DNS on ESX Host

[BPMalan]

Guys

our current setup is as follows: One ESX 4.0 inhouse and a second one on our DR Site that we replicate to. The DR ESX had its DNS IPs pointing to our ISP out on the site. But this may be causing some problems for replication (vreplicator) so i want to have the DR ESX pointing to a DNS Server out there. Can I have it point to itself and just include hostname/IP details in /etc/hosts or would i need to put a DNS server out there and then point to it?

With teh above in mind I have changed the DNS IP for the ESX box using the vsphere client console but when i ssh to the server and try an NS lookup its still looking to my ISP instead of the IP I've given it (its own IP address). I've also tried run service network restart and that doesn't seem to work either.

also if /etc/hosts file has entries should it not look at this first before looking to the ISP?

Results of NSlookup and content of /etc/hosts are below (obviously modified slightly)

nslookup vm2

Server: a.b.c.d (ISP IP)

Address: a.b.c.d#53 (ISP IP)

• server can't find vm2: NXDOMAIN

# vi /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1 localhost

::1 localhost

W.X.Y.Z VM1.domain.ie VM1

L.M.N.O VM2.domain.ie VM2

~

any thoughts?

[schepp]

Just include everything in the /etc/hosts. The /etc/hosts is asked before the configured DNS servers.

Regards

[BPMalan]

i have done but when i do a NSLOOKUP of a server that's in teh hosts file from the DR site its failing even though i can ping by Host name and IP address. the NSLOOKUP is looking to my ISP even though i've set the console's DNs server to be the esx box itself.

[BPMalan]

i have done but when i do a NSLOOKUP of a server that's in teh hosts file from the DR site its failing even though i can ping by Host name and IP address. the NSLOOKUP is looking to my ISP even though i've set the console's DNs server to be the esx box itself.

[virtualdive]

Hey BP,

there is deffinitely something wrong happening here, /etc/hosts only has the host information not the complete DNS information. I would suggest you to take a look at the below files from a similar host and compare with the faulty one....

/etc/hosts -

---

> for host

/etc/resolve.conf ---> for DNS info

/etc/sysconfig/network -

---

> for network info

/etc/vmware/esx.conf -

---

> host config file

just fill up any missing information after comparing with the similar ESX, I am sure it should just work fine.

[BPMalan]

nice one I'll do that and report back.

so it would be a good idea for me to create a DNS server on site out there and have the ESX looking to it instead of the ISP

[PduPreez]

What does the entries in the host file look like.

Include the name and the FQDN

Example:

192.168.2.17 esxhost01 esxhost01.mydomain.com

And I think it is case sensitive, had issues on earlier version ESX 3.5

But since 3.5 U4 the VCenter acts as DNS resolution which fixed the issue

Regards

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[tom02000]

Bonjour,

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Cette identification n?est � faire qu'une seule fois. Tous vos futurs messages me parviendront directement.

Nous vous remercions de participer avec nous � la lutte contre le spam.

Recevez mes sinc�res salutations.

Thomas PARENT

Dear Sir, Madam,

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This identification needs only to be done once. All your future messages will come straight to me.

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Guten Tag,

Meine E-Mailadresse ist gegen Spam und Viren geschützt - durch MailInBlack.

Bitte klicken Sie auf folgende Weiterleitung zur Identifizierung damit Ihre Sendungen an mich weitergeleitet werden.

Bitte hier klicken zur Identifizierung<http://mib.duferco-coating.com/captcha/captcha.jsp?id=MjI2MTg4ZWYyYjMwNDhhYTliM2ZhYTcxYjQ4ZDFmMWE7Y29tbXVuaXRpZXMtZW1haWxlckB2bXdhcmUuY29tO0RFO3dDc1hCNmJ1NnpQdkZaQjJ5MGdFZEh4TjFDWT0=&loc=de>.

Diesen Schritt brauchen Sie nur einmal zu tun.

Thomas PARENT

[tom02000]

Bonjour,

Notre politique de s�curit� et de lutte contre les spams n�cessite qu'un exp�diteur externe soit reconnu pour que ses messages soient accept�s.

Vous recevez ainsi ce message car c'est la toute premi�re fois que vous m'adressez un email.

Pour que vos messages me soient transmis, je vous invite � simplement : cliquer ici<http://mib.duferco-coating.com/captcha/captcha.jsp?id=MjI2MTg4ZWYyYjMwNDhhYTliM2ZhYTcxYjQ4ZDFmMWE7Y29tbXVuaXRpZXMtZW1haWxlckB2bXdhcmUuY29tO0ZSO3dDc1hCNmJ1NnpQdkZaQjJ5MGdFZEh4TjFDWT0=&loc=fr>

Cette identification n?est � faire qu'une seule fois. Tous vos futurs messages me parviendront directement.

Nous vous remercions de participer avec nous � la lutte contre le spam.

Recevez mes sinc�res salutations.

Thomas PARENT

Dear Sir, Madam,

Our policy in security and the fight against spam requires our outside senders to be recognized in order for their messages to be accepted.

You are certainly receiving this message because it is the very first time that you have sent me a mail.

For your messages to be forwarded to me, simply : click here<http://mib.duferco-coating.com/captcha/captcha.jsp?id=MjI2MTg4ZWYyYjMwNDhhYTliM2ZhYTcxYjQ4ZDFmMWE7Y29tbXVuaXRpZXMtZW1haWxlckB2bXdhcmUuY29tO0VOO3dDc1hCNmJ1NnpQdkZaQjJ5MGdFZEh4TjFDWT0=&loc=en>

This identification needs only to be done once. All your future messages will come straight to me.

Thank you very much for playing your part in the fight against spam.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas PARENT

Guten Tag,

Meine E-Mailadresse ist gegen Spam und Viren geschützt - durch MailInBlack.

Bitte klicken Sie auf folgende Weiterleitung zur Identifizierung damit Ihre Sendungen an mich weitergeleitet werden.

Bitte hier klicken zur Identifizierung<http://mib.duferco-coating.com/captcha/captcha.jsp?id=MjI2MTg4ZWYyYjMwNDhhYTliM2ZhYTcxYjQ4ZDFmMWE7Y29tbXVuaXRpZXMtZW1haWxlckB2bXdhcmUuY29tO0RFO3dDc1hCNmJ1NnpQdkZaQjJ5MGdFZEh4TjFDWT0=&loc=de>.

Diesen Schritt brauchen Sie nur einmal zu tun.

Thomas PARENT

[BPMalan]

pretty much:

x.x.x.x VM2.domain.ie VM2

[PduPreez]

This might be a long shot, but i have seen allot of strange things in 3.5

Try changing everything to lower case vm2.domain.ie

You never know

Regards

If you find this or any other answer useful please consider awarding points by marking the answer helpful or correct. Thank you.

[BPMalan]

/etc/hosts info on both servers differs slightly

the one for our DR site as one extra entry. the first entry is the IP and host name for itself. The second entry is one i put in and its the IP and host name of the ESX box in our main office.

/etc/resolve.conf differs on both also but only slightly.

on our DR site the first name server is set to teh IP of teh esx box. the second is set ot our ISP.

in the main office has the first name server being an IP on our LAN that is not in use (no idea why that would be like that) and then the second IP is our internal DNS server

/etc/sysconfig/network differes in that the Gateway IPs and host name listed are different, but they do match the LAN and Host i check. ie if i man /etc/sysconfig/networm on VM1 the hostname listed is for VM1 as is the GW address, likewase its the same for VM2

the fact that i can ping from one site to the other by host or IP would mean that the /etc/hosts file is being checked first anyway.

[BPMalan]

we're version 4.0