Name resolution problem in Debian

TiredOfLinux · 02-21-2005, 01:06 PM

I have a problem with host name resolution on my Linux box running Debian 3.0 Woody with KDE. Konqeror (or any browser) returns "unknown host..." while using hostname but works fine using IP address. Ping fails too with "unknown host...".

Still nslookup returns:

Server: 192.168.2.1
Address: 192.168.2.1#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: debian.org
Address: 192.25.206.10

My home network consist of one Linux box and two WinXp boxes connected to internet through a DSL modem on a firewall-router which has the address 192.168.2.1. All boxes are configured with static IPs and using netmask 255.255.255.0. Default gateway and nameserver addresses are set to 192.168.2.1. WinXp boxes have no problems to resolve hostnames.

I've read about 45 Faqs, Howtos and forum threads and tried all config combinations I could work out without getting the problem solved or even located.

My current configuration on the Linux box is:

/etc/resolv.conf:
domain myhomenet
search myhomenet
nameserver 192.168.2.1
nameserver 195.54.122.204

(the last one is provided by my ISP and yes I'm able to ping it)

/etc/host.conf:
order hosts,bind
multi on

/etc/hosts:
127.0.0.1 localhost loopback

Code:

# route 
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
myhomenet        *               255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 eth0
default         192.168.2.1     0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 eth0

Most faq's keep telling about running a DNS service using BIND but that is not what I want. My intention is to keep using my ISP's name server for external name resolution.

What am I still missing??

Matir · 02-21-2005, 01:25 PM

I've found cases where the "domain" and "search" lines would cause problems with name resolution.

IsaacKuo · 02-21-2005, 01:29 PM

I'm not sure, but I had the same problem with my first attempt at a Debian Sarge install. The DNS resolution was very, very, very flakey, despite being set up the same way as my other Windows and Linux boxes. I believe it was a problem with my Linksys router being overwhelmed by something. I don't know.

All I know is that my heavy-handed solution worked, and it ended my extreme frustration. I used apt-get to install DNS (I think it was apt-get install bind). In my heated frustration, I simply installed and rebooted without even attempting to configure anything...and it worked! There was a lot of initial sluggishness in domain name resolution, perhaps due to timing out on the router before falling back onto the built in default name-servers...

Whatever. In any case, the problem cleared up after that. I think that it was the router, despite being a well respected name brand Linksys. Since then, I always install a DNS server on every workstation I set up.

TiredOfLinux · 02-21-2005, 02:31 PM

Problem solved!

The cause was the following line in the /etc/nsswich.conf file:

hosts: files wins

should be

hosts: files dns wins

Obvious? NOT! :-/

Probably it got messed up when I installed Samba for a few months ago. I just didn't notice it earlier because I usually don't use my linux box for surfing.

Maybe the wins keyword is not necessary at all but I'll leave it in case Samba needs it.

Also I've cleaned out everything else from the /etc/resolv.conf except one line:

nameserver 192.168.2.1

Thanks to everyone for your time and effort :-)

IsaacKuo · 02-21-2005, 02:57 PM

No, no, I thank _YOU_!

This /etc/nsswich.conf file is a new one for me, also. I suppose my solution fixed that file, among other things, but my solution was truly a case of swatting a fly with a bazooka. It's rather inconvenient lugging that heavy bazooka around, in case a fly shows up.