> So your first case is ALMOST right. resolv.conf should not point to the > loopback address, but to the static address of the host. But if you have > not configured NM for static addressing, well you get what you got. thanks much for replies ... so to be clear: qatest1 - 192.168.17.1 (DHCP server) qatest2 - 192.168.17.2 (DNS server) - both have STATIC-assigned IP address. 1. So I SHOULD leave the DNS entries in /etc/resolv.conf (whether GUI or not) - blank in the DNS server - qatest2? I tried to configure it via the GUI this time with: hostname - qatest2 Primary DNS - 192.168.17.2 # which is its own IP address Search - lab.mycompany.com After restarting, when I cat /etc/resolv.conf it refers to its loopback address: # generated by NetworkManager, do not edit! ; Use a local caching nameserver controlled by NetworkManager search lab.mycompany.com nameserver 127.0.0.1 2. In the meantime, I configured qatest1 - the DHPC server belonging within qatest2's DNS domain, with the following in Network Manager GUI: hostname - qatest1 Primary DNS - 192.168.17.2 (which is the DNS server's IP) searchpath - lab.mycompany.com upon restart its /etc/resolv.conf file seems to be correct: # generated by NetworkManager, do not edit! ; Use a local caching nameserver controlled by NetworkManager search lab.mycompany.com nameserver 192.168.17.2 Should I leave my DNS server's /etc/resolv.conf file entries blank? Thanks in advance,