I recently performed a minimal server install of Fedora Core 3. I logged into the root and performed the following command:

rpm --import /usr/share/rhn/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora

Then I tried to run:

yum update

but got the following error message:

Cannot find a valid baseurl for repo: base

I rebooted anyway and tried to run:

wget (I know this is a URL, but I cannot post it as it was inputted since I am new and have not submitted > 5 posts)install.loncapa.org/versions/fedora/FC3_loncapa_yum.conf

which gave me the following error message:

Resolving install.loncapa.org... failed: Host not found.

I tried manually setting up the firewall using iptables plus setting the IP address, gateway, DNS. I have to have DHCP disabled prior to installing Lon-Capa, which is an environment for creating web based courses (in my case, physics) with LaTeX compatibility and other convenient features for science courses.

I hope that someone can resolve the above errors. Your help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks,

Greg.

Since you got "host not found" it seems you cannot access that site. If it does exist you should make sure to have a working connection. Have you checked with for example lynx if you can access outside webpages using your current configuration of iptables?

Perhaps iptables is blocking DNS requests?
If not, are the DNS servers in /etc/resolv.conf reachable?
can you do dig install.loncapa.org ?

To debug possible IPTables problems, you should have a LOG target in your chain JUST before it gets dropped or rejected. This way you can see if an attempt to send out a packet gets through or not.

Thank you for your rapid replies!

I am a newbie to Linux, so I have to admit that I do not fully understand your suggestions. However, I will look them up and get more information on them, then I will try them and see what happens. I will certainly post something if things go crazy.

I will try this >> Perhaps iptables is blocking DNS requests?
If not, are the DNS servers in /etc/resolv.conf reachable?
can you do dig install.loncapa.org ?

I do not quite understand this; perhaps it could be expanded? >> To debug possible IPTables problems, you should have a LOG target in your
chain JUST before it gets dropped or rejected. This way you can see if an
attempt to send out a packet gets through or not.


The site does exist; I checked. I will try your suggestion >> Since you got "host not found" it seems you cannot access that site. If it does
exist you should make sure to have a working connection. Have you checked with
for example lynx if you can access outside webpages using your current
configuration of iptables?

Thanks,

Greg.

First of all you should try to ping the site from the box. Ping it by IP. Then try to see if your DNS is working by running this command:

If you get an ip out from that you have a working DNS setup and there are no problems there. If this does not work you should take a look at the file /etc/resolv.conf, in this file there should be nameservers listed and they should be up and working (your isp should provide nameservers for you).

If this does work maybe iptables are blocking the traffic for you. You might want to check your iptables-setting out then.

One further thought re iptables blocking :: if FC3 uses one of the 'civilizer' programs (e.g.: ShoreWall) to pre-set a firewall, some of them set up a *very* strict wall, up to and including total lock-out, so if you let one of them run, you may need to figure out how to open the wall using the tool that set it up.

Myself, I learned iptables itself, and just hand-write mt own walls as a start-up script.

LOL,