Topic: Domain problem

[Des Dougan]

I have two e-smith servers which I'm configuring - one gateway, one server only. The gateway I upgraded from 4.0.1 to 4.1 and applied the DNS upgrade RPM, the other was a straight 4.1 install, with SMP RPMs applied.

As I start to test the client side, I've found that I can't resolve domain names on the LAN (I should not that, at this point, the e-smith LAN is at my home as I set it up. It's hanging off my home LAN, with the gateway connected to my hub (and ultimately, my ADSL link) on one interface, with the other connected to another hub. The e-smith LAN is using a different 192.168 subnet). I'm not planning to test external mail access till the servers and hub are moved to the office in which they'll reside (Internet access is working fine).

In looking at the problem, the upgraded machine's /etc/resolv.conf has "domain e-smith.chinookengineering.ca" while the clean 4.1 system has "domain chinookengineering.ca" as one would expect. The gateway's admin console displays the domain correctly.

One (apparent) result of this is that when I try to connect to mail.chinookengineering.ca from the client PC, it can't resolve it.

Am I correct in assuming that I can correct this via a template edit? I'd also like to understand the cause of this and would appreciate any light shed on this problem.

Thanks,

Des Dougan

[Darrell May]

I don't exaclty understand what you are doing Des.  Maybe more of an explanation why you have two e-smith servers and on different IP networks?

Some items to consider since I know you are local.  Telus ADSL service restricts access to their DNS servers.  You must use a Telus hostname and/or registered mac address to access their DNS servers.

Your e-smith server set up as 'server and gateway' must be set as the gateway IP for the client computers.  If I follow this correctly, your e-smith server set as 'server and gateway' will not have any way of knowing about the 'server only' server until you enter the appropropriate hostname/IP information in  the 'server and gateway' e-smith-manager hostname panel.  The 'server only' server should have the gateway IP set to the 'server and gateway server'.

I think I have this right.  It's been a long day....

Regards,

Darrell

[Dean]

I've had the same problem after a fresh install of 4.1.1
My win2k clients could see each other on the LAN, however I couldn't connect to internet via e-smith gateway, nor could I log into the e-smith server manager.

At 1st I entered a URL as suggested in the User Guide - http://www.e-smith.mydomain.org/e-smith-manager/ ... no dice
A straight IP (http://192.168.1.1/e-smith-manager/) worked all right, though
Also, I noticed that when the e-smith manager page finally opened, the URL in the address window has changed from http://192.168.1.1/e-smith-manager/ to  http://192.168.1.1:980/ - probably in line with some pre-configured setting to open connection on this port.

From there, I had to configure IE Tools>options>connections>LAN settings
proxy server http://192.168.1.1 port: 3128
Funny thing is I copied :980 at the end of IP by mistake, and windows changed port setting to 980.  Consiquently, when I tried to connect to Google, it opened e-smith manager login dialog
This flakey DNS business doesn't worry me - IP's or host names, what's the difference ... It's just annoying there's no workaround in the User Guide. The site FAQ's are long overdue for update, too ..

[Gordon Rowell]

Dean wrote:

> [...]
> At 1st I entered a URL as suggested in the User Guide -
> http://www.e-smith.mydomain.org/e-smith-manager/ ... no dice

The 'e-smith.' section was removed from the URL in 4.1 - as detailed in the
manual.

> A straight IP (http://192.168.1.1/e-smith-manager/) worked
> all right, though
> Also, I noticed that when the e-smith manager page finally
> opened, the URL in the address window has changed from
> http://192.168.1.1/e-smith-manager/ to
> http://192.168.1.1:980/ - probably in line with some
> pre-configured setting to open connection on this port.

The administration server in 4.1 runs on a different port, with a transparent
redirect.
 
> [...]
> This flakey DNS business doesn't worry me - IP's or host
> names, what's the difference ...

The DNS is working properly. The manager URL changed from
4.0 to 4.1, as documented in the manual.

> It's just annoying there's no workaround in the User Guide.

The manual clearly documents the URL and that it changed from 4.0 to 4.1

> The site FAQ's are long overdue for update, too ..

Our FAQs are being updated constantly. We appreciate any input you
might care to provide.

Gordon

[Gordon Rowell]

Des Dougan wrote:
> [...]
> In looking at the problem, the upgraded machine's
> /etc/resolv.conf has "domain e-smith.chinookengineering.ca"
> while the clean 4.1 system has "domain chinookengineering.ca"
> as one would expect. The gateway's admin console displays the
> domain correctly.

We decided to preserve the 'e-smith.' tag for upgraded machines as it means
that client machines do not need to be reconfigured. Those who upgraded from
4.0 could continue with the 'e-smith.' tag while fresh installs would no longer
receive it.

> [...]
> Am I correct in assuming that I can correct this via a
> template edit? I'd also like to understand the cause of this
> and would appreciate any light shed on this problem.

Even easier:

/sbin/e-smith/config set LocalDomainPrefix ""         # that's an empty string
/sbin/e-smith/signal-event console-save
/sbin/e-smith/signal-event reboot

Gordon

[Des Dougan]

Gordon,

That'll teach me to upgrade one and fresh install the other .

Many thanks for your help. That fixed my problem, as I thought.

Cheers,

Des