[CentOS] How to make nodes in my local LAN see each other's names

Fri Dec 2 11:36:25 UTC 2011
Timothy Madden <terminatorul at gmail.com>

On 30.11.2011 17:00, Lamar Owen wrote:
> On Wednesday, November 30, 2011 08:54:04 AM Timothy Madden wrote:
>> Is there a way to get the name service switch to use wins, while the DNS
>> configuration is handled by DHCP client ?
>
> Yes, there is (or at least should be).  While I know some will object strongly to doing it this way, here's how you might be able to do it:
>
> 1.) Follow http://bensbits.com/blog/2006/02/02/wins_name_resolution_for_linux/
> 2.) If not using NetworkManager, set PEERDNS=no in the appropriate /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ethX file
> 3.) If using NetworkManager, or using the GUI config tools, make sure the 'Automatically Obtain DNS Information from provider' is *not* checked
> 4.) Set up /etc/resolv.conf to point DNS to your router (since that will not happen automatically) or set up the DNS servers in the GUI.
>
> Now, I say 'might' simply because I've not personally tried it [...]
>
> Since you're using these systems as desktops, and since you didn't specify ([...]) which CentOS you are using [...]
>
> And please let us know how it turns out, [ ... ]

Sorry to say the instructions did not work for me.

I have CentOS release 5.7 (Final), kernel 2.6.18-274.12.1.el5 on x86_64 
(yum reports no updates available).

I added 'wins' and 'winbind' to the nsswitch.conf lines indicated in the 
above link. I tried with or without NetworkManager, I used the GUI to 
disable 'Obtain DNS information from provider', than I checked the 
ifcfg-eth0 file for the 'PEERDNS=no' line. I have manually added the DNS 
servers in my network to /etc/resolv.conf.

Still, no success in ping-ing other (samba) machines in my network. But 
I could ping the same machines from a Windows workstation...

I the end, I had to revert to static IP instead of DHCP.

Thank you,
Timothy Madden