DSL modem PC name is not my hostname

[actaea]

When I use Ubuntu, my DSL modem correctly gets the hostname I call my computer "mertensia", but I'm having issues with Fedora.

Here's the contents of /etc/sysconfig/network file in Fedora 14:


[xxx@mertensia ~]$ cat /etc/sysconfig/network
NETWORKING=yes
HOSTNAME=mertensia.alleyway
NTPSERVERARGS=iburst

Yet, when I look at the name assigned by the modem (using http://192.168.0.1/ in a web browser), it tells me

PC Name: unknown

I need the PC Name to be mertensia, because otherwise it will complicate how I ssh immensely.

[forkbomb]

You can't just change your hostname in /etc/sysconfig/network and just expect the hostname you've picked to propagate through the whole DNS database! Your ISP couldn't care less about what your OS calls itself, nor do upstream DNS servers. Not only that but .alleyway isn't even a valid TLD.

Most ISPs divvy out IP addresses via dhcp. And for many of the big ISPs, the WAN hostnames of clients actually incorporates the IP as part of the WAN hostname (this is especially true of ISPs that serve large numbers of customers). Whatever naming and addressing scheme your ISP use, you likely won't have any control over it unless you sign and pay for a business service plan.

Either contact your ISP to get a static IP and associate it with a domain you've registered, or try a service like DynDNS.org (I think DynDNS still has a free, if crippled, account option).

[actaea]

Forkbomb, I mustn't have made myself clear. I have no desire to propagate a name through the whole DNS database. I just want my DSL modem to recognize the name of my computer--just as it does when I use Ubuntu or Windows. I need it do this, so I can use the same rule for the modem in order to SSH into my computer--whether I use Windows, Fedora, and any other Linux distro I happen to decide to check out. I'm sure if it works out of the box in Ubuntu, there is a way to do this in Fedora.

[jpollard]

Isn't going to happen.

The closest you will be able to come is to put your "desired" name in
the /etc/hosts file with the IP number you have been given by your router.

After that. all bets are off, as the name you give your system has
nothing to do with any system outside of your local system. Not your
router, and certainly not any other system.

[mwesten]

I believe I see what he means. My router runs a DHCP and DNS server for the local network. When I boot Windows or an Ubuntu distro (Mint), the box gets an IP from DHCP server and it's hostname is registered with the local DNS server correctly. Fedora 14 gets an IP alright, but the hostname that it registers is garbage. This should work.