systemd/man/nss-myhostname.xml
Zbigniew Jędrzejewski-Szmek f2a20e9966 man: move "myhostname" right after "resolve"
The text in the man page provides the justification why I think this is
generally the right thing. An additional reason is that with the previous
commit (to move resolved earlier), since resolved internally implements the
same rules that nss-myhostname does, we'd have this strange inversion where
the priority of external configuration would be different in the "resolve"
path and in the fallback path.
2020-04-16 12:13:42 +02:00

130 lines
5.6 KiB
XML

<?xml version='1.0'?> <!--*-nxml-*-->
<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+ -->
<refentry id="nss-myhostname" conditional='ENABLE_NSS_MYHOSTNAME'>
<refentryinfo>
<title>nss-myhostname</title>
<productname>systemd</productname>
</refentryinfo>
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>nss-myhostname</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>nss-myhostname</refname>
<refname>libnss_myhostname.so.2</refname>
<refpurpose>Provide hostname resolution for the locally
configured system hostname.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<para><filename>libnss_myhostname.so.2</filename></para>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para><command>nss-myhostname</command> is a plug-in module for the GNU Name Service Switch (NSS) functionality of
the GNU C Library (<command>glibc</command>), primarily providing hostname resolution for the locally configured
system hostname as returned by
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>gethostname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>. The precise
hostnames resolved by this module are:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>The local, configured hostname is resolved to
all locally configured IP addresses ordered by their scope, or
— if none are configured — the IPv4 address 127.0.0.2 (which
is on the local loopback) and the IPv6 address ::1 (which is the
local host).</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>The hostnames <literal>localhost</literal> and
<literal>localhost.localdomain</literal> (as well as any hostname
ending in <literal>.localhost</literal> or <literal>.localhost.localdomain</literal>)
are resolved to the IP addresses 127.0.0.1 and ::1.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>The hostname <literal>_gateway</literal> is
resolved to all current default routing gateway addresses,
ordered by their metric. This assigns a stable hostname to the
current gateway, useful for referencing it independently of the
current network configuration state.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>Various software relies on an always-resolvable local
hostname. When using dynamic hostnames, this is traditionally
achieved by patching <filename>/etc/hosts</filename> at the same
time as changing the hostname. This is problematic since it
requires a writable <filename>/etc</filename> file system and is
fragile because the file might be edited by the administrator at
the same time. With <command>nss-myhostname</command> enabled,
changing <filename>/etc/hosts</filename> is unnecessary, and on
many systems, the file becomes entirely optional.</para>
<para>To activate the NSS modules, add <literal>myhostname</literal> to the line starting with
<literal>hosts:</literal> in <filename>/etc/nsswitch.conf</filename>.</para>
<para>It is recommended to place <literal>myhostname</literal> either between <literal>resolve</literal>
and "traditional" modules like <literal>files</literal> and <literal>dns</literal>, or after them. In the
first version, well-known names like <literal>localhost</literal> and the machine hostname are given
higher priority than the external configuration. This is recommended when the external DNS servers and
network are not absolutely trusted. In the second version, external configuration is given higher
priority and <command>nss-myhostname</command> only provides a fallback mechanism. This might be suitable
in closely controlled networks, for example on a company LAN.</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Example</title>
<para>Here is an example <filename>/etc/nsswitch.conf</filename> file that enables
<command>nss-myhostname</command> correctly:</para>
<!-- synchronize with other nss-* man pages and factory/etc/nsswitch.conf -->
<programlisting>passwd: compat mymachines systemd
group: compat mymachines systemd
shadow: compat
# Either (untrusted network):
hosts: mymachines resolve [!UNAVAIL=return] <command>myhostname</command> files dns
# Or (only trusted networks):
hosts: mymachines resolve [!UNAVAIL=return] files dns <command>myhostname</command>
networks: files
protocols: db files
services: db files
ethers: db files
rpc: db files
netgroup: nis</programlisting>
<para>To test, use <command>glibc</command>'s <command>getent</command> tool:</para>
<programlisting>$ getent ahosts `hostname`
::1 STREAM omega
::1 DGRAM
::1 RAW
127.0.0.2 STREAM
127.0.0.2 DGRAM
127.0.0.2 RAW</programlisting>
<para>In this case, the local hostname is <varname>omega</varname>.</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>See Also</title>
<para>
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>nss-systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>nss-resolve</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>nss-mymachines</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>nsswitch.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>getent</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>