Setting up a DNS server or a connection between Linux and Windows computers

Setting up a DNS server or a connection between Linux and Windows computers

Which files do I need to configure to set up a DNS server on Red Hat Linux? I have two computers (Red Hat 9, Windows 2000) connected through cross cable.

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Setting up DNS, or more specifically, allowing both computers to access each other by hostname, may be simpler than setting up a server especially for your particular situation. You may be fine to just edit the "hosts" file on each machine.

In Windows 2000 you can do the following:
Open c:winntsystem32driversetchosts with your favorite text editor. Add an entry with the IP address of the Red Hat 9 machine and a hostname.

In Linux:
You can edit the /etc/hosts file by going to a console session, and typing as the root user, add your IP address and host names for both machines.

If you do want to install a simple DNS server on Linux you can investigate this how-to.

This was first published in March 2005