NAME

     gethostid, sethostid - get or set the unique  identifier  of
     the current host


SYNOPSIS

     #include <unistd.h>

     long int gethostid(void);
     int sethostid(long int hostid));


DESCRIPTION

     Get or set  a  unique  32-bit  identifier  for  the  current
     machine.   The  32-bit  identifier  is intended to be unique
     among all UNIX systems in existence. This normally resembles
     the  Internet  address for the local machine, as returned by
     gethostbyname(3), and thus usually never needs to be set.

     The sethostid call is restricted to the superuser.

     The hostid argument is stored in the file /etc/hostid.


RETURN VALUES

     gethostid returns the 32-bit identifier for the current host
     as set by sethostid(2).


CONFORMING TO

     4.2BSD.  These functions were dropped  in  4.4BSD.   POSIX.1
     does  not  define  these  functions, but ISO/IEC 9945-1:1990
     mentions them in B.4.4.1.  SVr4 includes gethostid  but  not
     sethostid.


FILES

     /etc/hostid


SEE ALSO

     hostid(1), gethostbyname(3)