from another machine, it is the server that is not running at all or not
congured correctly.
If ping fails with unknown host, the name service is not congured
correctly or the hostname used was incorrect. For further checks on
this matter, refer to Step 4b (page 147). If ping still fails, either your
network card is not congured correctly or your network hardware
is faulty.
4b
Use host
hostname
to check whether the hostname of the server you
are trying to connect to is properly translated into an IP address and
vice versa. If this command returns the IP address of this host, the
name service is up and running. If the host command fails, check all
network conguration les relating to name and address resolution
on your host:
/etc/resolv.conf
This le is used to keep track of the name server and domain you
are currently using. It can be modied manually or automatically
adjusted by YaST or DHCP. Automatic adjustment is preferable.
However, make sure that this le has the following structure and
all network addresses and domain names are correct:
search
fully_qualified_domain_name
nameserver
ipaddress_of_nameserver
This le can contain more than one name server address, but at
least one of them must be correct to provide name resolution to
your host. If needed, adjust this le using the YaST Network Set-
ting module (Hostname/DNS tab).
If your network connection is handled via DHCP, enable DHCP to
change hostname and name service information by selecting
Change Hostname via DHCP and Update Name Servers and Search
List via DHCP in the YaST DNS and Hostname module.
/etc/nsswitch.conf
This le tells Linux where to look for name service information. It
should look like this:
...
hosts: files dns
networks: files dns
...
The dns entry is vital. It tells Linux to use an external name server.
Normally, these entries are automatically managed by YaST, but
it would be prudent to check.
If all the relevant entries on the host are correct, let your system
administrator check the DNS server conguration for the correct
Common Problems and Their Solutions 147
