[lug] Debian App DNS Issues

[Nate Duehr]

John Starkey wrote:
> Zan Lynx wrote:
>>> From nssswitch.conf I changed:
>>>
>>> hosts:          files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4
>>>
>>> to
>>>
>>> hosts:          files [NOTFOUND=return] dns
>> Hey, don't you need dns to be BEFORE [NOTFOUND=return]?  If not dns,
>> then you need something like lwres (my favorite, which needs the lwresd
>> (light-weight resolver, a BIND based cache resolver)).
>> - --
> Awesome!!! That was it. Thanks.
> 
> I hope google snatches this up; I know I wasted 4-6 hours over the past 
> year trying to work this out. When it first popped up it was only 
> happening on an app I was private-beta'ing. THen I saw it on FF3 when it 
> was released and realized it wasn't app-specific.
> 
> I guess the package I installed earlier in the year rearranged that line 
> or something to that affect.

Yeah, whatever added the NOTFOUND messed with you.  Basically what that 
line is saying is..

When looking for a host's IP, look in the local files.  If nothing found 
in the local files, return out of the program without finding anything.

Most systems are set to "files dns"... unless you've added something 
esoteric like someone else mentioned here in the thread.

The mdns4_minimal is interesting.  That's added by avahi for looking 
things up on Windows networks, as best as I can figure out via Google. 
Some other Googling seems to indicate that avahi added the NOTFOUND also.

Nate