incomplete, use of
the name server is recommend for sites on the DARPA Internet.
Network addresses are specified in the conventional ``.'' (dot) notation
using the inet_addr(3) routine from the Internet address manipulation
library, inet(3). Host names may contain any printable character other
than a field delimiter, newline, or comment character.
FILES
/etc/hosts The hosts file resides in /etc.
SEE ALSO
gethostbyname(3), ifconfig(8), named(8)
Name Server Operations Guide for BIND.
HISTORY
The hosts file format appeared in 4.2BSD.
BSD 4.2 May 10, 1991 BSD 4.2