Local Host Name & DNS Resolution Problem (Works on Windows but not on Linux)

sheps126 · 01-02-2009, 07:17 AM

Hi Guys,

I guess I am relatively new to Linux. I am using Fedora 9 (Sulphur) and needed to change the host name from the default 'localhost.localdomain' to 'fedora'. I did so in the '/etc/sysconfig/network' file and it seems that the host name has been changed accordingly (if I run '# hostname' it returns with 'fedora' as the hostname).

My problem lies in resolving the host name 'fedora' from the Fedora box (i.e '# ping fedora') - I just get a 'ping: unknown host fedora' response. This would sound like a DNS issue, but, and this is where I get lost, when I ping 'fedora' from a Windows box on the same network, it resolves as expected. Also, if I '# ping google.com' from the Fedora box, the domain resolves fine.

Apache was working fine (and still is) before I changed the hostname, but now when I start the service it warns me that it couldn't determine the fqdn ...

Any ideas?

I have disabled SELinux and the firewall just to be sure.

repo · 01-02-2009, 07:27 AM

Hi,

Add it to
/etc/hosts

xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx fedora

sheps126 · 01-02-2009, 08:21 AM

Thanks repo,

I realise that I can do that, but it won't solve the problem. The windows machine on the network is named lawrance ... I can't '# ping lawrance' from the Fedora box either, meaning I can't ping any other machine on the network using their respective host names.

Thanks again for the reply!

malaprop · 01-02-2009, 06:29 PM

Do you have a DNS server on your network?
Is it in /etc/resolv.conf?

you might also have to put the domain name in there...

sheps126 · 01-03-2009, 04:09 AM

Thanks malaprop,

Yes, there is a DNS and it is working. /etc/resolv.conf does have the correct DNS entries in it, and I can resolve any normal web address from the Fedora box, just not any other machine on the local network (yet from Windows I can). I think this might have something to do with the fact that Windows uses the NetBios names to resolve too, and Linux doesn't?

Thanks again for your reply!

repo · 01-03-2009, 04:18 AM

Perhaps you can take a look at winbind and samba.

ARC1450 · 01-03-2009, 08:12 AM

Windows does resolve through NetBIOS before DNS.

So, you don't have a DNS issue as long as you can properly resolve something like "www.google.com".

If you have a DNS server, remember in /etc/resolv.conf that you need to add a search suffix.

malaprop · 01-03-2009, 10:11 AM

do you have a process running called avahi or avahi-daemon?

ps axw |grep avahi

kill it and see if that doesn't solve the problem.

I've seen that process cause this very issue.