DNS Override not working as expected?

zarky

Hello,
I have pfSense 2.1 release and I'm trying to get something working properly.

My home network domain is 'space.subspace', and I have my desktop, core.space.subspace on IP 10.0.0.39.

My work network's domain is 'local'. My laptop has a program on it configured to access my work computer at the 'zoidberg.local' hostname. I cannot change the domain at work.

I need to set up pfsense so that when my laptop asks for zoidberg.local (my work computer), it gets traffic directed to core.space.subspace or 10.0.0.39, whichever is easier.

I have the DNS forwarder enabled, and i have it set to register the DHCP leases.

I have a DNS OVERRIDE configured as such:

And as such, running a dig on zoidberg.local shows it has the correct IP:

cine@Cine:~$ dig zoidberg.local

; <<>> DiG 9.9.5-3-Ubuntu <<>> zoidberg.local
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 53525
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;zoidberg.local.                        IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
zoidberg.local.         1       IN      A       10.0.0.39

;; Query time: 1 msec
;; SERVER: 127.0.1.1#53(127.0.1.1)
;; WHEN: Fri Apr 24 01:40:33 PDT 2015
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 48

But then, when I try to ping it, or otherwise pass traffic, I get the following:

cine@Cine:~$ ping zoidberg.local
ping: unknown host zoidberg.local

Am I missing something? Is there a better way to do this?

In case you all are wondering, i'm sick of reconfiguring and restarting the synergy client on my laptop whenever i dock it at work or at home.

Trel

What are your DNS server(s) set to on the machine you're running the ping from?

johnpoz

You did this dig where - the server is loopback

SERVER: 127.0.1.1#53(127.0.1.1)

Where did you try to ping from - the same machine or some other client that as Trel mentioned is prob using a different dns

That is not how pfsense does loopback, it uses just 127.0.0.1 and does not have dig installed by default.

[2.2.2-RELEASE][root@pfSense.local.lan]/root: dig pfsense.local.lan
dig: Command not found.
[2.2.2-RELEASE][root@pfSense.local.lan]/root: drill pfsense.local.lan
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, rcode: NOERROR, id: 1451
;; flags: qr aa rd ra ; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;; pfsense.local.lan. IN A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
pfsense.local.lan. 3600 IN A 192.168.1.253

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:

;; Query time: 1 msec
;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1
;; WHEN: Fri Apr 24 10:46:14 2015
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 51

zarky

I tested from a 3rd machine on my network with default DNS set.

doktornotor

Well, if your DNS is set to localhost on LAN clients, not really sure what to say. You can produce zillion overrides on pfSense and they won't have any effect whatsoever.

zarky

@doktornotor:

Well, if your DNS is set to localhost on LAN clients, not really sure what to say. You can produce zillion overrides on pfSense and they won't have any effect whatsoever.

I'm testing from a separate machine that is not my laptop, desktop, or pfSense router.

When i set the DNS override, I see the correct DNS resolution (10.0.0.39) when I dig from that machine.
When I remove the override, i no longer see that ip.

I cannot get it to pass traffic.

Am I missing something? Or is it just not working for some unknown reason?

doktornotor

No idea what's this topic shift to "cannot get it to pass traffic". Totally off-topic.

zarky

@doktornotor:

No idea what's this topic shift to "cannot get it to pass traffic". Totally off-topic.

I don't see why that would be off topic. I made a change to my DNS setup, and it's not working as expected.
I'm just trying to find out why this isnt working. Is my DNS override config correct?
Or is there something I'm missing?

I feel like this should be simpler than it is.

dig gives me the correct response no matter which machine I test it from, but nothing else can seem to resolve the hostname.
Why?

doktornotor

Sigh. You failed to produce any valid test for starters. Testing with "localhost" as DNS server on some third machine, I cannot see how on earth you expect those overrides working. And yeah, it is dead simple - when you have a clue about what you are doing.

Point your machines to pfSense box as DNS if you want to test DNS overrides!

zarky

@doktornotor:

Sigh. You failed to produce any valid test for starters. Testing with "localhost" as DNS server on some third machine, I cannot see how on earth you expect those overrides working. And yeah, it is dead simple - when you have a clue about what you are doing.

Point your machines to pfSense box as DNS if you want to test DNS overrides!

Well, if my client DNS config is an issue, then why would it reflect the changes I make on the router when I run a dig? I'm serious, this part is confusing me.

I have configured it as the DNS server and ran a new dig:

human@luna:~> dig zoidberg.local

; <<>> DiG 9.9.4-rpz2.13269.14-P2 <<>> zoidberg.local
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 16038
;; flags: qr aa rd ra ad; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;zoidberg.local.                        IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
zoidberg.local.         1       IN      A       10.0.0.39

;; Query time: 1 msec                                                                    
;; SERVER: 10.0.0.1#53(10.0.0.1)                                                         
;; WHEN: Sat Apr 25 05:44:34 EDT 2015                                                    
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 48

And yet, I still get the exact same result, for both the dig, and the ping:

human@luna:~> ping zoidberg.local
ping: unknown host zoidberg.local

So now that we're past that sticking point. How do I get it to do what i want it to do?

doktornotor

Reboot the broken host. Does not work? Debug somewhere else (your distro forums, or whatever.) Not a pfSense issue. Perhaps you are running mDNS/Avahi or whatever, in which case .local is a completely disastrous choice.

zarky

@doktornotor:

Reboot the broken host. Does not work? Debug somewhere else (your distro forums, or whatever.) Not a pfSense issue. Perhaps you are running mDNS/Avahi or whatever, in which case .local is a completely disastrous choice.

Rebooting doesnt help. Results are host-independent. Same result on 3 different machines running 2 different operating systems.
As for Avahi or mDNS, I have no idea unless they are enabled by default.

doktornotor

Well, you can test with some other override such as foo.bar.baz.lan or whatever outside of .local. Again, the override on pfSense is working perfectly fine.

johnpoz

ok for startes .local is a HORRIFIC choice for a domain being for starters apple defaults to using it, and its single label as another.

But just to walk through how this works unless you got some apple devices?? I really would pick something better for your local domain vas local – I use local.lan for example

But here I created the over ride, I can then ping it and it resolves, I can do a nslookup on it, I can dig for it. This is from a windows machine using pfsense as its dns. I can also do the same from linux machine also again using pfsense as dns.

resolveoverride.png_thumb

linuxlookup.png_thumb

zarky

@johnpoz:

ok for startes .local is a HORRIFIC choice for a domain being for starters apple defaults to using it, and its single label as another.

But just to walk through how this works unless you got some apple devices?? I really would pick something better for your local domain vas local – I use local.lan for example

But here I created the over ride, I can then ping it and it resolves, I can do a nslookup on it, I can dig for it. This is from a windows machine using pfsense as its dns. I can also do the same from linux machine also again using pfsense as dns.

No apple devices on my network.
And, as I said in my initial post, .local is not my choice. That is the domain on my work network and I am not authorized to change it. My home domain is space.subspace.
I'll test it with another fake hostname and see if it'll work then.

If it cannot work, then it cannot work, i'll give up and try to figure something else out.

EDIT: Looks like it's the .local domain. Works with any other domain i use but .local.
I guess i'm going to find another way to do this. Perhaps with IP addresses instead. Oh well. Thanks for the help.

GruensFroeschli

This is a linux computer i assume?

This might help you:
http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/howto-change-dns-search-order-in-linux/

If you are using mdns to resolve names then this will catch everything .local and never ask the pfSense.

johnpoz

and again I showed you it works with .local just fine.. See my examples - so you go something else going on.. dns doesn't really care - if your doing the query to the name server and it has that record.. There you go.. It gives you the answer.

Do you have some sort of search domain with local that is auto adding that when you do your pings so your doing something like search.local.local – why don't you do a simple sniff on your machine that is not resolving it via ping and see what query is doing.