Client Host Name Registration

If you let the DHCP server generate host names for the IP addresses 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.

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Note –

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

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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, even if the DNS and DHCP servers are running on different systems. See Enabling Dynamic DNS Updates by 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 7–5 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 sever runs on a different system.	DHCP server, if configured for dynamic DNS updates.   DNS Administrator, if DHCP server is not so configured.

Note that Solaris DHCP clients can request particular host names in DHCP requests if configured to do so as described in How to Enable a Solaris Client to Request Specific Host Name. Please consult the documentation for non-Solaris clients to determine if the capability is supported.