Re: [UUG/MLUG] MU network

[Bryan Venable <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Your IP address will be configured dynamically by dhcp.  Just edit your
/etc/resolv.conf to look like:

search missouri.edu
nameserver 128.206.2.169
nameserver 128.206.2.252
nameserver 150.199.1.11

that should take care of the problem, assuming it's just a DNS issue.  If
you don't know how to edit text files in Linux, use the Network item under
the Red Hat Control Panel (it's in X, so you'll need to have that working
first) or linuxconf to specify the above addresses as your nameservers and
missouri.edu as your domain.  Those programs are just acting as fancy
front-ends to edit your /etc/resolv.conf file, in this instance.  You'll
have to be root to modify the file, no matter how you do it.

Basically what the /etc/resolv.conf file does is tell the system what
computers to connect to in order to translate a host name (like
www.missouri.edu) to an IP address (like 128.206.2.84).  Each computer on
the internet has an IP address, even if it doesn't have a host name.  The IP
address is the actual address used by one computer (like your machine) to
connect to another (like the MU web server).  This usually works
transparently in the background, so you just type host names in your web
browser, telnet program, FTP client, etc. and you magically get connected to
the right system without ever having to know what its IP address is. 

Obviously, if you had to remember numbers instead of names to get anywhere
the internet would be a lot more difficult to use.  Most people just take
this service, which is called DNS (Domain Name Service), for granted - until
it breaks, that is.  In simplified terms, it's like an automatic telephone
directory for the internet, translating names to numbers (and vice versa in
some instances).

The lines in /etc/resolv.conf beginning with the word "nameserver" specify
the IP addresses of computers that provide this service - usually the ones
nearest (network-wise anyhow) to your computer.  You have to use the IP
addresses in the file because without a DNS server (nameserver) to check,
your computer can't find the nameservers by their host names.  Fortunately
you don't have to give each and every program that uses TCP/IP this
information individually; it's all configured centrally, with no notable
exceptions that I'm aware of.

      Bryan Venable | Technical Coordinator | Virtual Online University
                http://www.spif.com/ | http://www.vousi.com/

On Thu, 4 Mar 1999, Jeff Thomas wrote:

> OK...I've fiddled with all that stuff, so I'm vaguely familiar with it. 
> So the question would be - what IP address and/or nameserver should I be
> using?  I thought the point of dhcp was so none of that stuff was
> static.  I, not being the TCP/IP expert, don't quite understand.  I
> guess I'm just looking for easy answers, i.e., "Put this nameserver at
> location X and this IP address location Y, and you're set."