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In order to configure a network website, I followed the ArchWiki nginx and BIND articles. But the BIND article seems to end when the website domain is available only from the host and not from other devices on the local network. So I have further consulted Installing a Local DNS Server Behind a Hardware Router.

To my understanding the router must be configured to use the host's BIND server, but it's unclear to me how that should be achieved correctly and as my attempts resulted in disconnections from the internet, I'd like to request assistance.

The server's local IP is '192.168.1.102', the chosen domain is 't.v' and relevant configuration files are similar to the ArchWiki.

The router has a page under 'Route' for 'DNS & default gateway configuration' which allows configuration of: 1. Domain name, 2. Primary DNS Server, 3. Secondary DNS Server, 4. Default Gateway, 5. DNS relay (enabled or disabled).

There is also a 'DHCP relay configuration' page for: 1. IP address, 2. DHCP relay (enabled or disabled)

Your precious time is much appreciated and thank you in advance.

George Dewar
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rayanamukami
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1 Answers1

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I gather that you would like all the hosts on your network to use your DNS server, so that they can resolve your internal domain.

Currently, your router is acting as a DHCP server, and provides each of the computers on your network with an IP address, as well as their DNS settings. You can manually set the DNS settings on the computers, but it would of course be preferable to have the router do this for you.

I'm not sure what exactly the capabilities of your router are, but some have DHCP (not DHCP relay) settings page, where you can set things like the IP address range that it hands out, and more relevantly what DNS servers to use. This is not the same thing as what DNS servers your router itself uses.

That may not be an option, in which case an alternative is to tell the router to use your server as its DNS servers. This configuration appears to be on the "DNS and default gateway configuration" page. Your BIND server already appears to be configured to use Google's DNS servers as forwarders, so this should work fine. With this approach, your computers will continue to use your router as their DNS server, but the router will use your server.

George Dewar
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  • Thanks for your fine explanation. Though the '[Home network](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzQ1_niUkKnKc3N3MXV0UXBXMUk)' page shows the DNS configuration, it cannot be changed, only the aforementioned pages. I was trying to go for your last option, but configuring the router like the screenshots, have no effect. With the domain name, server and the rest 0.0.0.0, is that configured correctly? Enabling 'DNS Relay' disconnects all devices from internet access. Changing '127.0.0.1' to '192.168.1.102' in resolvconf.conf disconnects the server's internet. – rayanamukami Dec 24 '15 at 08:50
  • I'm not fully clear on whether that page is about the router's upstream settings (ISP's default gateway and DNS servers), or if it's about what the router tells clients via DHCP. What values were there before you changed them? Having the default gateway as 0.0.0.0 doesn't sound correct to me, but if it's not you should have no internet access at all... – George Dewar Dec 24 '15 at 10:39
  • It's the wrong page as you said. I found a more relevant page located under '[Network Interfaces](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzQ1_niUkKnKRno0VXFhQTZOb1E)'> '[LAN Bridge](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzQ1_niUkKnKVU9wTEUzN2t6Szg)' > '[Settings](https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzQ1_niUkKnKX05FVUdMZlBBZWc)'. Now 't.v' is also accessible from my other linux computer, but not from any other device. I'd like to fiddle a bit more with that and see how far I can get. – rayanamukami Dec 24 '15 at 14:11