next gen h2n

Kevin Darcy kcd at daimlerchrysler.com
Mon Mar 13 20:39:59 UTC 2000


Lars Hecking wrote:

> > > I am looking for a tool that will do sth. like what h2n does but comply
> > > better with bind 8 and nicer in multiple domain handling.
> > > Could anyone send me a pointer?
> > > I am trying to run this tool mainly with Solaris 2.6+ environment.
> >
> > I think you're asking too much from a utility that appears to have been
> > primarily created as a hosts-to-DNS migration tool. Consider taking the
> > plunge and making DNS your "master" name database. There are numerous
> > tools out there that can help maintain zonefiles. If you have some broken
> > software in your environment which (temporarily) *requires* a hosts file,
> > it should be quite easy to write an "n2h" script which would periodically
> > generate one from the zonefiles.
>
>  There's nothing intrinsically "broken" with hosts files.

You apparently misread what I wrote. I characterized as "broken" software
which *requires* a hosts file, i.e. goes directly to the hosts file to do
lookups instead of using the default resolver configuration of the machine.
I never said hosts files were "broken" _per_se_, although their practicality
is IMO quite limited (see below).

>  Care to share your decades of sysadmin experience with us?

In my first decade of sysadmin experience I demonstrated, among other things,
that hosts files are not economically viable in an enterprise with more than a
few dozen networked entities. Been there, done that, switched to DNS, never
looked back. And I haven't seen anything so far in the second decade that's
likely to change that assessment...


- Kevin

P.S. If you're going to taunt me, at least try to be original, won't you?
Little Jimmy Keegan (of alt.flame fame) was calling me a "junior sysadmin" 6
or 7 years ago.




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