Re: apache: "httpd: cannot determine local host name."

[Graham Ashton <graz@mindless.com>]

On 12 Dec, Zack Brown wrote:

> I installed apache, but at the end of the configuration stage it failed to
> start, giving an error. I ran "apacheconfig", and got the following output
> (essentially the same error):

> I don't know why it should have trouble finding my hostname. It's right
> there in /etc/hostname.

it's not looking at /etc/hostname. it's trying to work out what
hostname it should send to a browser in reply to a request to a given
ip address (namely the ip address of your network interface). put a
line in /etc/hosts like this;

123.456.789.012  myhost.mydomain.com    myhost

where 123.456.789.012 is your ip address.

if you've got a dynamic ip address, or that still doesn't work, look
through your httpd.conf file until you find the line that looks like;

#ServerName myhost.mydomain.com

replace myhost.mydomain.com with what it should be, and remove the '#'
from the start of the line. then try restarting apache.

you shouldn't need to use the ServerName directive in simple cases
though. apache should be able to work it out for itself if your system
is set up correctly.

-- 
Graham