[H-GEN] Re: Linux Networking - Some Basic Questions

[Christopher Biggs]

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Gavin Lawson <nobleley at powerup.com.au> moved upon the face of the 'Net and spake thusly:

> Questions
> ---------
> 1) Do I need to have DNS installed and running to use SendMail?  Can I
> somehow get Sendmail to use /etc/hosts?

Sendmail (et al.) just calls 'gethostbyname("foobox.bar.tld")'.  It is
up to the contents of /etc/resolv.conf ("man resolver") to determine
whether to consult /etc/hosts or DNS or both when resolving the name
to an IP address.

> 2) Should DNS (named) have been installed automatically?  I had a quick
> look at Redhat packages on the CD but could not see one that suggested DNS
> or named.

Most "workstation" style unix installations should not need a name
server.  On large networks, you use the existing DNS server, on small
networks, it's easier to do without it and just use host tables.  If
you really want a DNS server, the package is probably called "bind"
(Berkeley Internet Name Daemon).

If you just want to send mail from your two machines to each other,
you won't need a DNS server.  If you want to send mail to the outside
world, you can use your ISP's DNS server.

cjb

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| Christopher J.  Biggs | EMAIL: chris at stallion.oz.au (PGP and MIME OK)  |
| R&D Software Engineer | PHONE: +61 7 3270-4266  FAX: +61 7 3270-4245   |
| Stallion Technologies | Microsoft is not the Answer.                   |
\ Queensland, AUSTRALIA | Microsoft is the Question.  NO is the answer!  /

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