On Thu, Jun 22, 2000 at 04:14:15PM -0400, Lane Lester wrote:
-> At the school where I teach, we are on a T1 and a Win NT server. I
-> have had Internet access in Linux before, so I know it can be done.
-> However, for some reason, I can't get it going with my new 7.1
-> installation. The install found my NIC automatically.
Good. Now, can you ping your NIC by IP address? For example, my computer
is at 192.168.1.3, so I verify the operation of the network on my computer
with:
ccurley@charlesc $ ping 192.168.1.3
PING 192.168.1.3 (192.168.1.3): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.1.3: icmp_seq=0 ttl=255 time=0.1 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.3: icmp_seq=1 ttl=255 time=0.1 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.3: icmp_seq=2 ttl=255 time=0.1 ms
--- 192.168.1.3 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 0.1/0.1/0.1 ms
->
-> Part of my problem is that I am the only Linux user on campus. Even
-> the head computer guy only know Windows and Netware (our office LAN,
-> which is another Linux horror story... but another time). So I'm not
-> sure just what questions I need to ask the honcho to be sure that I
-> get the right answers.
->
-> I'm next to positive that I have my IP correct; it's not dynamically
-> assigned.
->
-> The mask is set correctly, as is the default gateway. However, there
-> was a question for which I don't have the answer: Gateway device? So,
-> during the install I left it blank. Is that my problem?
Gateway device may be your ethernet card's IP address. It comes into play
when you have a multi-homed computer (it is on multiple networks). I've
also set it up as the default gateway, and had that work.
->
-> We have to DNS numbers, and I put the first one in the spot where it
-> was called for. I think that's OK.
Cool. Put them both in. Ping a well known domain name to be sure that it
is working, netscape.com, or halcyon.com. There was a bug in NT's ICMP
handlers that lead a great many NT admins to turn off ICMP (the protocol
that ping uses). So check to see if the name is resolved, not necessarily
to see if you get return packets.
For example,
ccurley@charlesc $ ping www.microsoft.com
PING microsoft.com (207.46.131.30): 56 data bytes
--- microsoft.com ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss
I got an IP address, so my DNS is working. But they have ICMP turned off,
so I never got a response. No problem.
Halcyon.com runs Linux, and appears to have ICMP on, so:
ccurley@charlesc $ ping www.halcyon.com
PING www1.halcyon.com (206.63.63.35): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 206.63.63.35: icmp_seq=0 ttl=45 time=254.8 ms
64 bytes from 206.63.63.35: icmp_seq=1 ttl=45 time=251.9 ms
64 bytes from 206.63.63.35: icmp_seq=2 ttl=45 time=261.8 ms
--- www1.halcyon.com ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 251.9/256.1/261.8 ms
is cool.
->
-> But I'm not sure about my host name. I understand that it has three
-> elements, separated by periods, as in "a.b.c". Here's my thinking on
-> that:
->
-> a. Is this my username (on the school's system) or my computer's name?
-> b. The college's email address is "emmanuel-college.edu", so I guess
-> that b is "emmanuel-college" and...
-> c. ... is "edu".
Not necessarily. The host name is the name of your computer. In my case,
it is "charlesc". On my private intranet, I have a bogus top level domain,
"localdomain". So my "fully qualified domain name" (FQDN) is
"charlesc.localdomain". Now, I have a simple network here. HP, for
example, has a much more complicated network (a Class A network). They
have geographic subdomains. The Fort Collins facility is at
"fc.hp.com". HP Palo Alto is at, I believe, "pa.hp.com". When I worked at
HP in Fort Collins, my computer's host name was dwarf, so I was at
"dwarf.fc.hp.com."
So check with your network admin. If you have a flat network, it may well
be your FQDN is, say, "lester.emmanuel-college.edu". If they have
subdomains, it may be "lester.subdomain.emmanuel-college.edu". Your email
address does not necessarily tell you your FQDN, because competent Unix
admins can play games with sendmail to disguise your FQDN from the outside
world, and a good thing, too, for your privacy.
Also, in any subdomain, all host names on the same level must be
unique. So check with your admin. Have the admin either approve your
proposed host name, or assign you one.
Whatever you do, make sure your DNS administrator is told, and adds you to
the DNS database. Otherwise no-one will be able to find your computer by
domain name.
I trust I have confused you enough.
--
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