I am sooo confused...

[Kevin Darcy]

csejl at yahoo.com wrote:

> Barry Margolin <barmar at genuity.net> wrote in message news:<aaumkh$1m3a$1 at isrv4.isc.org>...
> > >- Currently, I don't have db.cache on my DNS server.  Can you tell me
> > >what this file is for and if I need to have it for everything to work
> > >correctly?
> >
> > db.cache is used to find the root servers, which is needed to be able to
> > look up names outside the domains you're hosting.
> >
> > >- Does my DNS server have to point to its parent DNS server in
> > >/etc/resolv.conf?  I am asking b/c my clients right now can't resolve
> > >anything besides the machines that are in westwood.st.mycompany.com.
> >
> > The DNS server doesn't use /etc/resolv.conf.  See the answer to your
> > previous question.
>
> So I downloaded db.cache from the Internic and it still won't resolve
> any names outside westwood.st.mycompany.com.  Actually, in nslookup,
> it resolves but I am not able to ping www.news.com.  It says it's
> unknown host.

"nslookup" always uses DNS to resolve names; "ping" and other utilities use whatever naming
service(s) the system is configured to use. Thus, logically, it would appear that your system
is not configured to use DNS. I forget what kind of system you said you were running on. Is
there an /etc/nsswitch.conf or something like that on your machine?

> I have deleted /etc/resolv.conf since you said DNS
> server doesn't need this.

The *server* doesn't need it, but programs running on the machine, like "nslookup", "ping",
etc. need it

> But, if I put dns.st.mycompany.com in
> /etc/resolv.conf everything resolves fine.

What do you mean "put dns.st.mycompany.com in /etc/resolv.conf"? You mean, that domain name?
Or do you just mean the IP address of that server? There's a big difference.

> So I am going to have to delegate westwood.st.mycompany.com to my DNS
> server "on" the DNS server for st.mycompany.com, correct?

If you want westwood.st.mycompany.com to be a separate *zone*, yes. If you just want
"westwood.st.mycompany.com" to resolve to an address, you don't need a delegation; all you'd
need is for a "westwood" A record to be added to the "st.mycompany.com" zone.

> I don't
> have to do anything on my server as far as talking to
> dns.st.mycompany.com is concerned, correct?

If your root hints are properly configured, your nameserver should be able to find the
nameservers st.mycompany.com and then resolve names from them, when appropriate.

> Hopefully, this will be my last question.  When I type nslookup on my
> server, it says:
>
> Default Server: localhost
> Address: 127.0.0.1
>
> instead of my domainname and ip address.  Why is it doing this?

Because whoever configured the reverse DNS for 127.0.0.1 pointed that record at the name
"localhost" instead of your domainname and IP address. Feel free to reconfigure it.

> And
> when I type nslookup on my clients, it says:
>
> Server: 151.155.184.160
> Address: 151.155.184.160#53
>
> What does that #53 mean?

That's the port number. Port 53 is reserved for, and used by, DNS.


- Kevin