[OpenIndiana-discuss] OpenIndiana server networking problem.

[Jim Klimov]

Hello Peter,

On 2013-07-01 23:49, DormitionSkete at hotmail.com wrote:
> The /etc/nsswitch.conf is the stock OI configuration.  I have not changed anything in it.

Actually, this may be the culprit for "not seeing hosts in the
internet": the default nsswitch may include only a configuration
for name lookups in the "files" database (basically in /etc/hosts)
and thus does not try to use DNS, LDAP, NIS or other possible
sources. There are several sample /etc/nsswitch.* files for other
default configurations (you likely want to take /etc/nsswitch.dns
and copy it over /etc/nsswitch.conf, if needed).

You can verify it thus:
jim$ grep hosts /etc/nsswitch.conf
# "hosts:" and "services:" in this file are used only if the
hosts:      files dns

In this example, the system is configured to first consult the
local /etc/hosts file, and if those lookups fail - go to DNS
as configured in /etc/resolv.conf. There you normally have two
types of entries: up to six "nameserver" lines with the DNS
servers, in order of preference. Usually these include local
DNS instances on your LAN which can resolve non-public names,
if any, and are also caching DNS servers for internet name
resolution by default, or the ISP's DNS servers, if known, so
as to reduce latency on name lookups. You can also use some
public DNS servers, popular ones include google's 8.8.8.8 or
4.2.2.4 (and a few neighboring IP numbers - these ones are
easier to remember and type).

> /etc/resolv.conf was empty.  I put "nameserver 192.168.0.1" in it, did a "svcadm restart network", but it did not seem to change anything with the netstat command.

Do you know for a fact (statement from the provider) that theirrouter 
("modem" as you wrote and which is likely not precisely
correct, as others have supposed in this thread) is configured
to be a DNS server/relay/whatever? Most access points and routers
are indeed configurable for this, but did you verify?

For example, such a request fails for me (because I don't have a
DNS server in my LAN at such address):

$ nslookup www.google.com 192.168.0.1
;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached


However, since routing works well for me, I can resolve DNS names
okay with a public nameserver:

$ nslookup www.google.com
8.8.8.8
Server:         8.8.8.8
Address:        8.8.8.8#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   www.google.com
Address: 173.194.47.177
Name:   www.google.com
Address: 173.194.47.178
Name:   www.google.com
Address: 173.194.47.176
Name:   www.google.com
Address: 173.194.47.180
Name:   www.google.com
Address: 173.194.47.179

HTH,
//Jim Klimov