Which nameservers am I using?

[Mike Reinehr]

On Saturday 28 May 2005 08:40 pm, Michael Hipp wrote:
> Collins Richey wrote:
> > I'd be curious to know the answer, too. nslookup or dig don't seem to
> > tell me the answer.
> >
> > I know that /etc/resolv.conf is overwritten by dhcp if you're not
> > using a fixed ip address. In my case it points a destination and ip
> > address on my router.
> >
> > The system I'm running from (ubuntu) has no dns information in
> > /etc/network/interfaces.
>
> There is another Ubuntu sys that I originally installed as dynamic IP and
> later changed to static using a How-To posted at the Ubuntu site. Anyway,
> it said you had to have resolvconf installed for static IP which further
> complicates matters by changing resolv.conf in mysterious ways. But this
> one that was made static by the installer does not have resolvconf.
>
> I'm trying to learn what I don't know.
>
> Michael

Apparently the resolvconf package is designed to automate the updating 
nameserver information. I had not heard of it before. This from the package 
description:

> nameserver information handler
> 
> Resolvconf is a framework for keeping track of the system's information 
about currently available nameservers. It sets itself up as the intermediary 
between programs that supply nameserver information and programs that use 
nameserver information. Examples of programs that supply nameserver 
information are: ifupdown, DHCP clients, the PPP daemon and local 
nameservers. Examples of programs that use this information are: DNS caches, 
resolver libraries and the programs that use them.

>From what I can gather from the man page (man resolvconf) it will 
automatically update the information in /etc/resolv.conf (symlinked as David 
already has said) and /etc/network/interfaces. What isn't obvious is how it 
is reconfigured in a static IP environment.

For my money, I think it would be easier just to uninstall the resolvconf 
package and configure /etc/resolv.conf manually (also remove or comment out 
the dns-nameservers entry from /etc/network/interfaces). (Does ubuntu include 
the program etherconf? You might try running that.)

cmr

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