System Administration Guide: IP Services

Client Host Name Registration

If you let the DHCP server generate host names for the IP addresses that you place in the DHCP service, the DHCP server can register those host names in NIS+, /etc/inet/hosts, or DNS name services. Host name registration cannot be done in NIS because NIS does not provide a protocol to allow programs to update and propagate NIS maps.


Note –

The DHCP server can update DNS with generated host names only if the DNS server and the DHCP server are running on the same system.


If a DHCP client provides its host name and the DNS server is configured to allow dynamic updates from the DHCP server, the DHCP server can update DNS on the client's behalf. Dynamic updates can be done even if the DNS and DHCP servers are running on different systems. See Enabling Dynamic DNS Updates by a DHCP Server for more information about enabling this feature.

The following table summarizes client host name registration for DHCP client systems with the various name services.

Table 15–2 Client Host Name Registration in Name Services
 

Who Registers Host Name 

Name Service 

DHCP-Generated Host Name 

DHCP Client-Supplied Host Name 

NIS 

NIS Administrator 

NIS Administrator 

NIS+ 

DHCP tools 

DHCP tools 

/etc/hosts

DHCP tools 

DHCP tools 

DNS 

DHCP tools, if the DNS server runs on the same system as the DHCP server 

DNS Administrator, if the DNS server runs on a different system 

DHCP server, if configured for dynamic DNS updates 

DNS Administrator, if DHCP server is not configured for dynamic DNS updates 

Oracle Solaris DHCP clients can request particular host names in DHCP requests if configured to do so as described in How to Enable an Oracle Solaris DHCPv4 Client to Request a Specific Host Name. Refer to the vendor documentation for other DHCP clients to determine if the capability is supported.