CDE Problem: The desktop messaging system could not be started

[P Shanmugam]

Dear Forum,

We have HP-UX 11 running and recently we have enabled dns resolver in the system.

After that we are unable to login to system using CDE and system gives the erro "The desktop messaging system could not be started".

Once the resolver IP is removed from system then we could login thru CDE.

The Client hostname is longer than 8 characters.

How to resolve the issue we need longer than 8 character for the clients as per our IT policy.

Shanmugam

[twang]

1. what is your version of hpux:
# uname -a
2. does the file exist in /etc:
nsswitch.conf
3. create this file in /etc and try again, sample content could be:
# cat /etc/nsswitch.conf
hosts: files [NOTFOUND=continue UNAVAIL=continue TRYAGAIN=continue] dns [NOTFOUND=return UNAVAIL=continue TRYAGAIN=return]
aliases: files

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Hi Shanmugam,

You can have the hostname upto 64 characters but the nodename is limited to only 8 characters. In general, it is a good practice to set hostname and nodename equal. If you can change the hostname back to fit the 8 characters, it will be nice. If you don't have a choice (policies can be adjusted not the system limitations), then you can set the nodename seperately by specifying NODENAME="8_char_name" in /etc/rc.config.d/netconf file. /sbin/init.d/hostname looks for this entry sets it accordingly. ALso add it to your /etc/hosts file next to your hostname entry. Ensure files comes first before DNS in your /etc/nsswitch.conf file. Run '/sbin/init.d/hostname start'. You may need to reboot the system again.

But I still suggest you keep your hostname and nodename the same.

-Sri

[P Shanmugam]

Thanks .....

we have just created /etc/nsswitch.conf file seems to be working ok.

shanmugam