DNS server on Mac
 

Hello,

How do I setup a DNS server on Mac?

Matt

I assume you mean running a DNS server on a Mac so as to provide DNS services to other machines - is that correct?
Search for: DNS server
on the main macosxhints site and I think you will find more than one article about it.

I didn't find anything.

You aren't looking very carefully.
I just now did a search for:
DNS server
on the main macosxhints site and found at least this one:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...50420025219402
I stopped looking after I saw that one but I think there were others.

Thanks but when I try to connect using ny windows pc to my domain name on which I have a web server nothing happens. I get the page cannot be displayed.

Mateusz

That seems to be a different question than what you originally asked in this thread. Is it related? I.e. is the Windows PC set to use the DNS server that is running on your Mac?

Where is the web server? (e.g. is it running on your Mac?)
What happens if you use an IP address in the URL (in the browser on Windows) instead of the domain name?

The Web Server is On Mac. When I use the IP address it works fine!

Mateusz

I presume that this Mac (and the Windows PC) are on the same local network (home or business) and that their Internet connection is via a router of some type.
Are you using the internal or external IP address of the Mac when you enter the URL on the Windows machine?
Which address does the domain name resolve to?
E.g. what do you get when you do 'ping the_domain_name' or 'host the_domain_name' ?

There is a router. When I ping I do ping www.$my-server$.com, I get

PING www.$my-server$.com (M.Y.I.P) 56 data bytes
and then it sends pings.

I think that what Hayne meant in his question is if M.Y.I.P is something like 192.168.1.102 or like 64.234.123.120?

Also, you haven't answer his question: you say that you can connect directly by typing the IP address, do you type a local adress or an external one.


Have you checked that if the router is working like a NAT is forwarding port 80 (or whatever service you want to serve) to the Mac ?


Finally, I think you'll benefit by beign slightly more thorough and specific in your posts.

R.

My Router's was 192.168.2.1 but then I changed to a non-routable ip address which is 10.x.x.31. What do you mean by "local" or "external"

192.168.2.1 and 10.x.x.31 are both non routable addresses.

check out: http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1597.html

What is the IP you are typing when you can reach the site?

If you don't know this, then you really shouldn't be running a DNS server. Instead you need to read up on routers and "NAT":
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/router.htm/printable
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/nat.htm/printable

Summary: A router sits between two networks. Any communication from one network to the other goes via the router. A consumer-level router usually uses "NAT" to multiplex its one "external" address on the Internet to several "internal" addresses on the local network.

So what do I need for a successful DNS Server?

The ability to be specific and explain yourself fully. If you yourself don't have a clue what you're doing, it can become frustrating for other forum users to help you. What are you trying to do? What is it that you want to achieve in the end? I don't think you need a DNS at all, in fact, I don't think you know what you're talking about. Don't mean to be offensive, and I am happy to help, but you must help us to help you.

Hello,

I would like to have my own website at www.mateuszrajca.com. I heard that you need a DNS server for that, so I tried to set one up. When I checked out a book from my library about Apache called "Apache the Definitive Guide", it didn't say anything about a DNS server. Can you help me setup a website that can be reached from any computer when my server is running. I already made the HTML files.

Mateusz

If you want the web site to be accessible outside of your local network, then you need your domain name (e.g. mateuszrajca.com) to be registered with one of the Internet registers. (Google for: "domain names" and you will find several.) This costs money - on a yearly basis.

Otherwise you can sign up for a sub-domain at one of the many "dynamic DNS" providers. (Again, use google, or look at: http://www.technopagan.org/dynamic/) This solves another problem typical to home users - that your "external" IP address changes once in a while. (see explanation on the page linked to above)

Can't I have my own domain name on my own computer using the DNS Server instead of using a registrar?

Mateusz

No. A DNS server translates things like "www.macosxhints.com" into an ip address that belongs to that site. That's how your computer knows how to get to a site. You need other computers using other (not your) DNS servers to be able to find your server. You do that by registering your domain.

Is there any other way instead of registering a domain? What is the point of a server then? How do the people that sell you the domains get them?

Mateusz

cwtnospam has explained it already, but here's an analogy to make it more clear:

Suppose that the residents of your neighbourhood decided on a name for your area (e.g. HogPatch). That works fine locally, but if you want anybody from the outside to be able to mail you a letter, you need the name to be known by the nationwide post office.

I already answered this above - see the section on "dynamic DNS".
You could also just tell your correspondents to use URLs involving the IP address of your router instead of a domain name.

I assume you mean a web server. A web server can be quite useful just within the local network. And if you arrange a domain name (see above) and also configure the "port forwarding" (search these forums or just google) then you can have a globally accessible web server.

These companies pay for the right to be a registrar - someone who registers domain names. Ultimately it comes down to ICANN: http://www.icann.org/

Just a question..

Do you have a dynamic outgoing ip?

Just asking because that's what I have but there's this free dns service called
dyndns - http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns/

It kinda sounds like you want something like that...
also what you would need then is this app:
dns updater (I think you can download it from the same site as well).

Basically all you need to do is register on the site, choose a name for you site
www.yourname.xxx.com
(here you can find the different choices for the ending of your url -
http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns/domains.html )

After choosing the name you'll have to give them your outgoing ip and stuff like that, then you might have to forward port 80 to the internal ip of the computer running the webserver. Then download dns updater and configure it (pretty straight forward) and then see the magic happen =))

Not sure if you meant something like this, but it's fun playing around with anyway =))

laterz
dav.