Greetings:

I understand this is not a Nagios forum, but I know there are several Linux geniuses in our presence. I am getting my feet wet with UNIX administration and I successfully built a Nagios 3.0.2 server running 418 services. I am trying to find the best method for DNS resolution. I am not finding many tutorials for Ubuntu Hardy Heron. I am currently accessing the Nagios server by 64.**.***.*** and I would like to resolve it to nagios.mynetwork.net. What is the most effective method to accomplish the feat??


Thank you in advance.

-BreakTheWindows2008

Hi,

To address a machine by its hostname, it should have an entry in the appropriate DNS zone. Whoever looks after the DNS servers for mynetwork.net should be able to add an address record for your nagios server.

Alternatively, you can add a line to the hosts file of each machine that needs to access the nagios server. The line would look like this:

64.**.***.*** nagios.mynetwork.net

(Obviously with the correct IP address and hostname)

On Linux and other UNIX-style operating systems, the hosts file is /etc/hosts.

On Windows boxes, you can find it in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (assuming Windows is installed in c:\windows).

After adding this line to the hosts file, you may also need to restart your web browser so it picks up the new entry.

Hope that helps!

Thank you for the post and the advice. The server that hosts the domain (mynetwork.net) is running Fedora and it is surviving on its last leg. I would like to "clone" the DNS settings on the Fedora server to match my new Ubuntu server. What files do I need to copy/paste from the old server to the new box. I know the files will vary as they are running different versions of BIND. Any help ofr suggestions are greatly appreciated. After this is complete I can safely unplug the cord to the old server and do an Office Space to it!!!


-BreakTheWindows2008

Look for named.conf (usually /etc/named.conf) on the existing server. It will tell you which zones the server is authoritative for, and which files contain information for each zone.

Ubuntu will have a bunch of configuration files in /etc/bind. The configuration has been split for ease of use, so you may want to have a read at these first rather than just copying the files over.

Zone file syntax hasn't changed much over the years, but there may be one or two options in named.conf that need revising. Your best bet is to stop your new BIND server (BIND9?), put the old server's config in place (remembering to back up the existing config first!), then try starting BIND and see what happens.

BIND logs to the system log, so you'll see information appearing in /var/log/syslog (or possibly /var/log/daemon.log, depending how syslogd is configured).

If you get stuck, there's an excellent BIND9 configuration reference here:

http://www.bind9.net/manual/bind/9.2.5/Bv9ARM.html

Have fun!

S.