Hosts - Revision history

DrModiford: Added Jimbo's reference article as a link

2007-10-18T19:58:30Z

Added Jimbo's reference article as a link

DrModiford: Minor change

2007-10-17T20:57:11Z

Minor change

DrModiford: Minor error with linking to external page using [[]]

2007-10-17T20:43:59Z

Minor error with linking to external page using [[]]

DrModiford: Initial article covering the hosts file

2007-10-17T20:41:59Z

Initial article covering the hosts file

New page

The hosts file originates from the earliest implementations of UNIX when TCP/IP emerged. It was originally used (and still available) for resolving host names to their IP address. Nowadays this form of name resolution is provided by [[DNS]] servers.

Located within /etc the hosts file typically contains entries in the following format:

<pre>
::1 localhost.example.com localhost
127.0.0.1 localhost.example.com localhost
172.27.0.2 mail.example.com mail
172.27.0.2 mail.example.com.
</pre>

Where an IP address is entered on a line followed by a hostname, seperated by a space (several tabs in this example). It is possible to have several variations of the hostname on the same line. Also worthy of note is that, despite the historic origin of the hosts file, it can be used to resolve modern day [[IPv6]] (the latest incarnation of traditional IP, IPv4) addresses too.

Despite the availability of DNS servers the hosts file can still be useful for blocking advertising sites from your FreeBSD workstation, as [[http://everythingisnt.com/hosts.html this guide]] demonstrates.

It is well documented on the internet that Microsoft used FreeBSD's implementation of TCP/IP for network-enabling their operating systems and the legacy of this may well be apparent even today. The hosts file is still available on the latest releases including Windows XP and it also resides in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\'''etc'''\hosts (note the 'etc' in keeping with true Unix configurations).

[[Category:FreeBSD Terminology]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:58, 18 October 2007
Line 15:		Line 15:

	It is well documented on the internet that Microsoft used FreeBSD's implementation of TCP/IP for network-enabling their operating systems and the legacy of this may well be apparent even today. The hosts file is still available on the latest releases including Windows XP and it also resides in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\'''etc'''\hosts (note the 'etc' in keeping with true Unix configurations).		It is well documented on the internet that Microsoft used FreeBSD's implementation of TCP/IP for network-enabling their operating systems and the legacy of this may well be apparent even today. The hosts file is still available on the latest releases including Windows XP and it also resides in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\'''etc'''\hosts (note the 'etc' in keeping with true Unix configurations).
		+
		+	See [http://www.kuro5hin.org/?op=displaystory;sid=2001/6/19/05641/7357 this reference] covering Microsoft's use of FreeBSD TCP/IP code.

	[[Category:FreeBSD Terminology]]		[[Category:FreeBSD Terminology]]

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 </pre>
-Where an IP address is entered on a line followed by a hostname, seperated by a space (several tabs in this example).  It is possible to have several variations of the hostname on the same line.  Also worthy of note is that, despite the historic origin of the hosts file, it can be used to resolve modern day [[IPv6]] (the latest incarnation of traditional IP, IPv4) addresses too.
+Where an IP address is entered on a line followed by a hostname, seperated by a space (several tabs in this example).  It is possible to have several variations of the hostname on the same line.  Also worthy of note is that, despite the historic origin of the hosts file, it can be used to resolve modern day [[IPv6]] (the latest incarnation of traditional IP, soon to replace IPv4) addresses too.
 Despite the availability of DNS servers the hosts file can still be useful for blocking advertising sites from your FreeBSD workstation, as [http://everythingisnt.com/hosts.html this guide] demonstrates.

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 Where an IP address is entered on a line followed by a hostname, seperated by a space (several tabs in this example).  It is possible to have several variations of the hostname on the same line.  Also worthy of note is that, despite the historic origin of the hosts file, it can be used to resolve modern day [[IPv6]] (the latest incarnation of traditional IP, IPv4) addresses too.
-Despite the availability of DNS servers the hosts file can still be useful for blocking advertising sites from your FreeBSD workstation, as [[http://everythingisnt.com/hosts.html this guide]] demonstrates.
+Despite the availability of DNS servers the hosts file can still be useful for blocking advertising sites from your FreeBSD workstation, as [http://everythingisnt.com/hosts.html this guide] demonstrates.
 It is well documented on the internet that Microsoft used FreeBSD's implementation of TCP/IP for network-enabling their operating systems and the legacy of this may well be apparent even today.  The hosts file is still available on the latest releases including Windows XP and it also resides in C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\'''etc'''\hosts (note the 'etc' in keeping with true Unix configurations).
 [[Category:FreeBSD Terminology]]