The Domain.txt File
What it can do for you...
The domain.txt file is a flat database residing in the /jnos directory. It maps domain names to their respective IP addresses. It typically is almost exclusively made up of AMPRNet addresses, the Amateur Packet domain of the internet, the ampr.org network. It also can specify mail exchange records. If you are doing any communicating using TCP/IP , which includes mail, you will need to maintain this file! (This scheme is not as detailed and complex as the database for "named", pronounced name-dee, but it is nonetheless very useful on smaller networks, those for packet radio or "very" local area networks.)
It should be noted that this file is only referenced via the JNOS (or TNOS) application program(s) since JNOS has a domain name server built in. However, it is the same file that services either a DOS/Windows, or a Linux, OS as long as JNOS is up and running on that platform.
You may see a similarity between this file and the hosts file on Linux. The hosts file is a bit more "bare bones" only mapping names and aliases to IPs. The domain.txt file added more functionality by including MX, NS, and CNAME record types. There is another similarity to the hosts file in that the domain.txt file is always "consulted" first for a name resolution. If it can't find the record there, it then calls out to the servers listed in the autoexec.nos file under the key word domain addserver in the same way that the resolv.conf file would call out to one of its listed domain name servers.
My Domain.txt file on JNOS
This is my domain.txt file residing on the bambi.ampr.org machine, the packet radio router. Notice that after each internet address record, there is a mail exchange record. This is very convenient when sending messages from one machine to another. Also, note the size of this file. It is quite small. Some domain.txt files are very large with hundreds, or even thousands, of entries.
You might also notice the peculiar use of the MX records. Usually, a typical MX record will "point to" another domain name, another destination, for forwarding. As you can see, I am not doing that here. This was more of a test to see if these records would be "accepted" by the server on JNOS, which they were...
/jnos/domain.txt # Domain.txt file # 02-15-01 # 05-08-01 # 01-10-02 # 01-24-03 # # General defs... -------------------------------- ampr.ampr.org. IN A 44.0.0.0 localhost.ampr.org. IN A 127.0.0.1 # # ------------------------------------------------ ka1fsb.ampr.org. IN A 44.56.26.10 ka1fsb.ampr.org. IN MX 0 44.56.26.10 ka1fsb-3.ampr.org. IN A 44.56.26.11 ka1fsb-3.ampr.org. IN MX 0 44.56.26.11 ka1fsb-12.ampr.org. IN A 44.56.26.12 ka1fsb-12.ampr.org. IN MX 0 44.56.26.12 vpn1.ka1fsb-12.ampr.org. IN A 44.56.26.17 vpn1.ka1fsb-12.ampr.org. IN MX 0 44.56.26.17 # # The "bambi" machine ---------------------------- bambi.ampr.org. IN A 44.56.26.14 bambi.ampr.org. IN MX 0 44.56.26.14 # # laptop ----------------------------------------- laptop.ka1fsb.ampr.org. IN A 44.56.26.16 # # Virtual private network 1 vpn1.ka1fsb-3.ampr.org. IN A 192.168.1.11 vpn1.ka1fsb.ampr.org. IN A 192.168.1.1 # # Peter W1UU gw.w1uu.ampr.org. IN A 44.56.20.1 # # Jim in Holbrook -------------------------------- ka1eui.ampr.org. IN A 44.56.20.61 # # New Hapshire, Tom's dn (w1fje) ----------------- net.ipnh.ampr.org. IN A 44.52.9.1 # derry.ka1tuk.ampr.org. IN A 44.52.9.48 derry.ka1tuk.ampr.org. IN MX 0 44.52.9.48 # # Cape Cod Net ----------------------------------- ka1fsb-1.ampr.org. IN A 44.56.10.151 switch.capecod.ampr.org. IN A 44.56.10.128 wa1ykn.ampr.org. IN CNAME switch.capecod.ampr.org. # # IN NS some-domain-name.ampr.org.
(Courtesy KBNorton Computer Services)