How do PCs identify themselves by name to a router?
in [UK Linux]
|
From: Tony Houghton on 13 Jun 2010 16:37 Certain Thomson routers have this rather nice feature that the names of the PCs connected to it are added to the router's DNS so you can refer to them by name without having to use static addresses and maintain hosts files all over the place. In case the PC doesn't identify its hostname to the router (see below) you can assign names to MAC addresses in the router's setup. Unfortunately, since O2 performed a remote firmware upgrade on my router, this feature isn't working properly: only devices which identify themselves by name to the router are added to its DNS. And my Debian PCs don't identify themselves, but Ubuntu and Windows do (including on the same PCs that usually run Debian unstable, dual booting or using a Live USB stick). So how does a PC identify itself to a router? My first thought was the DHCP client ID, but: (a) Setting this on the Debian boxes with NetworkManager has no effect. (b) I don't know how to set it on the one that uses /etc/network/interfaces instead of NetworkManager. (c) It's blank (in NetworkManager) on the Ubuntu PCs which do identify themselves. So how are the Windows and Ubuntu PCs identifying themselves in a way that Debian doesn't? Perhaps if the DHCP client id is blank it automatically uses the hostname but client id is broken in Debian? Or is there some other protocol based on something Windows does, which Ubuntu has copied? -- TH * http://www.realh.co.uk
From: Tony Houghton on 13 Jun 2010 18:13 In <slrni1ak7m.b1p.pm(a)nowster.eternal-september.org>, Paul Martin <pm(a)nowster.org.uk> wrote: > In article <slrni1agcd.9fe.h(a)realh.co.uk>, > Tony Houghton wrote: >> So how are the Windows and Ubuntu PCs identifying themselves in a way >> that Debian doesn't? > > It's probably NMB/SMB-related. I eventually found out that the difference between Debian and Ubuntu is in /etc/dhcp/dhclient.conf (which also forms the template for NetworkManager's DHCP config): send host-name "<hostname>"; Adding that line to my Debian boxes eventually got them visible to the router's DNS after some more faffing with it. -- TH * http://www.realh.co.uk
From: Geoff Clements on 14 Jun 2010 14:29 Tony Houghton wrote: > In <slrni1ak7m.b1p.pm(a)nowster.eternal-september.org>, > Paul Martin <pm(a)nowster.org.uk> wrote: > >> In article <slrni1agcd.9fe.h(a)realh.co.uk>, >> Tony Houghton wrote: >>> So how are the Windows and Ubuntu PCs identifying themselves in a way >>> that Debian doesn't? >> >> It's probably NMB/SMB-related. > > I eventually found out that the difference between Debian and Ubuntu is > in /etc/dhcp/dhclient.conf (which also forms the template for > NetworkManager's DHCP config): > > send host-name "<hostname>"; > > Adding that line to my Debian boxes eventually got them visible to the > router's DNS after some more faffing with it. > I know you've found the answer but with avahi pretty common these days it's very easy to use hostnames as addresses, at least if the machines are on the same physical network. -- Geoff
From: Tony Houghton on 14 Jun 2010 17:42 In <hv5se4$hg8$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, Geoff Clements <bitbucket(a)electron.me.uk> wrote: > Tony Houghton wrote: > >> In <slrni1ak7m.b1p.pm(a)nowster.eternal-september.org>, >> Paul Martin <pm(a)nowster.org.uk> wrote: >> >>> In article <slrni1agcd.9fe.h(a)realh.co.uk>, >>> Tony Houghton wrote: >>>> So how are the Windows and Ubuntu PCs identifying themselves in a way >>>> that Debian doesn't? >>> >>> It's probably NMB/SMB-related. >> >> I eventually found out that the difference between Debian and Ubuntu is >> in /etc/dhcp/dhclient.conf (which also forms the template for >> NetworkManager's DHCP config): >> >> send host-name "<hostname>"; >> >> Adding that line to my Debian boxes eventually got them visible to the >> router's DNS after some more faffing with it. It turns out the <hostname> part is Ubuntu-specific and in Debian you have to use your actual hostname. But for some reason my router's DNS started working as desired with (or at the same times as) <hostname> for some reason. > I know you've found the answer but with avahi pretty common these days it's > very easy to use hostnames as addresses, at least if the machines are on the > same physical network. The main way my PCs communicate with each other is ssh, plus a bit of NFS. AIUI avahi is service-specific and I think I'd have to do some twiddling to get those services available over avahi. -- TH * http://www.realh.co.uk
From: PeeGee on 14 Jun 2010 18:28 On 14/06/10 22:42, Tony Houghton wrote: > In <hv5se4$hg8$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, > Geoff Clements <bitbucket(a)electron.me.uk> wrote: > >> Tony Houghton wrote: >> >>> In <slrni1ak7m.b1p.pm(a)nowster.eternal-september.org>, >>> Paul Martin <pm(a)nowster.org.uk> wrote: >>> >>>> In article <slrni1agcd.9fe.h(a)realh.co.uk>, >>>> Tony Houghton wrote: >>>>> So how are the Windows and Ubuntu PCs identifying themselves in a way >>>>> that Debian doesn't? >>>> >>>> It's probably NMB/SMB-related. >>> >>> I eventually found out that the difference between Debian and Ubuntu is >>> in /etc/dhcp/dhclient.conf (which also forms the template for >>> NetworkManager's DHCP config): >>> >>> send host-name "<hostname>"; >>> >>> Adding that line to my Debian boxes eventually got them visible to the >>> router's DNS after some more faffing with it. > > It turns out the <hostname> part is Ubuntu-specific and in Debian you > have to use your actual hostname. But for some reason my router's DNS > started working as desired with (or at the same times as) <hostname> for > some reason. > >> I know you've found the answer but with avahi pretty common these days it's >> very easy to use hostnames as addresses, at least if the machines are on the >> same physical network. > > The main way my PCs communicate with each other is ssh, plus a bit of > NFS. AIUI avahi is service-specific and I think I'd have to do some > twiddling to get those services available over avahi. > Have you tried using: send dhcp-client-identifier "\000<hostname>"; to replace the default 1:<MAC ADDR>? You can then reserve addresses by name rather than MAC ADDR. This seems to work better than send host-name (on OpenSUSE system). -- PeeGee "Nothing should be able to load itself onto a computer without the knowledge or consent of the computer user. Software should also be able to be removed from a computer easily." Peter Cullen, Microsoft Chief Privacy Strategist (Computing 18 Aug 05)
|
Next
|
Last
Pages: 1 2 3 4 Prev: How do I make a network run slowly Next: Shell variables in perl one liner |