Re: Name resolution for local names using DHCP

Robert Harris wrote:
Charles Russell wrote:
Unruh wrote:
Charles Russell <NOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

Unruh wrote:
Charles Russell <NOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

Charles Russell wrote:
I can't figure out how to get name resolution for computers on my
home WLAN, though everything works all right if I type in explicit
IP addresses. The IP addresses will vary because of DHCP, so I
can't simply put them in /etc/hosts.

The hostnames and IP addresses are all known to the router (Linksys wrt54g), as I can confirm by querying the router. Should
the router not resolve these local hostnames? Or do I
misunderstand how this should work under DHCP?
Thanks for the responses, everybody. I infer that there is no
simple fix within the capability of the DHCP server in my $50
Linksys wrt54g router. Given that there is no simple fix, and that
the only problem is that I have to manually enter IP addresses
whenever I do local ftp or ssh, I think I'll follow the principle:
"If it ain't broke (much), don't fix it (much)."
Some routers allow you to tell the dhcp service on the router to
allways
assign ip address X to MAC address Y. Look through the manual to see if
your router allows that.


Yes, it does. But why should static IP addresses be required, when
the DHCP server already has the hostname-IP address associations it
needs to resolve the local hostname?
You have become fixated on your particular solution to the problem.
Let go.
Or spend you life trying to persuade Linksys to do it your way.

Just trying to understand a bit more about networking, and to find the
simplest solution to a noncritical problem.

OK, static addresses.

Thanks.
I know I'm jumping in late, but static addresses are not a terribly good
idea - they don't scale in the sense that if you add another computer to
a network of n machines, then you have to change the /etc/hosts file of
all n existing machines.

1. Are you sure that your router can't to hostname to IP address
translations? It may just be that it has a wrong idea of your domain
names. If the host name of another computer is, say, machine, try to
resolve (e.g. with the command hosts):

machine.

(the following dot will stop your own computer appending its own idea of
the domain name)

Otherwise, look at the router's idea of the domain name and try to resolve:

machine.domain.name.

(if the domain name is domain.name)

Of course that may not work either, but it will test whether your router
can resolve local hostnames.

2. Run avahi. Then each machine will advertise its own hostname and IP
address and you will be able to resolve say, machine, as machine.local

Robert

Thanks. I haven't time at the moment to experiment, but in the meanwhile I have a question about the domain name. My network was originally set up as a Windows XP network, with workgroup name "MSHOME", and later I added a Linux box and a MacOSX box, both of which got handled automatically by DHCP with no further router configuration. (Everything works except for local name resolution, and even that works with samba clients. MaxOSX and Linux behave identically.) As far as I know, I don't have a named "domain", unless that is the same as the Windows network workgroup.

With Linux, dhcpcd (I think) puts the line "search Belkin" into resolv.conf. I have no idea what that is for.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Name resolution for local names using DHCP
    ... The IP addresses will vary because of DHCP, ... The hostnames and IP addresses are all known to the router ... the router not resolve these local hostnames? ...
    (comp.os.linux.networking)
  • Re: Name resolution for local names using DHCP
    ... The IP addresses will vary because of DHCP, ... The hostnames and IP addresses are all known to the router ... the router not resolve these local hostnames? ... all n existing machines. ...
    (comp.os.linux.networking)
  • Re: Name resolution for local names using DHCP
    ... resolve: ... Would it give any information I can't get directly from the router, which can display the hostnames and IP addresses assigned by DHCP? ...
    (comp.os.linux.networking)
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