HP-UX IP Address and Client Management Administrator's Guide HP-UX 11i v2, HP-UX 11i v3

You can include most of the resolver configurations in the /etc/resolv.conf file. Table 2-2
describes the options in the /etc/resolv.conf file that you can use to configure the resolver’s
behavior.
Table 2-2 The /etc/resolv.conf Options
DescriptionOption
The domain option followed by the default domain name.The domain entry
is required only when the local system’s host name (as returned by the
hostname command) is not a domain name, and the search option is not
configured.
domain default_domain_name;
The search option followed by up to six domains separated by spaces or tabs.
The first domain in the search list must be the local domain. The resolver
appends these domains, one at a time, to a host name that does not end in a
dot, when the resolver constructs queries to send to a name server. The domain
and search keywords are mutually exclusive.
If you do not specify the search option, the default search list contains only
the local domain.
search domain_name1,
domain_name2, domain_name3,
domain_name4, domain_name5,
domain_name6
The nameserver option followed by the Internet address (in dot notation) of
a name server that the resolver must query. You can configure up to three
nameserver entries.
nameserver Internet_address
For information on other /etc/resolv.conf option, type man 4 resolv.conf at the HP-UX
prompt.
To configure a host to query a name server on a remote host, complete the following steps:
1. Create a file called /etc/resolv.conf on the host and specify the options domain and
nameserver.
The following is an example /etc/resolv.conf file:
domain div.inc.com
nameserver 132.22.0.4 nameserver 132.22.0.12
2. If you do not specify the local domain with the search or domain option, set the default
domain name with the hostname command, as shown in the following example:
/usr/bin/hostname indigo.div.inc.com
Set the HOSTNAME variable in the /etc/rc.config.d/netconf file to the same value, as
in the following example:
HOSTNAME=indigo.div.inc.com
Do not put a trailing dot at the end of the domain name.
NOTE: If you want to run both BIND and HP VUE, you must have an /etc/resolv.conf
file on your system, or HP VUE does not start.
If you set the LOCALDOMAIN environment variable, any BIND requests made within the context
of your shell environment use the search list specified in the LOCALDOMAIN variable. The
LOCALDOMAIN variable overrides the domain and search options in /etc/resolv.conf.
CAUTION: In order to avoid situations that may cause connections to unintended destinations,
you must carefully select the domains that you put in the search list in the /etc/resolv.conf
file. HP recommends that you limit the domains in the search list to the domains administered
within your trusted organization. For more information on the security implications of search
lists, see RFC 1535 (A Security Problem and Proposed Correction With Widely Deployed DNS
Software).
For more information, type man 4 resolver or man 5 hostname at the HP-UX prompt, or
see “How BIND Resolves Host Names” (page 20).
Configuring the Resolver to Query a Remote Name Server 79