Re: Domain name to use on home networks

[David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk>]

On Fri 27 Oct 2023 at 11:13:59 (-0400), gene heskett wrote:

> You saw my hosts entry in the last post, but again
> 192.168.71.3    coyote.home.arpa        coyote
> but after a reboot, domainname returns none, and the /etc/domainname
> file has been deleted. As in not visible to an ls of /etc. hostname
> works as it should. My hosts file is all long form, dotted names with
> a trailing alias.
> So I just sudo edited /etc/domainname, and entered "home.arpa\return"
> and wrote the flle.
> results:
> 
> gene@coyote:/etc$ sudo nano domainnane
> [sudo] password for gene:
> gene@coyote:/etc$ domainname
> (none)
> gene@coyote:/etc$ cat domainname
> cat: domainname: No such file or directory
> now I see the typu. sudo mv to fx the files name. but even with a
> corrected filename visible to an ls:
> gene@coyote:/etc$ domainname
> (none)
> gene@coyote:/etc$ cat domainname
> home.arpa
> 
> I'd reboot again, but that, by the time I get everything remounted and
> my system fully operational, takes me entering my pw about 20 times.
> when done I am logged into 6 other machines via an ssh -X login to
> each, and I've a sshfs file transfer link setup to each so mc can copy
> work output around.  Then I can go to work.
> 
> Why was the domainname I set and could see with a cat, deleted by a
> reboot?  Seems to be the question for the day... I sure didn't delete
> it. But it was gone after a reboot.  Seems to me there ought to be a
> PERMANENT way to do this. Now, even if the file exists, its ignored.

I'm just wondering where this file /etc/domainname came from in the
first place. I can't find it with apt-file (killing two birds):

  $ apt-file find etc/domain
  $ 

Neither can I find it/them in the install/remove scripts for the packages
on my systems:

  $ grep etc/domain /var/lib/dpkg/info/*
  $ 

I don't recall ever seeing either /etc/domainname or /etc/domain
in the past either, as I would have my copy backed up.

/etc/domainname might be anodyne on your system, but it raises
suspicions when this is meant to be a recent bookworm netinst
where "I'm not doing anything the installer didn't ask me to do"
(posted last week).

Cheers,
David.