CentOS - Apr 2010 - DHCP server and Windows XP clients : set hostname ?

Hi,

For the last few years, I've been using exclusively Linux on servers and 
desktops, so I don't know anything about Microsoft products.

When setting up a 100% GNU/Linux LAN, I use a local DHCP and DNS caching 
server, and then all the clients are configured to use DHCP. Hostnames 
are all handled by the server. This works very well and never causes any 
headaches.

Now a local town hall has asked me to join their two networks (so they 
can exchange files via Samba), one using Windows XP on desktops, and the 
other running CentOS desktops. I plan to handle hostnames, IP addresses 
etc. as usual, by one central DHCP/DNS caching server. Right now I'm 
testing this on my "sandbox" network (three machines using Ghost
images
from various systems). I can configure a Windows XP desktop to get 
network configuration from the DHCP server OK, but 1) where does an XP 
desktops' hostname appear? 2) how can I handle it from the DHCP server 
(that is, *if* it's possible)?

Cheers,

Niki

-------- Original Message  --------
Subject: [CentOS] DHCP server and Windows XP clients : set hostname ?
From: Niki Kovacs <contact at kikinovak.net>
To: CentOS Mailing List <centos at centos.org>
Date: Wed Apr 07 2010 15:13:59 GMT+0200 (ora Legale Europa
Occidentale)
> Hi,
>
> [...]
>
> I can configure a Windows XP desktop to get 
> network configuration from the DHCP server OK, but 1) where does an XP 
> desktops' hostname appear? 2) how can I handle it from the DHCP server 
> (that is, *if* it's possible)?
>   
To my knowledge this is not possible for Windows clients (at least XP
and seven). Not even for some dummy network printers that simply ignore
any hostname offers from (ISC) DHCP server.

I was wandering too if this is possible, maybe somebody succedeed...

--
Alessandro

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On Wednesday 07 April 2010 14:13:59 Niki Kovacs wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> For the last few years, I've been using exclusively Linux on servers
and
> desktops, so I don't know anything about Microsoft products.
> 
> When setting up a 100% GNU/Linux LAN, I use a local DHCP and DNS caching
> server, and then all the clients are configured to use DHCP. Hostnames
> are all handled by the server. This works very well and never causes any
> headaches.
> 
> Now a local town hall has asked me to join their two networks (so they
> can exchange files via Samba), one using Windows XP on desktops, and the
> other running CentOS desktops. I plan to handle hostnames, IP addresses
> etc. as usual, by one central DHCP/DNS caching server. Right now I'm
> testing this on my "sandbox" network (three machines using Ghost
images
> from various systems). I can configure a Windows XP desktop to get
> network configuration from the DHCP server OK, but 1) where does an XP
> desktops' hostname appear? 2) how can I handle it from the DHCP server
> (that is, *if* it's possible)?
The hostname of a windows machine is usually set locally as the "computer 
name" somewhere in windows system settings (don't remember exactly, but
it can
be reached from the control panel...). When obtaining a lease from a dhcp 
server, windows reports this hostname (along with the mac data etc.), and you 
can read it in the dhcpd leases file on the server.

Setting this hostname remotely from a dhcp server doesn't work on windows, 
AFAIK. It completely ignores the dhcpd suggestion. Maybe this can be adjusted 
somehow (tweaking the registry?), but I have no idea how and if this is 
possible. That said, I didn't really ever bothered to search for this kind
of
option. Both windows and linux can be set to ignore the dhcp-suggested 
hostname, so you should never rely on this for any functionality (other than 
pure convenience). Dynamic DNS should be the proper way to handle machine 
names of dhcp clients.

HTH, :-)
Marko

> For the last few years, I've been using exclusively Linux on servers
and
> desktops, so I don't know anything about Microsoft products.
>
> When setting up a 100% GNU/Linux LAN, I use a local DHCP and DNS caching
> server, and then all the clients are configured to use DHCP. Hostnames
> are all handled by the server. This works very well and never causes any
> headaches.
>
> Now a local town hall has asked me to join their two networks (so they
> can exchange files via Samba), one using Windows XP on desktops, and the
> other running CentOS desktops. I plan to handle hostnames, IP addresses
> etc. as usual, by one central DHCP/DNS caching server. Right now I'm
> testing this on my "sandbox" network (three machines using Ghost
images
> from various systems). I can configure a Windows XP desktop to get
> network configuration from the DHCP server OK, but 1) where does an XP
> desktops' hostname appear? 2) how can I handle it from the DHCP server
> (that is, *if* it's possible)?
The name of a Windows box is usually its netbios name and it is held at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ComputerName\ComputerName\ComputerName

A Windows box also has a hostname held at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Hostname
but I have never seen a setup where they are different.

If the XP boxes are running in a domain (which they must be), you will
not be able to change their names on the fly (or only on an irregular
basis with one of the extra tools that are shipped on server install
CDs) because both users and computers have to be members of a Windows
domain in order to log on to it. Once a Windows box accepts an ip
lease from the dhcp server, its A and PTR records are updated on the
dns server.