Access local web server via host name

NotionCommotion · 04-25-2017, 09:56 AM

I have a raspberry pi which who's host name is greenbean3 and it has a static IP of 10.120.11.30 and it is running nginx. I can access it via a web browser using http://10.120.11.30/. I installed avahi-daemon and I can ping it from a local device (yet for some reason not all local devices). Nginx is set up using server_name $domain_name greenbean3 greenbean3.local;.

My desire is to access it via a local web browser using http://greenbean3.local/ or http://greenbean3/ instead of the IP, but cannot do so and get greenbean3.local’s server DNS address could not be found. error. What can I do? Thank you

Code:

michael@raspberrypi2:/var/www $ ping greenbean3.local
PING greenbean3.local (10.120.11.30) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 10.120.11.30: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.339 ms
64 bytes from 10.120.11.30: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.348 ms
^C
--- greenbean3.local ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1001ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.339/0.343/0.348/0.019 ms
michael@raspberrypi2:/var/www $

Code:

michael@greenbean3:~ $ cat /etc/dhcpcd.conf
hostname
clientid
persistent
option rapid_commit
option domain_name_servers, domain_name, domain_search, host_name
option classless_static_routes
option ntp_servers
require dhcp_server_identifier
slaac private
nohook lookup-hostname

interface eth0
static ip_address=10.120.11.30/24
static routers=10.120.11.1
static domain_name_servers=10.120.11.1
michael@greenbean3:~ $ hostname
greenbean3
michael@greenbean3:~ $

Habitual · 04-25-2017, 10:06 AM

Poor Man's DNS:
vi /etc/hosts from the client:

Code:

10.120.11.30 greenbean3

as I'm not certain how

Code:

10.120.11.30 greenbean3 greenbean3.local

will respond, but you can try it.
If http://greenbean3.local doesn't puke....works until it doesn't?
http://greenbean3 should in any case.

NotionCommotion · 04-25-2017, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual

Poor Man's DNS:

Thanks Habitual, While I appreciate such a simple fix, this has one issue which I am a little concerned to tell you what it is as I am sure I will be damned for doing something so foolish and irresponsible. The who purpose of the web server is to change the network configuration settings, and I am using script to edit /etc/dhcpcd.conf and then restart the network. If I use this poor man's DNS approach, I need to parse even more config files.

Habitual · 04-25-2017, 10:46 AM

Yeah, I couldn't grok the dhcp connection, so I punted.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...7cf7ac88eb.jpg

NotionCommotion · 04-25-2017, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Habitual

Yeah, I couldn't grok the dhcp connection, so I punted.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...7cf7ac88eb.jpg

Ouch brain!!!

I knew it wouldn't be received well, thus the reason I was concerned to state my intent

Off topic. How can I build a router using a small Linux device and change the IP of the device using an embedded webserver?

Just kidding. On topic

michaelk · 04-25-2017, 09:25 PM

avahi is providing the local DNS service but AFAIK needs to be running on all linux boxes. MACs use bonjour and you would have to install it on Windows. For all devices connected to the local LAN to resolve hostnames to IP address you would need a local DNS server i.e. dnsmasq or bind. dnsmasq is simpler to configure is also a dhcp server and you can use an include file.

Considering that webmin and cups change configuration files but are standalone applications and not Nginx or Apache which have limitations on directories/permissions.

NotionCommotion · 04-26-2017, 06:43 AM

Thanks michaelk.

If I install dnsmasq installed on the device, and the device is installed on a network with another dns server, will they conflict?

michaelk · 04-26-2017, 09:34 AM

I assume this is your home LAN? What DNS server is running?

Your want to be able to set a static IP address on the Pi via a web page and have its name resolution automatically be updated somehow.

NotionCommotion · 04-26-2017, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

I assume this is your home LAN? What DNS server is running?

Your want to be able to set a static IP address on the Pi via a web page and have its name resolution automatically be updated somehow.

No, it will be on a school's LAN, and the specific DNS server is unknown.

The two goals are:

Allow non-technical user to change static IP via a web browser.
If non-technical user forgets the IP, they can fall back to using the hostname.

jmgibson1981 · 04-27-2017, 12:16 PM

I would rethink what I'm trying to do. People shouldn't be able to arbitrarily change their ip, especially not on a network outside of their home. Otherwise you can end up with collisions. The right way to do this is a dns server ( i use bind 9 at home) and a dhcp server with ip addresses assigned via mac address I would think.

What is the end goal and what are you trying to achieve by giving people the ability to change their static ip?