Mac OS X Panther in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Name

scutil

Synopsis

scutil [-v] [-p]
scutil [-v] [-d] -r { hostname | IP_addr [IP_addr] }
scutil [-v] -w key [-t timeout]
scutil [-v] --get { ComputerName | LocalHostName }
scutil [-v] --set { ComputerName | LocalHostName } [hostname]

Provides control of the System Configuration framework’s dynamic store. It’s used to open an interactive session with configd, in which various commands are available to view and modify System Configuration keys.

As a quick example of interactive use, try this:

1. Invoke scutil. You will be placed at the scutil prompt.

2. Enter open to open the session with configd.

3. Enter list. You will see a set of keys, some of which are provided by the System Configuration framework (such as the keys in the File: domain), some of which are obtained from /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist (the Setup: keys), and some of which are published by the configuration agents (the State: keys).

4. Enter show State:/Network/Global/DNS to display the DNS dictionary. You should see a list of DNS servers and search domains configured on your system.

5. Enter close, then quit.

Options

-d

Enable debugging output to standard error.

--get

Print the system’s computer name or Rendezvous hostname to standard output.

-p

Enable a private API with additional commands, including lock, unlock, touch, snapshot, n.file, n.signal, n.wait, and n.callback.

-r

Determine how the specified node (given as a hostname or an IP address) would be reached, printing the result to standard output. Possibilities ...