Hostname

w.i.p

Introduction

A hostname is a unique name created to identify a machine on a network. In computer networking, a hostname is a label that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network and that is used to identify the device in various forms of electronic communication such as the World Wide Web, e-mail or Usenet. Hostnames may be simple names consisting of a single word or phrase, or they may be structured.

Configuration

In Funtoo Linux /etc/conf.d/hostname is the master configuration file for setting a hostname. In OpenRC framework /etc/conf.d/foo is the configuration file for a corresponding Init script /etc/init.d/foo. With the case of hostname, default value in /etc/conf.d/hostname is set to localhost, means when system boots and OpenRC's /etc/init.d/hostname script started a hostname getting only localhost name. How it looks? In your shell promt this will look in following way, an example for root:

localhost ~ #  Hello :)

Let's play a bit with a configuration. Open /etc/conf.d/hostname with your favorite editor and set a hostname of your choice. Below, I will use a real examples of my working test box.

localhost ~ #  nano /etc/conf.d/hostname

Let's set it to hostname="oleg-stable.host.funtoo.org". Save the file and restart a hostname service:

localhost ~ #  service hostname restart

Now, let's examine our changes, after a restarting a hostname

oleg-stable ~ #  Hello :)

Notice, that we seeing a shortened hostname here, and not a FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name). Don't be frustrated , this is how default bash promt PS1 set. To get nice promts, please, consult http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-tip-prompt/ <-- this one should be on Funtoo wiki :)