There are a number of directories in which configuration information is kept. These include:
/etc | Generic system-specific configuration information. |
/etc/defaults | Default versions of system configuration files. |
/etc/mail | Extra sendmail(8) configuration and other MTA configuration files. |
/etc/ppp | Configuration for both user- and kernel-ppp programs. |
/etc/namedb | Default location for named(8) data.
Normally named.conf and zone
files are stored here. |
/usr/local/etc | Configuration files for installed applications. May contain per-application subdirectories. |
/usr/local/etc/rc.d | rc(8) scripts for installed applications. |
/var/db | Automatically generated system-specific database files, such as the package database and the locate(1) database. |
How a FreeBSD system accesses the Internet Domain Name System (DNS) is controlled by resolv.conf(5).
The most common entries to
/etc/resolv.conf are:
nameserver | The IP address of a name server the resolver should query. The servers are queried in the order listed with a maximum of three. |
search | Search list for hostname lookup. This is normally determined by the domain of the local hostname. |
domain | The local domain name. |
A typical /etc/resolv.conf looks
like this:
search example.com nameserver 147.11.1.11 nameserver 147.11.100.30
Only one of the search and
domain options should be used.
When using DHCP, dhclient(8)
usually rewrites /etc/resolv.conf
with information received from the DHCP
server.
/etc/hosts is a simple text
database which works in conjunction with
DNS and
NIS to provide host name to
IP address mappings. Entries for local
computers connected via a LAN can be
added to this file for simplistic naming purposes instead
of setting up a named(8) server. Additionally,
/etc/hosts can be used to provide a
local record of Internet names, reducing the need to query
external DNS servers for commonly
accessed names.
# $FreeBSD$ # # # Host Database # # This file should contain the addresses and aliases for local hosts that # share this file. Replace 'my.domain' below with the domainname of your # machine. # # In the presence of the domain name service or NIS, this file may # not be consulted at all; see /etc/nsswitch.conf for the resolution order. # # ::1 localhost localhost.my.domain 127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.my.domain # # Imaginary network. #10.0.0.2 myname.my.domain myname #10.0.0.3 myfriend.my.domain myfriend # # According to RFC 1918, you can use the following IP networks for # private nets which will never be connected to the Internet: # # 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 # 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 # 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 # # In case you want to be able to connect to the Internet, you need # real official assigned numbers. Do not try to invent your own network # numbers but instead get one from your network provider (if any) or # from your regional registry (ARIN, APNIC, LACNIC, RIPE NCC, or AfriNIC.) #
The format of /etc/hosts is as
follows:
[Internet address] [official hostname] [alias1] [alias2] ...
For example:
10.0.0.1 myRealHostname.example.com myRealHostname foobar1 foobar2
Consult hosts(5) for more information.
All FreeBSD documents are available for download at http://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/doc/
Questions that are not answered by the
documentation may be
sent to <[email protected]>.
Send questions about this document to <[email protected]>.