hosts(5)

NAME
     hosts - hostname to IP address database

SYNOPSIS
     /etc/hosts

DESCRIPTION
     The hosts  database  lists  the  IP  addresses  and  the  hostnames  that
     translate  to  these IP addresses.  It is used by nonamed(8) in a network
     without name servers.  A simple /etc/hosts may look like this:

          127.0.0.1      localhost
          10.0.0.1       flotsam
          10.0.0.2       jetsam

     The localhost entry lists a special address that refers to the local host
     itself  (a  kind  of  /dev/tty  for  hosts.)   You should only list it if
     nonamed needs it!  The other entries are actual machines.  The  file  may
     contain comments marked with '#'.

     You can have aliases (more hostnames on the same line),  but  it  is  not
     recommended,  because  nonamed  can't present them to the system as CNAME
     records.  An often seen form like

          10.0.0.1       flotsam.cs.vu.nl  flotsam

     is harmless though, and has the small advantage  that  you  can  use  the
     short name in /etc/ethers so rarpd can match it at boot time.

FILES

     /etc/hosts     Hosts database.

SEE ALSO
     ethers(5), nonamed(8), rarpd(8), boot(8).

AUTHOR
     Kees J. Bot (kjb@cs.vu.nl)