hi,
ive configured my zone files both reverse and forward in (/var/named/)plus the named.conf, but i cant get any positive response when i troubleshoot with telnet its telling me "connection refused" but i can ping from the dns server to a client using its name as in linuxbox.mikenet.com, and when i use nslookup or host command its giving me the name and the address of the server. Am running a VMware workstation network, so i saw no need to put up a caching dns server. please help

What do you mean troubleshooting using telnet?

Do you mean you are using telnet to connect to another machine, or you are trying to connect using telnet to your DNS daemon?

Most DNS traffic is UDP not TCP, so trying to telnet to the DNS port will not work (used for transfers not lookups).

The best way to test DNS resolution is using the dig command.

man dig will give you the syntax, but here are a few pointers.

To view an A record entry

To do this against a specific DNS server

If this doesn't help try putting more details in your explanation, as it's hard to see what you are saying the problem is.

thanks alot penguintutor i tried using dig and it worked. I really appreciate