How to get DNS working when not running NIS ?


	Note: Solaris2.x users should see question 64..
	
        The "normal" behavior of a hostname lookup under NIS is to
        consult the NIS hosts map and then DNS (if configured). If
	you are not running NIS the system will only look in 
	the /etc/hosts file. 

	You have two options to correct this situation:

		A) Re-build the shared library version of libc with replacement
		   resolver routines which understand DNS. Resolv+ provides one
	           of the best sets of replacement routines and it is easy
		   to install. Resolv+ can be obtained from

		   	ftp.ececs.uc.edu:/pub/sun-faq/Source/resolv+2.1.1.tar.Z

		   If you install resolv+ make sure that you setup your
		   /etc/hosts.conf . /etc/hosts.conf should contain something
		   like this:
  			order    bind hosts
  			multi    off
  			nospoof  on

		   Another option to use is bind-4.9.3 or later
		   which is available from

			ftp://ftp.vix.com/pub/bind/release/

		   However, the bind shared libraries will ignore /etc/hosts
		   and do all lookups via DNS.


		   Rebuilding the shared library will not allow  statically
		   linked binaries to do name resolving and these binaries
		   will only use /etc/hosts. "Dynamically linked"
		   replacements for mount and rcp are available from

	   		ftp.ececs.uc.edu:/pub/sun-faq/Source/rcp-mount.dyn.tar.Z

		   This file only contains sun4 binaries. A Sun 3 binary
		   for mount can be retrieved from

	   		ftp.ececs.uc.edu:/pub/sun-faq/Source/mount.sun3.Z
		
		   To be able to rebuild shared libraries you need to 
		   install the "shlib custom" option which is available
		   with SunOS version 4.1 or greater. 

        	   You can still use NIS for other things in environment,
	           such as passwd, and group maps.

		B) Run NIS with the "hosts" maps only. If you 
		   only need DNS capability than change the "all"
		   line /var/yp/Makefile to "all:  hosts".  

		   It does not require any changes to shared libraries.
		
		   See question 2 for complete directions on how to setup
		   DNS with NIS.

	Last Updated:  July 3, 1996.
 

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