Hosts File - Alternate locations?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dave Tiffany
  • Start date Start date
D

Dave Tiffany

I'd like to ease the maintenace of our hosts file by
maintaining a single copy and storing it on a share where
all workstaions could refer to it.

How do I configure a workstation to look in this alternate
location?

Thanks in advance.

Dave Tiffany
 
I'd like to ease the maintenace of our hosts file by
maintaining a single copy and storing it on a share where
all workstaions could refer to it.
Click to expand...

That's why God made DNS. Or at least made Paul and Jon who made DNS.
How do I configure a workstation to look in this alternate
location?
Click to expand...

You can't if you use HOSTS files. You *can* use an include in the
HOSTS file to point to a central. Check the docs on the sample file
for the info.

Jeff
 
I believe only LHHosts files have "include" directive support.
Click to expand...

You may be right. In a named.hosts file there is an #include
directive, but haven't actually used one in a Microsoft HOSTS file.

I guess the OP would have to either replicate the file across his
systems, manually update each client, or use DNS.

Jeff
 
In
Jeff Cochran said:
You may be right. In a named.hosts file there is an #include
directive, but haven't actually used one in a Microsoft HOSTS file.

I guess the OP would have to either replicate the file across his
systems, manually update each client, or use DNS.

Jeff
Click to expand...

Sounds like work to me.
:-)

--
Regards,
Ace

Please direct all replies to the newsgroup so all can benefit.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties.

Ace Fekay, MCSE 2000, MCSE+I, MCSA, MCT, MVP
Microsoft Windows MVP - Active Directory
 
I believe only LHHosts files have "include" directive support.
You may be right. In a named.hosts file there is an #include
directive, but haven't actually used one in a Microsoft HOSTS file.

I guess the OP would have to either replicate the file across his
systems, manually update each client, or use DNS.
Click to expand...

He will likely have a problem with keeping it on a share -- first,
there might be no way to resolve the name of the sharepoint server
so he will need to use an IP in the UNC name \\192.168.2.1\NetLogon
might work.

I choose NetLogon because he will likely need this when IP initializes
before authentication has completed. NetLogon is (sometimes) a
NULL Session Share require little or no authentication.

He would probably be better served (<grin>) by using a Startup script
to download a centrally maintained file on each boot -- and perhaps on
each shutdown as well as periodically on a scheduled task.

As someone suggested: This is what DNS is designed to aleviate.
 
DT> I'd like to ease the maintenace of our hosts file [...]
DT> How do I configure a workstation to look in this
DT> alternate location?

There's a registry setting that specifies where the DNS Client looks for the
"HOSTS" file. However, I won't go into details, partly because I posted them
in this very newsgroup just over a fortnight ago so you should have read them
already, and mainly because this is a very poor way to achieve your goal.

Create and use a DNS server.
 
Back
Top