Prototype: host2ip(hostname)

Return type: string

The return value is cached.

Description: Returns the primary name-service IP address for the named host hostname. If resolution fails, the input hostname is returned (for compatibility reasons).

Uses whatever configured name service is used by the resolver library to translate hostname into an IP address. It will return an IPv6 address by preference if such an address exists. This function uses the standard lookup procedure for a name, so it mimics internal processes and can therefore be used not only to cache multiple lookups in the configuration, but to debug the behavior of the resolver.

Arguments:

  • hostname: string - Host name in ascii - in the range: .*

Example:

code
bundle server control
{
  allowconnects         => { escape(host2ip("www.example.com")) };
}

See also: ip2host(), isipinsubnet(), iprange()

History: This function was introduced in CFEngine version 3.0.4 (2010)