[nflug] pulling computer name from network

[Dave Andruczyk]

--- Richard Hubbard <hubbardr at adelphia.net> wrote:

> The other part of the equation is that the DHCP server at work is 
> configured to give each machine a name. So you plug it in a t work, it 
> gets a name, at home it doesn't.

Its probably not exactly that.  It's possible to link DHCP and DNS together so
that when the dhcp server gives out an address it registers the name associated
with that request (whether that name be sent by the client to the DHCP server
during it's request, or if the DHCP server has a name for that client (static
reservation)) with the DNS server.  In many cases the previous registration for
the last client that had that IP address still has a DNS record associated with
it. (because many/most/all admins forget to set the DNS expiry time for records
sent in by DHCP servers) so that previous record exists.  Many linux distros
will do a dns lookup on the IP they are given via DHCP and set their local
hostname to whatever returns from the DNS lookup of it's IP address.

You could verify this by noting the client's current IP address, removing that
client from the LAN, making sure DHCP doesn't have a static reservation for
this client and remove any DNS entries that are associated to this client's IP
address (and flush the DNS cache), change the hostname on this client and then
reboot it on the LAN and see if it is given a new hostname (or one at all)



Dave J. Andruczyk


	
		
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