path: root/lib/kernel/doc/src/net_adm.xml

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  <header>
    <copyright>
      <year>1996</year><year>2013</year>
      <holder>Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</holder>
    </copyright>
    <legalnotice>
      Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
      you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
      You may obtain a copy of the License at
 
          http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

      Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
      distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
      WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
      See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
      limitations under the License.
    
    </legalnotice>

    <title>net_adm</title>
    <prepared>Claes Wikstrom</prepared>
    <docno>1</docno>
    <date>1996-09-10</date>
    <rev>A</rev>
  </header>
  <module>net_adm</module>
  <modulesummary>Various Erlang net administration routines.</modulesummary>
  <description>
    <p>This module contains various network utility functions.</p>
  </description>

  <funcs>
    <func>
      <name name="dns_hostname" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Official name of a host.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Returns the official name of <c><anno>Host</anno></c>, or
          <c>{error, <anno>Host</anno>}</c> if no such name is found. See also
          <seealso marker="inet"><c>inet(3)</c></seealso>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="host_file" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Read file <c>.hosts.erlang</c>.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Reads file <c>.hosts.erlang</c>, see section
          <seealso marker="#files">Files</seealso>. Returns the hosts in this
          file as a list. Returns <c>{error, <anno>Reason</anno>}</c> if the
          file cannot be read or the Erlang terms on the file cannot be
          interpreted.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="localhost" arity="0"/>
      <fsummary>Name of the local host.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Returns the name of the local host. If Erlang was started
          with command-line flag <c>-name</c>, <c><anno>Name</anno></c> is
          the fully qualified name.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="names" arity="0"/>
      <name name="names" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Names of Erlang nodes at a host.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Similar to <c>epmd -names</c>, see
          <seealso marker="erts:epmd"><c>erts:epmd(1)</c></seealso>.
          <c><anno>Host</anno></c> defaults to the local host. Returns the
          names and associated port numbers of the Erlang nodes that
          <c>epmd</c> registered at the specified host. Returns
          <c>{error, address}</c> if <c>epmd</c> is not operational.</p>
        <p><em>Example:</em></p>
        <pre>
(arne@dunn)1> <input>net_adm:names().</input>
{ok,[{"arne",40262}]}</pre>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="ping" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Set up a connection to a node.</fsummary>
      <desc>
        <p>Sets up a connection to <c><anno>Node</anno></c>. Returns
          <c>pong</c> if it is successful, otherwise <c>pang</c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="world" arity="0"/>
      <name name="world" arity="1"/>
      <fsummary>Lookup and connect to all nodes at all hosts in
        <c>.hosts.erlang</c>.</fsummary>
      <type name="verbosity"/>
      <desc>
        <p>Calls <c>names(Host)</c> for all hosts that
          are specified in the Erlang host file <c>.hosts.erlang</c>,
          collects the replies, and then evaluates <c>ping(Node)</c> on
          all those nodes. Returns the list of all nodes that are
          successfully pinged.</p>
        <p><c><anno>Arg</anno></c> defaults to <c>silent</c>.
          If <c><anno>Arg</anno> == verbose</c>, the function writes
          information about which nodes it is pinging to <c>stdout</c>.</p>
        <p>This function can be useful when a node is started, and
          the names of the other network nodes are not initially known.</p>
        <p>Returns <c>{error, Reason}</c> if <c>host_file()</c>
          returns <c>{error, Reason}</c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>

    <func>
      <name name="world_list" arity="1"/>
      <name name="world_list" arity="2"/>
      <fsummary>Lookup and connect to all nodes at specified hosts.</fsummary>
      <type name="verbosity"/>
      <desc>
        <p>Same as <seealso marker="#world/1"><c>world/0,1</c></seealso>,
          but the hosts are specified as argument
          instead of being read from <c>.hosts.erlang</c>.</p>
      </desc>
    </func>
  </funcs>

  <section>
    <title>Files</title>
    <marker id="files"/>
    <p>File <c>.hosts.erlang</c> consists of a number of host names
      written as Erlang terms. It is looked for in the current work
      directory, the user's home directory, and <c>$OTP_ROOT</c>
      (the root directory of Erlang/OTP), in that order.</p>
    <p>The format of file <c>.hosts.erlang</c> must be one host
      name per line. The host names must be within quotes.</p>
    <p><em>Example:</em></p>
    <pre>
'super.eua.ericsson.se'.
'renat.eua.ericsson.se'.
'grouse.eua.ericsson.se'.
'gauffin1.eua.ericsson.se'.
^ (new line)</pre>
  </section>
</erlref>