changing hostname with out fouling up network connection?

**bezdomny** · 07-21-2008, 12:52 PM

Any suggestions on changing the hostname without fouling up the network connection? All the posts I have google'd warn of messing up the network connection if the hostname is changed, but I'm still not clear on the whole solution. Please don't hesitate to ask if I can provide more information, especially about the network connection. Thanks!

**redhead** · 07-21-2008, 06:32 PM

change /etc/hostname as you like, then run the command
#hostname <new_hostname>
and you should be all good to go.
No need to worry about problems, unless you change it from "ns1.google.com" to "non-exsiting"

**bezdomny** · 07-22-2008, 02:10 AM

Here's what I did:

1. changed the content of /etc/hostname
2. altered the 127.0.0.1 entry of /etc/hosts
3. ran

Code:

 #hostname <new_hostname>

3. rebooted

And it worked like a charm.

Thanks for your help, redhead!

**bezdomny** · 07-22-2008, 03:18 PM

Here are some entries from this morning's /var/log/boot I find interesting and would like the board's opinion about:

Code:

Tue Jul 22 04:32:04 2008: /dev/mapper/oldhostname-root: clean, 359383/9404416 files, 8092517/18795520 blocks
Tue Jul 22 04:32:06 2008:   Found volume group "oldhostname" using metadata type lvm2
Tue Jul 22 04:32:06 2008:   2 logical volume(s) in volume group "oldhostname" now active

and likewise from this morning's # dmesg:

Code:

# dmesg
Linux version 2.6.25.9 (root@oldhostname) (gcc version 4.3.1 (Debian 4.3.1-2) ) #1 SMP Fri Jul 4 19:52:20 PDT 2008
Kernel command line: root=/dev/mapper/oldhostname-root ro
Adding 2715640k swap on /dev/mapper/oldhostname]-swap_1.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:2715640k

Did I overlook some files to modify, or a command? Does it even matter? Will these incidences of oldhostname conflict somehow with newhostname and cause problems?

Thank you for your time and expertise!

Best regards from North-Central California USA,

bezdomny

**redhead** · 07-22-2008, 05:31 PM

This has nothing todo with how hte machine is identified to the net, these messages has to do with the mapping of your harddrive and which machine name was active at the time when the kernel was created ie:

Code:

> dmesg|head -n 1
Linux version 2.6.25 (root@fenris) (gcc version 4.1.2 20061115 (prerelease) (Debian 4.1.1-21)) #1 Sun Apr 20 11:42:41 CEST 2008
> hostname
garm

So I build the kernel on a machine named "fenris" but have it running on a machine named "garm"
Same thing with your info, the machine was named "oldhostname" when you created the install and build of kernel, so the mapping and kernel build info reflects that, the name in /etc/hostname and /etc/hosts is the one reflecting the machine towards the net it's a part of.

**bezdomny** · 07-23-2008, 12:25 PM

Thank you as always, redhead. You've enlightened me and put my mind at ease. I think we're done now!

best regards to all from North-Central California,

bezdomny