I have a bit of a problem with my hostname. 1st of all, i changed it to ****.net and whenever I reboot the system it appears only ******, because of this apache and webmin wont start. Then a change the hostname again and it appears it wont stay the same after I reboot.

The problem is the string after the '.'(dot) is interpreted as the domain name and not as part of the host name itself. That is, names are given as host.domain.com and that could be causing the problem.

Add an entry in /etc/hosts?

In order for the hostname to remain through a reboot, the system needs to be told everytime, what it's hostname is. This can easily be accomplished within the init scripts (usually within the networking scripts that are called during the init process). For instance, in Mandrake, the file located at /etc/sysconfig/network can be opened up and edited to include, "HOSTNAME=whateveryouwant" and then saved. The name should be an FQDN but doesn't need to be. Anyway, that will remain through a reboot.
 

System could not look up the internet address

When I boot up my redhat 7.0, I get an error stating that the system could not look up the internet address for localhost.localdomain. I can still get on the internet with my road runner connection and everything else seems to be ok. It said to manually enter the localhost.localdomain into etc\host file so I did but I still get the error message.

Here is how to fix your problem!

1. When you boot up and your screen comes to the login in prompt, read what it says for the host name. Other words the login prompt looks like this:

(host name) login:

Where mine is:
deskdog login:

2. Now right that down and login under root. type cd .. to get to the top of the dir. then cd in etc. In this folder is a file named hosts... type more hosts to read it. (if you have more I am sure you do) Where it has localhost.localdomain (I think it reads like that but you get the jist) change that to what ever you host name is:

Mine was deskdog so that would replace it: 127.0.0.1 deskdog localhost
should look like that for me!!!!

Something you might need to know:
to change the file type:

%pico hosts
That should get you to a text editor!!!

Have a Linux Problem
Linux Forum - Do you have a Linux Question?

Linux Books
Linux Certification, System Administration, Programming, Networking Books

Linux Home: Linux System Administration Hints and Tips