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Managing virtual domains

Virtual domain name and DNS

One of the important properties of a virtual domain is its name (for example, abc.com or mywebserver.def.com). This is the name by which services associated with a virtual domain know themselves -- it is the ``virtual system name''.

To allow other systems to access a virtual domain or physical interface by its name, create entries for it on a DNS server. These entries need to be made on the DNS server that is acting as the primary or authoritative server for the domain within which you have defined the virtual domain's name. Your SCO OpenServer system is configured to run a caching DNS server only because the optimal DNS configuration for many situations is different, and often systems are dedicated to the purpose of running DNS. If you have a small site, your ISP will probably offer you DNS service.

Because of the many installation-dependent issues involved in proper DNS configuration, the Internet Manager does not attempt to create the DNS entry for you. You should ask your network administrator or ISP to add a DNS entry corresponding to your system name and IP address. If you are administering DNS yourself, refer to ``Configuring the Domain Name Service'' in your online documentation for more information.

If you are creating a new top-level domain (such as mycompany.com), you must also register this domain. Registering your domain name is necessary to ensure the uniqueness of names throughout the Internet. For information about applying for and registering a domain name, see the InterNIC's (Internet's Network Information Center) web site at www.internic.net.

The process of registering your domain name can take several weeks. If you register a top-level domain (such as mycompany.com), either you or your ISP must arrange to provide primary and secondary Domain Name Service for the new domain prior to official registration of the new domain.


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© 2003 Caldera International, Inc. All rights reserved.
SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 -- 11 February 2003