Hi.

I was installing Debian-6.0.2.1-i386-NetInstall in VirtualBox.

What 'Domain name' and 'Name servers' do I use in Debian install setup?

For the domain name I saw some YT video add 'gateway.2wire.net' and other YT video users left it blank.

Thanks.

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If you don't have a domain name then localdomain is conventional (by usage, not standard by RFC).

If you want to resolve domain names to IP addresses the the name servers need to be the IP addresses of effective name servers, else it doesn't matter.

Hi catkin. That was a prompt reply.

I am running a stand alone PC at home so I presume that means I don't have domain name. Would putting in localdomain be better than leaving it blank? I connect to my modem/router (Thomson TG585 v7 Router) to access the internet.

So I leave the name servers section blank?

Also, I am going to install Debian on my old laptop which is currently setup like so: ext4 with seperate home and root partitions. I notice that Debian 6 only has ext3 – how will that work out?

Im using ext4 for my Debian Squeeze install.

Mostly it doesn't matter but there are some circumstances (mail sever configuration?) in which it does matter and sometimes it is less confusing to see localdomain than (not to) see blank.
That's nice; I hope you are very happy together . Seriously, I cannot think of a way in which that is relevant to choosing which domain name to configure
Not if you want to resolve any domain names to IP addresses. If that doesn't make sense, please say so.
That is not correct.

If you're thinking of having a home network then you could use 'domain.org' . Then each computer would be named sally.domain.org, gonad.domain.org, etc..

I will now be assasinated by catkin.

There are two different problems that you could be asking about, here. I think I know which of them you mean, but:

• If the concern is (this is the one that I don't think applies in this case) that you want to access other machines on your local network by name

and

• You don't want to hard code the names of each machine (each server) on your network in each other machine, you'll need DNS locally

.

Unless you are doing something that you haven't told us about with virtual machines, what I have just described is not what you mean.

• OTOH, if you want to use sites on the internet, by name (eg www.linuxquestions.org and not the slightly less memorable (and not necessarily constant) 75.126.162.20), you'll want to hook up to a name server that knows about names on the wider internet.

In essence, there are a load of nameservers out there on the internet that you could use - google have some, OpenDNS is another provider and probably your ISP has their own (but beware that some of the less good ISPs have nameservers that are continuously on the edge of overload, and the performance of those will be poor - this is a common reason for 'my browsing performance is nothing like what my ISP promises, but my download speed is OK', although, obviously browsing speed can be poor for other reasons, too).

Usually, the ADSL m/r is capable of caching (a small number of) DNS lookups, so, if you tell your workstation that your m/r is the DNS server, it all works out - your workstation queries the m/r, and the m/r gets the info, if it doesn't already have it, from the wider internet. On a more complex network, you could run your own, local, caching nameserver, which, because it could have a larger cache may be a theoretically better performing solution, but this difference, in a network this simple probably is negligible.

The m/r knows of a nameserver either

• because you configured it, in, eg, the m/r's web interface
• the ISP configured it (presumably to their own) either initially, or via DHCP

Prepare to meet your doom!

The problem with any domain name which is legitimate is that it might exist -- if not now then in the future. In the case of domain.org, it does exist and currently resolves to 216.34.94.184. If you decide to use domain.org locally then either you set up a local name resolution system that ensures it always resolves locally (in which case you can't access the "real" domain.org) or you don't and it is useless.

Similarly example.com currently resolves to 192.0.43.10.

It would be useful to have an RFC specifying domain names that can only be resolved to private network addresses but AFAIK no such RFC exists so we are left with using domain names that are not legitimate such as the popular localdomain.

Turns out there is a related RFC as explained at http://www.iana.org/domains/example/ where it says:

Example Domains

As described in RFC 2606, we maintain a number of domains such as EXAMPLE.COM and EXAMPLE.ORG for documentation purposes. These domains may be used as illustrative examples in documents without prior coordination with us. They are not available for registration.

RFC 2606 does not answer the OP question, though, because its scope is domain names for testing, documentation and obvious invalidity.

localdomain lives on!

So to sum things up, am I correct to enter localdomain as my domain name and something like 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 for my name servers?

Originally Posted by LinusStallman: I connect to my modem/router (Thomson TG585 v7 Router) to access the internet.
catkin, I appreciate your help but there is not need to be a smart alec about it. I thought it may have been relevant.

I am sorry you found my words disrespectful they were not intended that way.

i think you should put the address of your router as name server. It fetches the DNS from your ISP automatically and works as 'DNS proxy' or something like that.

Hi catkin. I understand, apology accepted.

1 members found this post helpful.

That's a good way of doing it when your ISP's DNS service is functioning well.

@catkin

hm, yes. well on rare occasions ISP DNS server might be down, while internet is working.
that's why it's a good idea to type in secondary DNS too. think you can do it both in router and debian.