Learning Red Hat Linux

Network Administration Using linuxconf

In Chapter 5, you were introduced to linuxconf, which is analogous to the Microsoft Windows Control Panel. However, that chapter touched only briefly on the Linux configuration options that pertain to networking. This section describes these options in more detail. By following the instructions in this section you should be able to configure your system to connect to a local area network, the Internet, or both.

Basic Host Information

Basic host information includes the Internet name of your system and information on your system’s network adapter cards. To specify these, launch linuxconf by starting X, launching an xterm, and typing the commands:

su -
linuxconf

Because you’re likely to use the linuxconf program often, you may want to include it as a menu item or shortcut in your desktop manager.

Once the linuxconf window appears, select the Config → Networking → Client Tasks → Basic Host Information subtree. Figure 10.1 shows the Basic Host Information dialog box that appears.

Figure 10-1. The basic host information dialog box

Every computer attached to the Internet has at least one hostname, which generally consists of three words separated by dots; for example, http://www.oreilly.com. If your ISP provides you with a hostname for your system, you should enter it here. Otherwise, you can choose your own hostname, so long as you choose a name ...