nodename(1)
NAME
nodename − assign a network node name or determine current network node name
SYNOPSIS
nodename [name]
DESCRIPTION
nodename used without any parameters returns the network node name for the system on which it is executed, and can be executed by any normal user. nodename used with a name parameter assigns name as the network node name for the system, and can be executed only by users with appropriate privileges.
name is the Network Services (NS) node name chosen for the system, and should be of the form node.domain.organization. node, domain, and organization can each be up to 16 alphanumeric, underscore, (_) or hyphen (-) characters; the first character must be alphabetic. domain and organization are arbitrary labels, and may be useful for grouping nodes and collections of nodes. However, they do not indicate anything about the structure of the network. (The node.domain.organization notation discussed here is not related in any way to Internet dot notation.)
The name assigned by nodename is used by the LAN diagnostic, rlb, the Probe proxy server, the NS /9000 NFT service, and any user-defined Net IPC application.
By convention, the node field of the node name should duplicate the host name field in the /etc/hosts file.
WARNINGS
Many types of networking services are supported on HP-UX, each of which uses a different assigned system name and naming convention. To ensure predictable system behavior, it is essential that system names (also called host names or node names) be assigned in such a manner that they do not create conflicts when the various networking facilities interact with each other.
The system does not rely on a single system name in a specific location, partly because different services use dissimilar name formats as explained below. System names are assigned by using the uname -S, hostname, and nodename name commands. In addition, the system name used in the HP Clustered Environment (called the cnode name) is assigned in the cluster configuration file /etc/clusterconf. System names are assigned as follows:
| Nodename | Command/File | Format | Used By |
| NetIPC name | nodename name | foo[.a[.b]] | NS Services and NetIPC |
| Internet name | hostname name | foo[.x.y.z...] | ARPA and NFS Services |
| UUCP name | uname -S name | foo | UUCP and related programs |
| cnode name | /etc/clusterconf | foo | Cluster server and clients |
where foo represents the assigned system name (it is strongly recommended that foo be identical for all commands and locations) and the optional .x.y.z or .a.b follow the specified notation for the particular ARPA/NFS or NS /Net IPC environment.
Internet names are also frequently called hostnames or domain names (not to be confused with NFS domain names). Refer to hostname(5) for more information about Internet naming conventions.
Whenever the system name is changed in any file or by use of any of the above commands, it should also be changed in all other locations as well. Other files or commands in addition to those above (such as /usr/lib/uucp/Permissions if used to circumvent uname, for example) may contain or alter system names. To ensure correct operation, they should also use the same system name.
System names are normally assigned by the /etc/rc script at start-up, and should not be altered elsewhere.
DIAGNOSTICS
Messages indicate a user attempted to assign a node name without having appropriate privileges, in which case no new node name is assigned.
AUTHOR
nodename was developed by HP.
SEE ALSO
dscopy(1), hostname(1), proxy(1M), rlb(1M), ipcgetnodename(2), ipcsetnodename(2), hostname(5).
Hewlett-Packard Company — HP-UX Release 9.0: August 1992