Baslinux mailing list

[qwms-avib AT dea.spamcon.org]

James Miller wrote:
> 
> shouldn't the /etc/hosts file look pretty much the 
> same for all machines on my network?

/etc/hosts isn't required for authentication.  It
simply converts hostnames to numerical addresses.
If you use numerical IPs, /etc/hosts is never used.

/etc/hosts.allow is a completely different file.
It is used for authentication by most servers
(including NFS).

So, in order to get access to the NFS server, the
client address must be permitted by hosts.allow
(or hosts.deny).  Then, it must be permitted by
/etc/exports (a second level of authentication).

IFAIK /etc/exports is only used by NFS, so its
configuration will be specific to NFS.  On the 
other hand, /etc/hosts.allow is used by lots of
servers, so what works for one server will probably
work for the others.

Think of hosts.allow as the first line of defense.
It simply screens out non-listed addresses (they
never reach the server).  Listed addresses are
allowed to contact the server, which often has its 
own authentication requirement (eg. /etc/exports
for NFS).
  
Cheers,
Steven