How to select a Hostname?

plumberg

Who is currently at this stage:

I know I was, at one point.

I came across this helpful blog post which helped me get past...
https://mnx.io/blog/a-proper-server-naming-scheme/

I setup names based on the following convention:

permanent name while setting up the system first time
combo name that identifies a server as per business needs:

eg. web01.prd.nyc.aws

• purpose + serial number
• environment
• location/ geography
• provider

What is your magic hostname? How do you decide?

Thanks for reading

Arkas

I use animal names. For example tiger.fightclub.com or rottweiler.rnd02.bite

emg

@Arkas said:
I use animal names. For example tiger.fightclub.com or rottweiler.rnd02.bite

I had two new servers and named one "dog" and the other one "cat". On my home computer, I made aliases "dog" and "cat" that would connect to the appropriate server over ssh. That worked out great for a few quick tests + 30 seconds.

At the 30 second mark, I realized that I had overridden the "cat" Unix command, which I use often. Doh!

(Yeah, I changed the alias and all is well.)

lewellyn

RFC 1178 covers this topic to quite some depth, honestly.

let_rocks

shuf -n 1 /usr/share/dict/words
Pick a word I like and convert to lowercase.

DataIdeas-Josh

@lewellyn said:
RFC 1178 covers this topic to quite some depth, honestly.

psh.. Coming in here ruining all the fun.
Such a party pooper

yoursunny

Paid VPS with IPv4: vps0, vps1, …, vps9.
Free VPS or NAT/IPv6: box0, box1, …, box9.
A hostname may be reused after the VPS is cancelled or sold or @deadpool.

Bundles: pick a shorthand for provider name, followed by either digit or airport code, e.g. whz-ewr.

bluehairminerboy

Mario Kart maps. Don’t judge me.

dahartigan

@bluehairminerboy said:
Mario Kart maps. Don’t judge me.

Decent idea

suut

racknerd-la01-kvm
spartan-sea02-kvm

FatGrizzly

v1,v2,v3 for vps's
d1,d2,d3 for dedis

zed

currently i like to use names of let posters

add_iT

I am using one of these

But since i am using big ram vps and KVM only now i always choose option 3 to make it simple

1. node vps name [dot] domain name (eg. FFME005.example.com)
2. country code & vps number - virtualization type [dot ]domain name (eg. JP1-KVM.example.com)
3. region/iata code - vps ram ammount [dot] domain name (eg. lax-8g.example.com)

Ultrapassion

@Arkas said:
I use animal names. For example tiger.fightclub.com or rottweiler.rnd02.bite

,me too, tiger lion bull

MrEd

My home servers are named by planets, because I am not planning to have more than 5 servers in the near and not so near future First one is earth.hostname, second is mars.hostname. All the internal VMs on these are purpose called - ci.hostname, sql.hostname, web.hostname, etc...

External VMs are location based - uk.hostname, sg.hostname, etc... With two exceptions, my offsite backup VM is called borg.hostname, and when for some reason I get n-th VM in the same location, I start numbering them, but the first one is numberless. E.g. de..., de2..., de3...

DP

https://namingschemes.com/Main_Page

If anyone's out of ideas.

GreenRuby

I use the names of Greek gods.
The entire network I refer to as 'Olympus'
My beefy home server is Zeus
The two VPSs are Poseidon and Hades

eris

• Purpose + Number

Other I have seen where transformers...

alilet

I use BitWarden to generate hostname

xTom

When selecting a hostname, there are a few important factors to consider. A hostname is a unique identifier that is used to identify a specific computer or network device on a network, and it is typically composed of a combination of letters, numbers, and other characters. Here are a few tips for selecting a hostname:

• Keep it simple and easy to remember: A hostname should be easy to remember, so it is best to keep it simple and straightforward. Avoid using complex or obscure words, phrases, or numbers, as this can make it difficult for others to remember and use your hostname.
• Use keywords that describe your device or purpose: If possible, try to include keywords in your hostname that describe your device or its purpose. For example, if you are selecting a hostname for a server that hosts a website, you could include the word "website" in the hostname. This can make it easier for others to understand the function of your device based on its hostname.
• Avoid using special characters or spaces: Most hostnames do not allow special characters, such as punctuation marks or spaces, so it is best to avoid using them. Instead, use letters, numbers, and the dash (-) or underscore (_) character to separate words or groups of characters in your hostname.
• Be consistent and avoid duplication: When selecting a hostname, it is important to be consistent and avoid duplication. For example, if you are selecting hostnames for multiple devices on the same network, you should use a similar naming convention and avoid using the same hostname for multiple devices. This will help to avoid confusion and ensure that your hostnames are unique and easy to use.

jugganuts

marvel character names, cuz there are so fucking many to choose from..

zed

@jugganuts said:
marvel character names, cuz there are so fucking many to choose from..

real names of marvel mutants (kurt, emma, magnus etc). my very own unique and original theme i came up with and nobody else would ever want to use.

the whole purpose/environment/location scheme is sensible when you're dealing with cattle, but i don't wrangle herds anymore and my machines are definitely pets now.

paijrut

cendol, dawet, timlo, soto basically foods..

henix

I just use planet names

folio

I go with trees (elm, oak, pine, etc). The RFC mentioned by @lewellyn makes for a great read. "Purposely incorrect (but cute) spellings also tend to annoy a large subset of people."

Shot2

I go with a stable name scheme (which is also present in DNS).
A scheme that is unlikely to ever change for the duration of the service.
So... no "purpose" or "prod/test" naming; but rather provider, hardware, and/or location.

e.g.:
dedi-online-fr-vty [.shot2.tld]
vps-as202401-us-nyc [.shot2.tld]

Makes debugging and management easier, as in "To: [email protected] Subject: [Alert] Oh crap, Dedi-Online-Fr-Vty is down"... which makes me rush to check status.online.net.

Of course, purpose-oriented "nicknames" may still be assigned and altered if needed, thanks to CNAMEs in the DNS acting as shortcuts, public-facing pretty names etc.

e.g. :
proxy-us IN CNAME vps-as202401-us-nyc

analog

originally I just did the phonetic alphabet: alpha.example.com, bravo, charlie, delta, echo...

A friend of mine did Halo 2 Maps: zanzibar.example.com, waterworks, midship, collosus...

Now I mainly do <purpose><serial number>.<geo>.<mydomain.tld>

emg

@let_rocks said:
shuf -n 1 /usr/share/dict/words
Pick a word I like and convert to lowercase.

If you just want to gather a list of interesting names, open port 22 and collect the usernames from the resulting ssh login attempts.

lewellyn

@emg said:

@let_rocks said:
shuf -n 1 /usr/share/dict/words
Pick a word I like and convert to lowercase.

If you just want to gather a list of interesting names, open port 22 and collect the usernames from the resulting ssh login attempts.

Hahahahah I wonder if those scripts do rDNS. "Um it says we're connecting to a host called tnsadmin, which is in our to-try list. This IP should be blacklisted since something is wrong."

emg

I never tried rDNS. I used to run it to give to friends when they were expecting a baby. These days, my friends' babies are grown, so I have not run it in a while. The last time I ran it was in 2007. Here is the command I used:

sudo grep "failed to auth" /var/log/secure.log | sed "s/^.* user \(.*\)\.$/\1/" | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr

Here are the top results from that run in 2007. I have listed only the ones with 5 or more hits:

283 root
106 admin
34 test
25 mysql
20 backup
17 postgres
17 news
15 cyrus
14 oracle
13 user
13 tomcat
13 apache
12 web
12 info
12 guest
11 rpm
11 richard
11 michael
11 cary
11 bin
10 webmaster
10 nobody
10 ftp
10 fax
9 sales
9 mike
9 mail
9 carlos
9 angel
8 username
8 sshd
8 shell
8 postmaster
8 postfix
8 pgsql
8 paul
8 master
8 games
8 amanda
8 alan
8 admins
8 adam
7 www-data
7 webadmin
7 stephen
7 ssh
7 squid
7 shop
7 sara
7 party
7 operator
7 mailman
7 lp
7 john
7 ident
7 george
7 adm
6 samba
6 rmgadmin
6 khan
6 irc
6 gnome
6 carter
6 caroljean
6 alex
6 aircode
5 wwwrun
5 www
5 telnet
5 sync
5 suva
5 smmsp
5 shutdown
5 rex
5 resin
5 psybnc
5 named
5 mikael
5 max
5 linux
5 library
5 httpd
5 halt
5 david
5 danny
5 daniel
5 daemon
5 casandra
5 caryn
5 caryl
5 carsten
5 carson
5 carry
5 carrissa
5 carrington
5 carrie
5 carri
5 carree
5 carrano
5 carran
5 caron
5 carolynn
5 carolyne
5 carolyn
5 carolle
5 carolis
5 caroline
5 carolin
5 carla
5 carl
5 carey
5 cara
5 candice
5 campbell
5 cammie
5 cal
5 anthony
5 Aaron

(Many many more after that, all with fewer than 5 attempts. The list of single attempts from that same run has 1713 unique usernames.)

lewellyn

@emg said:
I never tried rDNS. I used to run it to give to friends when they were expecting a baby. These days, my friends' babies are grown, so I have not run it in a while. The last time I ran it was in 2007. Here is the command I used:

sudo grep "failed to auth" /var/log/secure.log | sed "s/^.* user \(.*\)\.$/\1/" | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr

Here are the top results from that run in 2007. I have listed only the ones with 5 or more hits:

283 root
106 admin
34 test
25 mysql
20 backup
17 postgres
17 news
15 cyrus
14 oracle
13 user
13 tomcat
13 apache
12 web
12 info
12 guest
11 rpm
11 richard
11 michael
11 cary
11 bin
10 webmaster
10 nobody
10 ftp
10 fax
9 sales
9 mike
9 mail
9 carlos
9 angel
8 username
8 sshd
8 shell
8 postmaster
8 postfix
8 pgsql
8 paul
8 master
8 games
8 amanda
8 alan
8 admins
8 adam
7 www-data
7 webadmin
7 stephen
7 ssh
7 squid
7 shop
7 sara
7 party
7 operator
7 mailman
7 lp
7 john
7 ident
7 george
7 adm
6 samba
6 rmgadmin
6 khan
6 irc
6 gnome
6 carter
6 caroljean
6 alex
6 aircode
5 wwwrun
5 www
5 telnet
5 sync
5 suva
5 smmsp
5 shutdown
5 rex
5 resin
5 psybnc
5 named
5 mikael
5 max
5 linux
5 library
5 httpd
5 halt
5 david
5 danny
5 daniel
5 daemon
5 casandra
5 caryn
5 caryl
5 carsten
5 carson
5 carry
5 carrissa
5 carrington
5 carrie
5 carri
5 carree
5 carrano
5 carran
5 caron
5 carolynn
5 carolyne
5 carolyn
5 carolle
5 carolis
5 caroline
5 carolin
5 carla
5 carl
5 carey
5 cara
5 candice
5 campbell
5 cammie
5 cal
5 anthony
5 Aaron

(Many many more after that, all with fewer than 5 attempts. The list of single attempts from that same run has 1713 unique usernames.)

Nothing at all surprising in that list: we all know root is the best baby name.