Ubuntu Manpage: host.conf - resolver configuration file

NAME

       host.conf - resolver configuration file

DESCRIPTION

The file /etc/host.conf contains configuration information specific to the resolver library. It should
contain one configuration keyword per line, followed by appropriate configuration information. The
keywords recognized are order, trim, multi, nospoof, spoof, and reorder. These keywords are described
below.

order This keyword specifies how host lookups are to be performed. It should be followed by one or more
lookup methods, separated by commas. Valid methods are bind, hosts, and nis.

trim This keyword may be listed more than once. Each time it should be followed by a list of domains,
separated by colons (':'), semicolons (';') or commas (','), with the leading dot. When set, the
resolv+ library will automatically trim the given domain name from the end of any hostname
resolved via DNS. This is intended for use with local hosts and domains. (Related note: trim
will not affect hostnames gathered via NIS or the hosts file. Care should be taken to ensure that
the first hostname for each entry in the hosts file is fully qualified or unqualified, as
appropriate for the local installation.)

multi Valid values are on and off. If set to on, the resolv+ library will return all valid addresses
for a host that appears in the /etc/hosts file, instead of only the first. This is off by
default, as it may cause a substantial performance loss at sites with large hosts files.

nospoof
Valid values are on and off. If set to on, the resolv+ library will attempt to prevent hostname
spoofing to enhance the security of rlogin and rsh. It works as follows: after performing a host
address lookup, resolv+ will perform a hostname lookup for that address. If the two hostnames do
not match, the query will fail. The default value is off.

spoofalert
Valid values are on and off. If this option is set to on and the nospoof option is also set,
resolv+ will log a warning of the error via the syslog facility. The default value is off.

spoof Valid values are off, nowarn and warn. If this option is set to off, spoofed addresses are
permitted and no warnings will be emitted via the syslog facility. If this option is set to warn,
resolv+ will attempt to prevent hostname spoofing to enhance the security and log a warning of the
error via the syslog facility. If this option is set to nowarn, the resolv+ library will attempt
to prevent hostname spoofing to enhance the security but not emit warnings via the syslog
facility. Setting this option to anything else is equal to setting it to nowarn.

reorder
Valid values are on and off. If set to on, resolv+ will attempt to reorder host addresses so that
local addresses (i.e., on the same subnet) are listed first when a gethostbyname(3) is performed.
Reordering is done for all lookup methods. The default value is off.

ENVIRONMENT

       There  are  six  environment  variables that can be used to allow users to override the behavior which is
       configured in /etc/host.conf.

       RESOLV_HOST_CONF
              If set this variable points to a file that should be read instead of /etc/host.conf.

       RESOLV_SERV_ORDER
              Overrides the order command.

       RESOLV_SPOOF_CHECK
              Overrides the nospoof, spoofalert and spoof commands in the same  way  as  the  spoof  command  is
              parsed.  Valid values are off, nowarn and warn.

       RESOLV_MULTI
              Overrides the multi command.

       RESOLV_REORDER
              Overrides the reorder command.

       RESOLV_ADD_TRIM_DOMAINS
              A  list of domains,  separated by colons (':'), semicolons (';') or commas (','), with the leading
              dot, which will be added to the list of domains that should be trimmed.

       RESOLV_OVERRIDE_TRIM_DOMAINS
              A list of domains,  separated by colons (':'), semicolons (';') or commas (','), with the  leading
              dot, which will replace the list of domains that should be trimmed.  Overrides the trim command.

FILES

       /etc/host.conf
              Resolver configuration file

       /etc/resolv.conf
              Resolver configuration file

       /etc/hosts
              Local hosts database

NOTES

       The  following  differences exist compared to the original implementation.  A new command spoof and a new
       environment variable RESOLV_SPOOF_CHECK can take arguments like off, nowarn and warn.  Line comments  can
       appear anywhere and not only at the beginning of a line.

COLOPHON