HP-UX IPv6 Transport Administrator Guide HP-UX 11i v3 (5992-6426, May 2013)

Thus, if DNS has not been set up as the definitive source, and files (/etc/hosts) may
need to be used for address and host name resolution, HP recommends adding the
following entry to /etc/nsswitch.conf:
ipnodes: files
Or if /etc/hosts is to be the primary Name Service, the entry would be set as follows:
ipnodes: files [NOTFOUND=continue] dns
NOTE: You can not specify NIS or NIS+ on the ipnodes entry.
Manually editing nsswitch.conf
If the current system has no nsswitch.conf file, use a text editor to create an
/etc/nsswitch.conf file containing one of the following lines, or copy the
/etc/nsswitch.defaults file and modify as needed.
If DNS is the primary Name Service, but not necessarily the definitive source, and files
(/etc/hosts) may need to be used for address and host name resolution, add:
ipnodes: dns [NOTFOUND=continue] files
Or if /etc/hosts is to be the primary Name Service, add:
ipnodes: files [NOTFOUND=continue] dns
Refer to the nsswitch.conf(4) man page for more information.
Host Names and IPv6 Addresses 33