Subject: Re: proftp $ host name problems
From: Keary Suska (hierophant@pcisys.net)
Date: Sun Nov 18 2001 - 18:15:10 MST
With dynamic IP's, the host name of your system should be automatically set
to the host name corresponding to the IP address assigned. On my system,
dhcpd/pumpd does this automatically. To determine the host name, type the
assigned IP address in nslookup. Type the resulting name (if any) to make
sure it resolved properly. If it doesn't either way, your ISP doesn't have
DNS set up properly. But you may not be able to make them change it.
Depending on how you get your IP (DHCP/PPP) you will need to check your man
pages and see if there is any configuration options to have your host
automatically assigned when the address is. I can't really help you here,
because I don't have much experience with these daemons. Make sure though,
that you are not manually specifying host names or addresses in the network
config, which can override the default (and perhaps proper) settings.
Some things you can check: in proftpd.conf (/etc or /usr/local/etc) make
sure you aren't using any <virtualhost> directives that specify a host name
or address. They really aren't necessary at all except in certain
configurations, and a straightforward ftp server probably doesn't need it.
Make sure you don't have any "bind" directives. They won't work with
dynamically assigned addresses, unless of course you are binding to the
loopback (localhost/127.0.0.1). Have you tried standalone vs xinetd mode? I
don't recall if it matters, but using xinetd might work if you aren't
currently using it.
Other than the above, the only workaround I can think of is using IP
masquerading, which isn't easy for beginners. You may need to use a "dummy"
network device to get this to work.
Keary Suska
Esoteritech, Inc.
"Leveraging Open Source for a better Internet"
> From: "Robert J. Bloemeke" <bloemeke@mac.com>
> Reply-To: yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com
> Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2001 12:03:24 +0900
> To: <yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com>
> Subject: proftp $ host name problems
>
> Thanks for the help, Keary. Yes, nslookup verifies that
> zaqd38760a5.zaq.ne.jp is unresolvable. It says: "cwos001.zaq.ne.jp can't
> find zaqd38760a5.zaq.ne.jp: Non-existent host/domain". But I still don't
> know what to do about this. Is this a problem caused by my using a dynamic
> IP connected directly to the internet, instead of using a router, perhaps?
> Maybe there's a way to change my host name to localhost? I know that there
> is a fixed IP number for that: 27.0.0.1. If this is a good idea, how can I
> change it? This host name already shows up in net configurator. OR, if this
> is a bad idea, can you offer any other solutions? (spelled out step-by step,
> because I only started using Linux about two weeks ago)
>
> By the way, I'm going to go out today and get a linksys router.
>
> Thanks for your time and trouble.
> Robert
>
>> Subject: Re: proftp & host name problems
>>
>> It means your host doesn't actually resolve. Invoke nslookup to verify. The
>> host name must be a "real" host, i.e. DNS resolvable to use virtualhost
>> blocks. It could also be a DNS setup problem.
>>
>> Keary Suska
>> Esoteritech, Inc.
>> "Leveraging Open Source for a better Internet"
>>
>>> From: "Robert J. Bloemeke" <bloemeke@mac.com>
>>> Reply-To: yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com
>>> Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2001 23:48:44 +0900
>>> To: <yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com>
>>> Subject: proftp & host name problems
>>>
>>> Hello,
>>> I seem to be having trouble with proftpd. When trying to run it, I get this
>>> message:
>>> zaqd38760a5.zaq.ne.jp - Fatal: unable to determine IP address of
>>> 'zaqd38760a5.zaq.ne.jp'.
>>>
>>> zaqd38760a5 is the user name given to me by my ISP here in Japan. My
>>> YellowDog Linux 2.1 iMac is hooked up directly to the dynamic IP address
>>> given to me by this provider. This name also appears in the prompt in the
>>> command line interface.
>>>
>>> Also, when I shutdown, one of the messages that scrolls down the screen
>>> before shuting down is this one: "Can't get host name. Your system is
>>> severely misconfigured" I can't understand how the system could be
>>> "severely" misconfigured, since I have done little if any changing of
>>> configuration files since I installed the system a week ago. The only
>>> changes I made were minor things via webmin. But nothing that I recall
>>> having to do with a "host name". I get a similar host name error message for
>>> a split second when I startx after logging on. (Nevertheless, X seems to
>>> boot with no problems.)
>>>
>>> Can anybody shed some light on how I can get proftpd working? And/or what
>>> the cause/meaning of the host name error messages might be?
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance,
>>> Robert
>>>
>
> --
> http://www.media-core.com
> http://www.j-port.com
>
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