'\"macro stdmacro
.if n .pH g4.hosts @(#)hosts	40.3 of 10/10/89
.\" Copyright 1989 AT&T
.\" @(#)hosts.4 1.11 89/07/14 SMI; from UCB 4.2
'\" macro stdmacro
.\" Copyright (c) 1988 Sun Microsystems, Inc. - All Rights Reserved.
.\"
.nr X
.if \nX=0 .ds x} hosts 4 "TCP/IP" "\&"
.if \nX=1 .ds x} hosts 4 "TCP/IP"
.if \nX=2 .ds x} hosts 4 "" "\&"
.if \nX=3 .ds x} hosts "" "" "\&"
.TH \*(x}
.SH NAME
\f4hosts\f1 \- host name data base
.SH SYNOPSIS
\f4/etc/hosts\f1
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
The
\f4hosts\f1
file contains information regarding the known hosts on the
.SM DARPA
Internet.
For each host a single line should be present
with the following information:
.RS
.I Internet-address  official-host-name  aliases
.RE
.PP
Items are separated by any number of
.SM SPACE
and/or
.SM TAB
characters.
A
\f1`\f4#\f1'
indicates the beginning of a comment;
characters up to the end of the line are not
interpreted by routines which search the file.
This file is normally created from the official
host data base maintained at the Network Information
Control Center (\s-1NIC\s0), though local changes may
be required to bring it up to date
regarding unofficial aliases and/or unknown hosts.
.PP
Network addresses are specified in the conventional
\f1`\f4.\f1'
notation using the
\f4inet_addr\f1
routine from the Internet address manipulation library,
\f4inet\f1(3N).
Host names may contain any printable
character other than a field
delimiter,
.SM NEWLINE\s0,
or comment character.
.SH EXAMPLE
.PP
Here is a typical line from the
\f4/etc/hosts\f1
file:
.PP
.RS
.nf
.ft 4
192.9.1.20        gaia                        # John Smith
.fi
.ft 1
.RE
.SH FILES
.PD 0
.TP 20
\f4/etc/hosts\f1
.PD
.SH "SEE ALSO"
\f4gethostent\fP(3N),
\f4inet\fP(3N).
