.\" Copyright (c) 1986 Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.  The Berkeley software License Agreement
.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
.\"
.\"	@(#)resolver.5	1.5 (Berkeley) 5/15/86
.\"
.TH RESOLVER 5 "May 15, 1986"
.UC 4
.SH NAME
resolver configuration file
.SH SYNOPSIS
/etc/resolv.conf
.SH DESCRIPTION
.LP
The resolver configuration file contains information that is read
by the resolver routines the first time they are invoked by a process.
The file is designed to be human readable and contains a list of
name-value pairs that provide various types of resolver information.
.LP
On a normally configured system this file should not be necessary.
The only name server to be queried will be on the local machine and 
the domain name is retrieved from the system.
.LP
The different configuration options are:
.TP
\fBnameserver\fP
followed by the Internet address (in dot notation) of a name server
that the resolver should query.  At least one name server should be
listed.  Up to MAXNS (currently 3) name servers may be listed, in that
case the resolver library queries tries them in the order listed.
If no \fBnameserver\fP 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).
.TP
\fBdomain\fP
followed by a domain name, that is
the default domain to append to names that do not have a dot in them.
If no \fBdomain\fP entries are present, the domain returned by
\fIgethostname\fP\|(2) is used (everything after the first `.').
Finally, if the host name does not contain a domain part, the root
domain is assumed.
.LP
The name value pair must appear on a single line, and the keyword
(e.g. \fBnameserver\fP) must start the line.  The value follows
the keyword, separated by white space.
.SH FILES
.I /etc/resolv.conf
.SH SEE ALSO
gethostbyname(3N), resolver(3), named(8)
.br
Name Server Operations Guide for BIND