I need instructional information to setup up an internal dns on Redhat
Linux (v7.1). My internal IP is 192.168.1.200 and I want users inside
this network to be able to type http://notes  or http://marketing  to 
go to a specific web interface. I will use Apache with virtual
domains. So, perhaps these need to map together. The office uses all
windows machines and I want the admin work to be on the Linux box.

I look forward to you assistance.

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Request for Question Clarification by netcrazy-ga on 08 Jun 2002 08:14 PDT

Are you trying to make your Linux server as DNS server?

Let me know
Thanks
netcrazy

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Clarification of Question by martin94566-ga on 09 Jun 2002 20:34 PDT

Yes, the Linux machine is to become an internal/intranet DNS server.

Hi Martin,

I'm a great advocate of tinydns which is part of Dave Bernstein's
djbdns package.  This pack will include everything you need for DNS
and it uses very few resources making it fast too.  Dave has a history
of writing alternatives to software that has a bad track record for
security, in this case BIND.
It's located at: < http://cr.yp.to/djbdns/blurb/overview.html >


Once installed you simply add machines using a special add-host script
which makes sure you don't enter the name or IP address, although you
can edit the files by hand if you want.

You'll need a domain name for your network, and probably the best
solution is to create an invalid one like .local although if you're
allowed to admin a full domain it is probably even better.  Ask your
ISP if you have a fixed IP and whether you could have a subdomain or
domain allocated to it as this just delegates the domain
administration to them instead of having to do it yourself.

There is a function in Microsoft Primary Domain Controllers (PDC) that
allows you to use single word names for hosts however there is no
promise that this will be supported in the future and some suspect it
will be phased out with the rise of .NET.  For completeness here's the
details on the LMHOSTS system:
< http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q150800 >
The system was often used on small networks where an admin could look
after the file on each machine, although as networks grew the option
of using a central file and sending it to all the workstations upon
login was added.

Assuming you have a DHCP server of some kind in use simply set the DNS
entry to 192.168.1.200 and the new DNS server will be distributed to
all the machines.  Using another program in djbdns called dnscache you
can use the same machine to resolve the domains outside your network
too.  This is achieved along the lines of:

echo "1" > /usr/local/dnscache/env/FORWARDONLY
echo "xx.xx.xx.xx" > /usr/local/dnscache/root/servers/@

where xx.xx.xx.xx is the DNS server of your ISP (and you can add more
than 1 server here)


General instructions on djbdns which should cover 99% of what you'll
need:
< http://cr.yp.to/djbdns/faq.html >
Specific page talking about the setup of the tinydns engine:
< http://cr.yp.to/djbdns/faq/tinydns.html#config >

Hopefully that's of use to you,
Caomhin

I think this anaser and other comments all added nice value to save me
TIME and MONEY !

Thanks !

Martin

Hi Martin94566,

I believe I have some information that will help you out - hopefully
it will be enough! (I'm not sure how much detail you need, but I'll
provide as much as I can.)

According to a poster on a Firewalls listserv
(http://www.shmoo.com/mail/firewalls/may99/msg00406.html), you
should...

  "set up a master on your internal network that all your internal
machines
  will point to as the DNS master for the domain. This DNS master will
be
  set up with the slave and fowarders lines to forward DNS queries  
  ( for information that it doesn't have ) to your DNS server that is
  exposed to the 'Net."

However, can this Master be an internal DNS on your regular server? I
don't know...You might try this Tek-Tips forum
(http://www.tek-tips.com/gthreadminder.cfm/lev2/3/lev3/22/pid/65)
which seems to be one of the better (clearer writing, less cultish)
Apache forums out there. Ask these folks and see what they have to
tell you.

Have you checked out the linux documentation project, there is a very
easy howto that explains how to setup dns.

One of the things not covered there is that you have to create some
domain, such as notes.thisdomaindoesnotexist.com and if your using
linux set searchdomain thisdomaindoesnotexist.com in /etc/resolv.conf
in windows add thisdomaindoesnotexist.com to the search domains under
the dns tab of the dns tab in the network control panel/tcpip
properties.

To make apache work check the apache howto, I'm sure you know how to
setup virtual domains, you have to create virtual servers domains
without the suffix (ie notes in addition to
notes.thisdomaindoesnotexist.com)

The url for the LDP site is http://www.linuxdoc.org

the DNS-HOWTO is at
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/DNS-HOWTO.html