Mac OS X Panther for Unix Geeks, Second 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]

Description

Provides control of the System Configuration framework’s dynamic store. scutil is 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:

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

• Enter open to open the session with configd.

• 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).

• 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.

• Enter close, then quit.

Options/Usage

-d

Enables debugging output to standard error.

--get

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

-p

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

-r

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