Using MAKESITE

Because many servers and commands allocate hlq.HOSTS.SITEINFO and hlq.HOSTS.ADDRINFO, it is important not to overwrite or delete these data sets while TCP/IP is running. To avoid disrupting any active users, use an HLQ=parm that is different than your active hlq. This allows you to swap names (by renaming the old HOSTS data sets and then renaming the new HOSTS data sets) without starting and stopping TCP/IP.

Use MAKESITE as a TSO command or in a batch job to generate new hlq.HOSTS.SITEINFO and hlq.HOSTS.ADDRINFO data sets. The parameters are the same for either a TSO command or a batch job invocation of MAKESITE. See z/OS Communications Server: IP System Administrator's Commands for more information.

After you make changes to your hlq.HOSTS.LOCAL data set, you must generate and install new hlq.HOSTS.SITEINFO and hlq.HOSTS.ADDRINFO data sets.

Guidelines: Use ETC.IPNODES (in the style of etc/ipnodes) as the preferred alternative to the generated local hosts tables from MAKESITE for the following reasons:

No imposed 24 character restriction on host names.
No imposed restriction on the first eight characters of the host names having to be unique. However, there are certain applications that require the first eight characters to be unique, such as Network Job Entry (NJE).
Closely resembles that of other TCP/IP platforms, and eliminates the MAKESITE requirement of file post-processing.
Allows configuration of both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
Only one file is managed for the system, and that all the APIs can use the same single file. The COMMONSEARCH statement in the resolver setup file can be used to reduce IPv6 and IPv4 searching to a single search order, as well as to reduce the z/OS® UNIX and native MVS™ environments to a single search order.

For more information on the use of IPNODES by the resolver to locate IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and sitenames, see z/OS Communications Server: IPv6 Network and Application Design Guide.

For the search orders used in locating the local host tables, see Configuration files for TCP/IP applications. For a description of the use of IPNODES by the resolver to locate IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and sitenames when the resolver setup statement COMMONSEARCH is specified, see IPv6/common search order and IPv6/common search order.