/etc/hostname.interface File

This file defines the physical network interfaces on the local host. At least one /etc/hostname.interface file should exist on the local system. The Oracle Solaris installation program creates an /etc/hostname.interface file for the first interface that is found during the installation process. This interface usually has the lowest device number, for example eri0, and is referred to as the primary network interface. If the installation programs finds additional interfaces, you optionally can configure them, as well, as part of the installation process.

If you create alternate hostname files for the same interface, the alternate files must also follow the naming format hostname.[0–9]*, such as hostname.qfe0.a123. Names such as hostname.qfe0.bak or hostname.qfe0.old are invalid and will be ignored by scripts during system boot.

Note, too, that a given interface must have only one corresponding hostname file. If you create an alternate hostname file for an interface with a valid filename, such as /etc/hostname.qfe and /etc/hostname.qfe.a123, the boot scripts will attempt to configure by referencing the contents of both hostname files and would therefore generate errors. To prevent these errors, provide an invalid file name to the hostname file that you do not want to use in a given configuration.

If you add a new network interface to your system after installation, you must create an /etc/hostname.interface file for that interface, as explained in How to Configure a Physical Interface After System Installation. Also, for the Oracle Solaris software to recognize and use the new network interface, you need to load the interface's device driver into the appropriate directory. Refer to the documentation that comes with the new network interface for the appropriate interface name and device driver instructions.

The basic /etc/hostname.interface file contains one entry: the host name or IPv4 address that is associated with the network interface. The IPv4 address can be expressed in traditional dotted decimal format or in CIDR notation. If you use a host name as the entry for the /etc/hostname.interface file, that host name must also exist in the /etc/inet/hosts file.

For example, suppose smc0 is the primary network interface for a system that is called tenere. The /etc/hostname.smc0 file could have as its entry an IPv4 address in dotted decimal notation or in CIDR notation, or the host name tenere.

IPv6 uses the /etc/hostname6.interface file for defining network interfaces. For more information, refer to IPv6 Interface Configuration File.