where are internet settings in Linux Mint XFCE
 

Hello there! Can anyone please explain where I can find internet and network settings in Linux Mint XFCE (or Cinnamon)
In Windows, I was used to seeing settings for Internet and Network in just "settings" or "control panel"
I just want to change the DNS; plus I just want to know how to bring up those settings
Hopefully there is a way to do it in ... sorry... GUI...?
Cheers!

Linux is not Windows. ;)

If you search on the web for how to change the DNS settings for Linux Mint, you will find many ways of doing this.

The following works for me:

Open the terminal and run the following command (entering your password when requested):

Ignoring the warning message at the top of this file, enter the following 2 lines:

(or whichever DNS servers you wish - these are the OpenDNS ones)

Close the file, saving when requested.

Run the following command to make the change stick:

That should be you.

Thanks, hydrurga!
I actually just realized that, because I already had DNS server settings set-up in the modem (I also use openDNS!), it is what is doing the DNS thing; so I might leave it...(hope its OK).
But is there an app someone knows about that displays those settings in GUI? Or a commnad that displays them in terminal?

I'm not sure if there is a GUI interface for that, to be honest, because I just carry out the steps I mentioned above on any new system and leave it to do its work.

To determine which DNS server is in effective use, try either of the following on the command line:

(replace bbc.co.uk with any other valid internet domain, if preferred).

In both cases, the Server/SERVER tag on the output should show you the effective DNS server (and thus show if your modem is working correctly in that regard). This doesn't work for certain local cacheing cases, but it should work in most cases. Let us know how it goes.

thanks hydrurga!
here is the output:
; <<>> DiG 9.10.3-P4-Ubuntu <<>> bbc.co.uk
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 46941
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 4, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 4096
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;bbc.co.uk. IN A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
bbc.co.uk. 208 IN A 151.101.64.81
bbc.co.uk. 208 IN A 151.101.128.81
bbc.co.uk. 208 IN A 151.101.192.81
bbc.co.uk. 208 IN A 151.101.0.81

;; Query time: 8 msec
;; SERVER: 127.0.1.1#53(127.0.1.1)
;; WHEN: Fri Feb 02 01:47:38 AEDT 2018
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 102

So it is showing 127.0.1.1 - what's that? I know my DNS is working - because it tells me so in the OpenDNS website...
I actually fo8und this also in Network Settings - DNS tab

'127.0.1.1' is your loopback address.

Aha. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than I am can answer that, but it looks as if that is saying that it is using the router (127.0.1.1; local DNS cache server) as the DNS server (which of course is using OpenDNS in turn if you've set that).

More info:

https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/d...ame_resolution

https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs...1_what_is_the/

As long as you know that your router is effectively set to use the OpenDNS servers, you don't need to worry about it.

Mint automatically installs dnsmasq and configures it as a local DNS cache. This is why you see

SERVER: 127.0.1.1#53(127.0.1.1)

Basically the purpose of a DNS is to resolve a URL i.e bbc.co.uk to an IP address. The DNS cache attempts to speed up the process by handling the name resolution of recently visited addresses before the request is sent out to the internet.

Thanks for this info, michaelk.

So, if I set up specific DNS addresses in resolv.conf, am I effectively cutting that local DNS cache out of the equation by making direct external DNS calls each time?

My resolv.conf:

Yes, Look at your output for running consecutive dig bbc.co.uk commands. The query time for using a local cache should be in the order of 8 msec versus ~40 msec without.

21ms. I can live with that. :)

So, I decided to add 127.0.1.1 before my external nameservers in resolv.conf to see if I could search the local cache first. This degrades the time to 44-50ms. Any idea why this may be?

By the way, byebyemrgates, I hope that you don't mind me taking the thread slightly off at a tangent!

I hope that this related discussion may be of interest to you and others who read the thread too. It's certainly interesting to me.

I don't know. I have not played with caching much but there are several settings that configure dns cache with NetworkManage and dhclient.

Ok, fair enough. Interestingly, if I depend on the local cache (no external nameservers in resolv.conf) then I consistently get 44-52ms. With my external nameservers in pole position, c20-25ms. It's as if the DNS system is not using the cache at all, always reverting (if no other external nameservers take prominence) to the router's DNS settings which point at the ISP's nameservers.

Whatever the situation, I'm envious of the OP's 8ms response time. :)

Thanks everyone, don't mind you all "hijacking" the thread - good education for me