[ale] gentoo

[Jeff Hubbs]

Stephen Turner wrote:
20020217202644.25603.qmail at web10103.mail.yahoo.com">
well ive looked at gentoo like recommended and it doesnt look bad :) however
i do have a question, in configuring the dns server is this only for private
networks? i do not know the ip of my isp's dns server,  or should i referr
it to my router?? 
  
  
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Stephen -
  
  
If all you're doing is setting up a Linux machine on an Internet-connected
network, you don't need to set up a DNS server yourself as long as you don't
need to automate name resolution via DNS (as opposed to putting a host table
on each machine) unless you need to refer to machines on your internal LAN
by name. Â 
  
My cable modem acts as a DHCP server looking inward towards me. Â My NAT firewall's
out-facing NIC makes a DHCP request of the cable modem when it boots and
the firewall gets it's out-facing IP address and DNS addresses from that.
 On my home LAN, all the IP addresses are Class C and static, which means
that the IP addresses for the DNS server have to be set explicitly on each
machine. Â 
  
In the 10-odd years that I've been dealing with ISPs, it has been a trivial
matter to obtain an ISP's DNS addresses from their tech support people. Â However,
the baboons at AT&T Broadband (I'm in Atlanta and when I call I get someone
in Canada!!) not only do not know what the DNS addresses are, they don't
really understand your question and/or why you'd want to know. Â To get a
definitive answer, I had to hook up a monitor to my firewall and see what
the DHCP-obtained DNS addresses had been set to.
  
If I set up the firewall to perform DHCP facing inward, I don't know if it
would pass the DNS addresses it got from the outward-facing side or not.
 
  
So, to answer your question, Stephen, your Gentoo box should be given the
DNS addresses that your ISP provides either by calling up and asking them
or by permitting something to obtain the DNS addresses via DHCP and use those.
  
Now, the inward-facing IP address of your router DOES need to be entered
as the default gateway address of your internal machines.
  
- Jeff