Problem
All DNS (Domain Name Service) clients require the presence of the /etc/nsswitch.conf and /etc/resolv.conf files. Note that the DNS server must also be configured as a DNS Client if it intends to use its own DNS Services.
The /etc/nsswitch.conf file specifies the resolver library routines to be used for resolving hostnames and addresses. Modify the /etc/nsswitch.conf file by editing the hosts entry and adding the dns keyword.
To ensure proper network configuration during the boot process, make sure that the files keyword is listed first. The following example shows a hosts entry configured for DNS.
<snippet from /etc/nsswitch.conf>
hosts: files dns
The /etc/resolv.conf file specifies the Name Servers that the client must use for the Domain, and the search path used for queries.
<snippet from /etc/resolv.conf for DNS clients of the one.edu domain>
search one.edu
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Solution
Verify the status of DNS services. In the following example the DNS client service is running and the DNS server is disabled.
svcs -a | grep dns
disabled Sep_22 svc:/network/dns/server:default
online Sep_22 svc:/network/dns/client:default
svcs -o state,nstate,fmri /network/dns/client:default
STATE NSTATE FMRI
online - svc:/network/dns/client:default
svcs -o state,nstate,fmri /network/dns/server:default
STATE NSTATE FMRI
disabled - svc:/network/dns/server:default
Disable the DNS Client from SMF
svcadm disable svc:/network/dns/client:default
Restart DNS Client from SMF
svcadm enable svc:/network/dns/client:default
Verify status and Dependency for DNS client
svcs -l svc:/network/dns/client:default
fmri svc:/network/dns/client:default
name DNS resolver
enabled true
state online
next_state none
state_time 4 November 2009 10:41:01 GMT
logfile /var/svc/log/network-dns-client:default.log
restarter svc:/system/svc/restarter:default
dependency require_all/none svc:/system/filesystem/minimal (online)
dependency require_all/none svc:/network/service (online)
dependency require_all/none file://localhost/etc/resolv.conf (online)
dependency require_any/error svc:/network/loopback (online)
dependency optional_all/error svc:/milestone/network (online)
Verify the status and Dependency for the DNS Server
svcs -l svc:/network/dns/server:default
fmri svc:/network/dns/server:default
enabled false
state disabled
next_state none
state_time 4 November 2009 10:40:33 GMT
restarter svc:/system/svc/restarter:default
dependency require_all/none svc:/system/filesystem/local (online)
dependency require_any/error svc:/network/loopback (online)
dependency optional_all/error svc:/milestone/network (online)
Solaris 10 DNS client & servers configuration files and log locations:
/etc/nsswitch.conf
/etc/resolv.conf
/etc/netconfig
/etc/hosts
/etc/named.conf - BIND Configuration
/var/named/bind-log - DNS server log
/var/adm/messages - system messages
/var/svc/log/network-dns-client:default.log - SMF DNS client log (search for ERRORS and
/var/svc/log/network-dns-client:default.log - SMF DNS server log (search for ERRORS and
/var/svc/manifest/network/dns/client.xml - DNS Client Manifest Configuration
/var/svc/manifest/network/dns/server.xml - DNS Server Manifest Configuration
Solaris 10 DNS Client & servers Tools:
/usr/sbin/dig - DNS lookup utility, replaces nslookup future release of Solaris.
/usr/sbin/nslookup - DNS lookup utility, now marked obsolete and will be removed in a future release of Solaris
/usr/sbin/rndc - name server control utility
named-checkconf - named configuration file syntax checking tool
named-checkzone - zone file validity checking tool
/usr/sbin/svcs - Report SMF service status
/usr/sbin/svcadm - Manage SMF services.
/usr/sbin/svcprop - Verify SMF configuration properties
