[lug] Cannot connect to the Internet with a web browser when trying to use an URL -- solved!

[Warren Sanders]

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I have nothing in the default/ directory.  Is it possible you chose the high 
security setting?  I did a medium with custom added ports.  I don't run X on 
this server either so...

bof wrote:
>>
>>
>>> BOF wrote:
>>>
>>>> I am running RH 8.0 (Pyscho) and cannot connect to the Internet with 
>>>> a web browser when trying to use an URL.
>>>>
>>>> When using Netscape, the error message is (for example when trying 
>>>> to reach Red Hat)
>>>>
>>>>    www.redhat.com could not be found
>>>>
>>>> When using Konquerer, the message is
>>>>
>>>>    hostname lookup failure
>>>>
>>>> I can load the Redhat site if I give its IP address (66.187.232.56) 
>>>> in either browser. I can also ping varous sites using either the URL 
>>>> or the IP address.
>>>>
>>>> My /etc/resolv.conf file is
>>>>
>>>>    search pcisys.net
>>>>    nameserver 216.229.32.169
>>>>
>>>> Which is the same file that works with my RH 7.3 system.
>>>>
>>>> It seems that there is something not working with the nameserver 
>>>> lookup but I can not figure it out.
>>>>
>>>> Any suggestions?
>>>>
>>>> BOF
>>>>
> 
> 
> Well, after further investigation, I've managed to solve this problem.
> 
> It turns out to be a matter of permissions. I logged on as root, and was 
> able to connect with the web browser. I also noticed that an error 
> message "hostname not found" that occurred when loading X as a user also 
> did not occur. This gave me a clue.
> 
> After much wandering around the hard disk, I found that RH 8.0 
> apparently installs copies of /etc/hosts and /etc/resolv.conf in a 
> directory etc/sysconfig/networking/profiles/default and uses these 
> instead of the ones in /etc to determine hostname and nameserver 
> information (or at least my copy does). Once I changed the permissions 
> on them from 600 to 644, the problems disappeared.
> 
> Now, what I am curious about is that this setup does not occur on RH7.3. 
> The directory etc/sysconfig/networking/profiles/default is there but is 
> empty.  So is this "feature" new to RH 8.0, and is using the files here 
> to override the files in /etc normal, or is it just my system and 
> somehow I have screwed it up? I would think that if this was deliberate, 
> than the files between /etc and 
> etc/sysconfig/networking/profiles/default would be links, not distinct 
> files.
> 
> Would anyone with RH8.0 take a moment and see if 
> etc/sysconfig/networking/profiles/default exists on their system and 
> what is in it, if anything.
> 
> To all those who took the time to help, including offering a lesson on 
> the difference between an URL and a FQDN, my thanx.
> 
> And to those who designed Red Hat 8.0 (Psycho), if this is a deliberate 
> feature, a resounding Bronx cheer for the three days lost over this issue.
> 
> BOF
> 
> 
> 
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- -- 
Warren Sanders
http://MontanaLinux.Org

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