Updating hosts and networks Databases

The first step in the configuration process involves updating the hosts and networks databases with information about your virtual network.

/etc/inet/hosts File for the Virtual Network

The /etc/inet/hosts file on each machine must contain the addressing information for every member of the network that this host has permission to access. For example, each host in the network in Figure 11-2 would have this information:

# Internet host table
#
127.0.0.1           localhost	loghost
192.41.47.15        nomada
192.41.47.20        nomadb
192.41.47.12        nomadc

/etc/inet/networks File for the Virtual Network

Since the virtual network requires a unique IP address, you must type this address in the networks database. For example, the network shown in Figure 11-2 has the number 192.41.47. Moreover, if the hosts on the network need to communicate with other networks, you should register the network with the InterNIC addressing authority. See Chapter 4, Configuring TCP/IP on the Network, for information on editing the networks database.

Each host on the virtual network must have an entry with the network's address in the /etc/inet/networks file. For example, each host on network 192.41.47 might have the following in /etc/inet/networks:

# Internet networks
#
# arpanet   10          arpa
# ucb-ether 46          ucbether
#
# local networks
loopback    127
ppp         192.41.47   #remote sales offices