Topic: no dns while resolv.conf is ok

[hanscees]

Hello all,

I have solved this very strange problem.

When I started to type it was there and now it is gone. Just to inform you i will tell it anyway. It turns out the /etc/nsswitch.conf had an 'hosts files' entry, in stead of 'hosts files dns'. i do not know why. The problem description is below.

greetings

hc  



I have a howto at www.hanscees.com/esmith.html fir installing esmith with pptp and adsl in the netherlands. I was improving the howto and was installing e-smith once again on a test machine.
The strange problem is that | installed  it exactly as I did before but the machine won't do any dns. It can ping. This is the case:

I have an esmith (es1) server being gateway with nat on an adsl line at 192.168.0.2. That one works good. Behind it i have a windows machine with default route to 192.168.0.2 (es1) that works great.

The problem e-smith machine (which I was installing because the hard-disk failed [es2]) also has 192.168.0.2 as default route and can ping to the world. However, it cannot do dns at all.
I can ping and lynx to ip numbers but not to www names.
However, /etc/resolv.conf has good nameservers in it. So ping www.nu.nl gives: unknown host www.nu.nl.

First i thought pptp had a flaw, but as you can see it also turns out that dns is to blaim.

What could cause this?

I can ping the nameservers in resolve.conf. I tried to use 127.0.0.1 as dns but it answers very quickly that the host is unknown. It seems like it does not even try to look anything up. Is that possible?

[Charlie Brady]

hanscees wrote:

> When I started to type it was there and now it is gone. Just
> to inform you i will tell it anyway. It turns out the
> /etc/nsswitch.conf had an 'hosts files' entry, in stead of
> 'hosts files dns'. i do not know why. The problem description
> is below.
...
> The problem e-smith machine (which I was installing because
> the hard-disk failed [es2]) also has 192.168.0.2 as default
> route and can ping to the world. However, it cannot do dns at
> all.
> I can ping and lynx to ip numbers but not to www names.
> However, /etc/resolv.conf has good nameservers in it. So ping
> www.nu.nl gives: unknown host www.nu.nl.
>
> First i thought pptp had a flaw, but as you can see it also
> turns out that dns is to blaim.

Well, various things aren't configured correctly, possibly because of your modifications, or maybe something else is wrong.

> I can ping the nameservers in resolve.conf. I tried to use
> 127.0.0.1 as dns

resolv.conf should only contain 127.0.0.1. If it contains something else, then you are using a very old version of the e-smith server, or your server has not been installed and configured correctly.

> but it answers very quickly that the host is
> unknown. It seems like it does not even try to look anything
> up. Is that possible?

It's possible, but I doubt that's the problem.

I suggest that you discuss this issue on the developers mailing list. Be sure to be clear about what version you are using. I'll see you over there.

Regards

Charlie

[hanscees]

Dear Charlie,

I began by saying that the problem was solved. Sorry if that was not clear. i am not a native english speaker.

greetings

hc

ps, I think your product is getting to be a lot better then windows nt (what i use at work), and all that progress within the last 6 months! I think you do a great job!

[Charlie Brady]

hanscees wrote:
 
> I began by saying that the problem was solved. Sorry if that
> was not clear.

No, I saw that the problem was solved. However, I'm still curious as to how it came to be in that state.

> i am not a native english speaker.

Your English is excellent.

> ps, I think your product is getting to be a lot better then
> windows nt (what i use at work), and all that progress within
> the last 6 months! I think you do a great job!

Thanks, it's great to get such support. I'll pass the message on to the rest of the team.

Regards

Charlie

[hanscees]

Charlie Brady wrote:
>
> hanscees wrote:
>  
> > I began by saying that the problem was solved. Sorry if that
> > was not clear.
>
> No, I saw that the problem was solved. However, I'm still
> curious as to how it came to be in that state.

Because I started with a stand-alone server, and the template for nsswitch.conf contains a statement that makes dns not work when configured as a standalone server. Then it fills in hosts files and not host files dns.
I presume that is policy.


>
> > i am not a native english speaker.
>
> Your English is excellent.

Thanks!

>
> > ps, I think your product is getting to be a lot better then
> > windows nt (what i use at work), and all that progress within
> > the last 6 months! I think you do a great job!
>
> Thanks, it's great to get such support. I'll pass the message
> on to the rest of the team.

Please do that! I have never seen a product mature so quickly.

hc