auto-import changelog data from man-pages-1.67-3.src.rpm

Wed Aug 25 2004 Adrian Havill <havill@redhat.com> 1.67-3
- make resolver clearer and less bind-focused (#126696)

man-pages.spec

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Summary: Man (manual) pages from the Linux Documentation Project.
 Name: man-pages
 Version: 1.67
-Release: 2
+Release: 3
 License: distributable
 Group: Documentation
 Source0: http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/docs/manpages/man-pages-%{version}.tar.gz
@@ -143,6 +143,9 @@ rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT
 %{_mandir}/en/man*/*
 
 %changelog
+* Wed Aug 25 2004 Adrian Havill <havill@redhat.com> 1.67-3
+- make resolver clearer and less bind-focused (#126696)
+
 * Fri Aug 20 2004 Adrian Havill <havill@redhat.com> 1.67-2
 - updated to latest
 - getrpcent/setrpcent typo (#73836)

resolver.5

@@ -16,89 +16,78 @@
 .\"	@(#)resolver.5	5.9 (Berkeley) 12/14/89
 .\"	$Id: resolver.5,v 8.6 1999/05/21 00:01:02 vixie Exp $
 .\"
-.Dd November 11, 1993
+.\"     Revised by Mike MacCana
+.\"
+.Dd June 23, 2004
 .Dt RESOLVER 5 
 .Os BSD 4
 .Sh NAME
 .Nm resolver 
-.Nd resolver configuration file
+.Nd DNS client
 .Sh SYNOPSIS
 .Pa /etc/resolv.conf
 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 The
 .Nm resolver
-is a set of routines in the C library
-.Pq Xr resolve 3
-that provide access to the Internet Domain Name System.
-The 
-.Nm resolver 
-configuration file contains information that is read
-by the 
-.Nm resolver 
-routines the first time they are invoked by a process.
-The file is designed to be human readable and contains a list of
-keywords with values that provide various types of 
-.Nm resolver 
-information.
+is the DNS client used on most Linux and BSD systems. It comes with glibc. 
+Its configuration file 
+.Pa /etc/resolv.conf 
+(note the spelling) determines the DNS servers to use, and various other options - see below.
 .Pp
-On a normally configured system, this file should not be necessary.
-The only name server to be queried will be on the local machine,
-the domain name is determined from the host name,
-and the domain search path is constructed from the domain name.
+Almost all machines have a DNS server set up in this file - if it
+doesn't exist, the system will assume there's a DNS server running on the local 
+machine, and work out the search path from the machines domain name.
 .Pp
-The different configuration directives are:
-.Bl -tag -width "nameser"
+The config file is read the first time the DNS client is invoked by a process.
+.Pp
+The different configuration options are:
+.Bl -tag -width "nameserver"
 .It Li nameserver
-Internet address (in dot notation) of a name server that the 
+IP address of a DNS server to use. Multiple name servers may be listed, each on their own line. The 
 .Nm resolver 
-should query.  Up to 
+will use them in order listed - if the first server times out answering the query, the next server will be tried, and so on. If the
+.Li resolver
+runs out out of name servers, the first server will be queried again, until a maximum number of retries are made. 
+.Pp 
+The maximum number of DNS servers to use is set by 
 .Dv MAXNS 
 (see
-.Pa <resolv.h> )
-name servers may be listed, one per keyword.
-If there are multiple servers, the 
-.Nm resolver 
-library queries them in the order listed.
-If no 
-.Li nameserver 
-entries are present, the default is to use the name server on the local machine.
-(The algorithm used is to try a name server, and if the query times out,
-try the next, until out of name servers,
-then repeat trying all the name servers
-until a maximum number of retries are made).
-.It Li domain
-Local domain name.
-Most queries for names within this domain can use short names
-relative to the local domain.
-If no 
-.Li domain 
-entry is present, the domain is determined from the local host name returned by
-.Xr gethostname 2 ;
-the domain part is taken to be everything after the first 
-.Sq \&. .
-Finally, if the host name does not contain a domain part, the root
-domain is assumed.
+.Pa <resolv.h>
+)
 .It Li search
-Search list for host-name lookup.
-The search list is normally determined from the local domain name;
-by default, it contains only the local domain name.
-This may be changed by listing the desired domain search path
+Domain(s) to use for DNS lookups when no domain is specified. List each domain 
 following the
 .Li search
-keyword with spaces or tabs separating the names.
-Most 
-.Nm resolver 
-queries will be attempted using each component
-of the search path in turn until a match is found.
-Note that this process may be slow and will generate a lot of network
-traffic if the servers for the listed domains are not local,
-and that queries will time out if no server is available
-for one of the domains.
+keyword with spaces or tabs between them. Each possible domain will be checked in order until a match is found. Note that this process may be slow (queries will time out if no server is available for a domain) and will generate a lot of network traffic if the servers for the listed domains aren't local.
 .Pp
-The search list is currently limited to six domains
-with a total of 256 characters.
+The search list is currently limited to six domains with a total of 256 characters.
+If
+.Li search
+isn't specified, the search list will be determined from the local domain name (whatever comes after the first dot). If the host name doesn't contain a domain, the root domain is used. 
+.Pp
+By default, it 
+.Li search
+contains only the local domain name.
+.It Li domain
+Local domain name. You can use this instead of the 
+.Li search
+option to specify a single domain to check if a hostname isn't specified. Most people just use 
+.Li search
+instead (that option lets you use multiple servers, 
+.Li domain
+doesn't). You can't use 
+.Li domain
+and
+.Li search
+at the same time - they're mutually exclusive. 
+.Pp
+If
+.Li domain
+isn't specified, the domain will be determined from the local domain name (whatever comes after the first dot). If the host name doesn't contain a domain, the root domain is used.
 .It Li sortlist
-Allows addresses returned by gethostbyname to be sorted.
+Sorts addresses returned by the
+.Li gethostbyname 
+system call.
 A
 .Li sortlist 
 is specified by IP address netmask pairs. The netmask is