Re: Weird DNS error?
Hi Bob, Tom and Carlos,
Thanks!
See below:
On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 8:58 PM, Bob Proulx <bob@proulx.com> wrote:
> Greg van Anders wrote:
>> I didn't install a DNS server and I am connecting via DHCP.
>
> Good. DHCP should automatically provide you with a nameserver. And
> hopefully that nameserver will be working! That would be extra nice.
> But it is possible that it hasn't.
>
>> # dpkg -l bind
>
> The package name is bind9 not bind. But if you didn't select the task
> then you wouldn't have it installed.
>
Oops, dpkg also reports bind9 is absent.
>> # cat /etc/network/interfaces
>> # This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
>> # and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
>>
>> # The loopback network interface
>> auto lo
>> iface lo inet loopback
>>
>> # The primary network interface
>> allow-hotplug eth0
>> #NetworkManager#iface eth0 inet dhcp
>
> Since NetworkManager edited the file upon installation there aren't
> any non-comment lines mentioning interfaces. Effectively it is
> empty. NetworkManager will automatically run dhcp on any interface
> NOT mentioned in that file. Since none are mentioned due to the
> commented out part it means that NM is going to do DHCP on that
> interface.
>
> I think what the package does there is a hack. But here is why it is
> doing it that way.
>
> http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=530024#49
>
>> # cat /etc/resolv.conf
>> # Generated by NetworkManager
>> nameserver 192.168.1.254
>
> DHCP gave you 192.168.1.254 as the nameserver. This is probably your
> local router.
>
Yes!
>> # grep hosts /etc/nsswitch.conf
>> hosts: files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4
>
> I have never seen the mdns4 parts installed upon a pristine install of
> Debian. I can only guess that something you installed edited that
> file and made those changes. Probably related to avahi or zeroconf or
> some such.
>
> That mdns_minimal4 [NOTFOUND=return] part bothers me because it says
> that if the domain is a multicast domain (by default .local) and it
> isn't found in the multicast lookup then return immediately host not
> found and stop looking and never look in dns for it.
>
> If you don't have mdns setup then you don't need that configuration.
> And if you do have it setup then you already don't need it since you
> would already know enough to set up your own domain normally. Saying
> this will bring all of the people who love mdns out of hiding and they
> will post how good it is for them here. I know this but will say it
> anyway. Regardless it will help narrow down the problem.
>
> Edit that line and make it like this:
>
> hosts: files dns
>
Ok, I tried this, as well as removing just the [NOTFOUND...] part as
Tom suggested.
> Does that solve the problem?
>
Not quite.
> If not then test that your dns server is fuctional. You can do this
> using a number of different utilities that are all very similar and
> give the same information but in different ways. I prefer the
> bind9-host package's "host" command. I believe it is installed by
> default. Others will prefer either nslookup or dig. Try using it
> directly against the nameserver. As long as the answers seem
> reasonable you could use any of the utilities available to you.
>
> $ host www.debian.org 192.168.1.254
> www.debian.org has address 128.31.0.51
> www.debian.org has address 206.12.19.7
> www.debian.org has IPv6 address 2607:f8f0:610:4000:211:25ff:fec4:5b28
>
> $ host slashdot.org 192.168.1.254
> slashdot.org has address 216.34.181.45
>
> If that doesn't look up names correctly then the problem is on your
> upstream nameserver and not on your new installation. Assuming that
> you are not looking up .local names. In which case you might have to
> probe into your router to figure out what is happening there. It is
> being advertised through DHCP has a nameserver and therefore should
> proxy dns lookups through it.
>
I can successfully host <server> 192.168.1.254 to the above, as well
as many others. Yet if I try to, for example, ssh to the same server I
get "Name or service unknown". Adding -v, or -vv doesn't seem to tell
me any more.
I find this a bit confusing.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks again,
Greg
>> 127.0.1.1 sunny
>
> You have a positive outlook on life. I like that. All of my machines
> are named after a darker theme. :-)
>
> Bob
>
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