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fgz | 1 Dec 2004 01:51
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OT- sorta - DNS


The boss calleth on me today, with a 'simple request'. This is for a
small business site: what I want to achieve is to have any end-user
simply enter a valid domainname into their browser, then have that name
redirect to a business website, i.e. they'll enter smallbiz.com, and
they go off to www.smallbiz.com. Obviously many big sites do this: for
instance, yahoo.com will redirect to www.yahoo.com. An nslookup on
yahoo.com will give the IP/names of several servers - or maybe cluster
redirectors, or a bunch of load balancing devices, perhaps? Anyway,
simply doing a cname to a webserver doesn't work (didn't think it would,
but I tried anyway. ;) Is there a simple way to do this? Any good
concise, favored, resources on the web that address this? Our external
DNS server is an ancient Solaris 2.6 box, with a really nasty old
version of bind. In-house webservers are iPlanet ws6sp5 on Solaris 9.

Thanks.
-fgz
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Jason Fritcher | 1 Dec 2004 02:23
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Introduction

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the Atlanta area and have been looking for a new LUG to join. 
I really liked what I saw on the website, so I joined the mailing list 
and thought I would introduce myself.

As the From line points out, my name is Jason Fritcher. I first started 
using Linux way back in late 94 with Yggdrasil then Slackware, but only 
tinkered with Linux for the next 4 or 5 years. Then I got a job that 
required me to learn unix programming and my interest in Linux took off. 
In the last 5 years, I've used all the mainstream distros and have 
settled on liking Gentoo the best with Debian being a close second. :)

I'm currently a software engineer for Earthlink, doing mainly C and Java 
development with a little Perl thrown in to annoy me. :) In my spare 
time, I'm learning C++ and Python, and tinkering with writing a toy OS. 
I've been with Earthlink for 5 1/2 years and moved to Atlanta because of 
a transfer to here from Pasadena, CA. I must say that I like it here 
much better than Pasadena. :)

In closing, I'm looking forward to the meetings, and the chance to meet 
more people who are interested in Linux.

Thanks

--

-- 
Jason Fritcher
jkf@...
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Mike Murphy | 1 Dec 2004 02:32

Re: OT- sorta - DNS

Its pretty simple, really. You can either:

1. in dns, point domainname.com and www.domainname.com to the same ip 
address

2. in dns, cname (aka alias) domainname.com to www.domainname.com, or 
vice-versa.

A real world example (cnn.com):

[root <at> kermit named]# dig www.cnn.com

www.cnn.com.            76      IN      CNAME   cnn.com.
cnn.com.                75      IN      A       64.236.24.20
cnn.com.                75      IN      A       64.236.24.28
cnn.com.                75      IN      A       64.236.16.20
cnn.com.                75      IN      A       64.236.16.52
cnn.com.                75      IN      A       64.236.16.84
cnn.com.                75      IN      A       64.236.16.116
cnn.com.                75      IN      A       64.236.24.4
cnn.com.                75      IN      A       64.236.24.12

(usefully, dig output is formatted like a named zone file).

In you question, you said "simply doing a cname to a webserver doesn't 
work" which makes me wonder: exactly how did you try to do it? Also, 
maybe you were tripped up by what the webserver thought its url was? 
Apache and most other servers have a config param to set the server 
name, where you might want to put "www.smallbiz.com" there. Also, many 
sites will trap the non-www name and set the webserver to 302 it to the
(Continue reading)

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Mike Murphy | 1 Dec 2004 02:33

Re: Introduction

Yeah, I guess you managed to move here from somewhere with even worse 
traffic :)

Mike

Jason Fritcher wrote:
> Hello everyone,
> 
> I'm new to the Atlanta area and have been looking for a new LUG to join. 
> I really liked what I saw on the website, so I joined the mailing list 
> and thought I would introduce myself.
> 
> As the From line points out, my name is Jason Fritcher. I first started 
> using Linux way back in late 94 with Yggdrasil then Slackware, but only 
> tinkered with Linux for the next 4 or 5 years. Then I got a job that 
> required me to learn unix programming and my interest in Linux took off. 
> In the last 5 years, I've used all the mainstream distros and have 
> settled on liking Gentoo the best with Debian being a close second. :)
> 
> I'm currently a software engineer for Earthlink, doing mainly C and Java 
> development with a little Perl thrown in to annoy me. :) In my spare 
> time, I'm learning C++ and Python, and tinkering with writing a toy OS. 
> I've been with Earthlink for 5 1/2 years and moved to Atlanta because of 
> a transfer to here from Pasadena, CA. I must say that I like it here 
> much better than Pasadena. :)
> 
> In closing, I'm looking forward to the meetings, and the chance to meet 
> more people who are interested in Linux.
> 
> Thanks
(Continue reading)

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Jerald Sheets | 1 Dec 2004 02:36
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RE: OT- sorta - DNS

Both names need their own A record.  From a working zone file (to an
unfinished site) :)  :

www                     IN A    66.23.219.187
                        IN MX   10 mail.questy.org.

questy.org.             IN A    66.23.219.187
                        IN MX   10 mail.questy.org.

Now, the two things you refer to, both the above and the load balancing
scenario can be done via BIND, HTTPD, or a load balancer...your choice.

I hope that answers your question.

 Jerald M. Sheets jr.
Sr. UNIX Systems Administrator
(404) 293-8762

**********
>su -
Password:
# cat /dev/flood > /dev/earth
# rdev noah+beasts
# dd if=noah+beasts of=/dev/earth

-----Original Message-----
From: ale-bounces@...
[mailto:ale-bounces@...] On Behalf Of fgz
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 7:52 PM
To: ale@...
(Continue reading)

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Geoffrey | 1 Dec 2004 02:42

Re: Introduction

Jason Fritcher wrote:
> Hello everyone,
> 
> I'm new to the Atlanta area and have been looking for a new LUG to
> join. I really liked what I saw on the website, so I joined the
> mailing list and thought I would introduce myself.

Welcome.  What part of town do you live in?  You do know that we have 
three meetings a month, but the best one is the NW meeting...

> As the From line points out, my name is Jason Fritcher. I first
> started using Linux way back in late 94 with Yggdrasil then
> Slackware, but only tinkered with Linux for the next 4 or 5 years.

I've been tinkering with some flavor of Unix for 20+ years now. :)

> Then I got a job that required me to learn unix programming and my
> interest in Linux took off. In the last 5 years, I've used all the
> mainstream distros and have settled on liking Gentoo the best with
> Debian being a close second. :)

Well, there's still room to educate you then. :)  SuSE and Mandrake 
here.  I use Red Hat on one box because my client says so.  I've just 
finished installing Release 2 of the Sun Java Desktop and must say, I'm 
not impressed.

> I'm currently a software engineer for Earthlink, doing mainly C and
> Java development with a little Perl thrown in to annoy me. :)

The dream job!  You're confused though, it's the Java that is annoying
(Continue reading)

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Jason Fritcher | 1 Dec 2004 03:15
Gravatar

Re: Introduction

Mike Murphy wrote:
> Yeah, I guess you managed to move here from somewhere with even worse 
> traffic :)

Heh, I wouldn't know about traffic out there. I stayed in my little part 
of the world and only ventured out after rush hour. :) I had a nice 2-3 
mile surface street commute to the Earthlink office in Pasadena, so I 
never had to go near the freeways during rush hour.

Out here, I live only a couple miles from a Marta train station, and I 
plan on using that to commute. Earthlink's office here is only a couple 
blocks from the Arts Center train station so its a viable commuting method.

--

-- 
Jason Fritcher
jkf@...

> Jason Fritcher wrote:
 >
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> I'm new to the Atlanta area and have been looking for a new LUG to 
>> join. I really liked what I saw on the website, so I joined the 
>> mailing list and thought I would introduce myself.
>>
>> As the From line points out, my name is Jason Fritcher. I first 
>> started using Linux way back in late 94 with Yggdrasil then Slackware, 
>> but only tinkered with Linux for the next 4 or 5 years. Then I got a 
>> job that required me to learn unix programming and my interest in 
>> Linux took off. In the last 5 years, I've used all the mainstream
(Continue reading)

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Jason Fritcher | 1 Dec 2004 03:31
Gravatar

Re: Introduction

Geoffrey wrote:
> Welcome.  What part of town do you live in?  You do know that we have 
> three meetings a month, but the best one is the NW meeting...

I live in Sandy Springs, a bit north of Roswell Rd & Abernathy. I saw 
the 3 meetings a month. Initially I had planned on attending the just 
the Central meeting, but based on your comment, I think I'll make the NW 
meeting as well. :)

>> Then I got a job that required me to learn unix programming and my
>> interest in Linux took off. In the last 5 years, I've used all the
>> mainstream distros and have settled on liking Gentoo the best with
>> Debian being a close second. :)
> 
> Well, there's still room to educate you then. :)  SuSE and Mandrake 
> here.  I use Red Hat on one box because my client says so.  I've just 
> finished installing Release 2 of the Sun Java Desktop and must say, I'm 
> not impressed.

Heh, room to educate. I'm all about learning, so bring it on. :) I have 
a serious dislike for any of the rpm based distros that comes from a 
dislike for the whole rpm system. Alot of my unix experience actually 
comes from FreeBSD, and during my time having to admin bsd boxes, I fell 
in love with the ports tree. That's probably one reason I enjoy Gentoo 
so much. :) On the Linux front though, I've been really impressed with 
Debian and the dpkg system.

>> I'm currently a software engineer for Earthlink, doing mainly C and
>> Java development with a little Perl thrown in to annoy me. :)
>
(Continue reading)

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Jeff Hubbs | 1 Dec 2004 04:08
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Re: Introduction

My understanding from an article I read a year or so ago is that Atlanta
has pretty much pulled even with LA for rotten traffic...

Jeff

On Tue, 2004-11-30 at 21:15, Jason Fritcher wrote:
> Mike Murphy wrote:
> > Yeah, I guess you managed to move here from somewhere with even worse 
> > traffic :)
> 
> Heh, I wouldn't know about traffic out there. I stayed in my little part 
> of the world and only ventured out after rush hour. :) I had a nice 2-3 
> mile surface street commute to the Earthlink office in Pasadena, so I 
> never had to go near the freeways during rush hour.
> 
> Out here, I live only a couple miles from a Marta train station, and I 
> plan on using that to commute. Earthlink's office here is only a couple 
> blocks from the Arts Center train station so its a viable commuting method.
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Jim Popovitch | 1 Dec 2004 04:41
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Favicon

Re: OT- sorta - DNS

This is possible only if you are only looking to do this for a domain which you
have control over the webserver.   It's quite simple to do in Apache with dual
VirtualHost settings where one is a ServerAlias that redirects to the second
VirtualHost.  For instance, you can have http://blah.com seemlessly redirect to
http://www.blah.com.  Here are the essential Apache settings that do this:

<VirtualHost www.blah.com:80>
    ServerName www.blah.com
    DocumentRoot /www/
    .....
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost www.blah.com:80>
    ServerAlias blah.*  # catches blah.net and blah.com
    Redirect permanent / http://www.blah.com/
</VirtualHost>

Make sense?

-Jim P.

--- fgz <fzamenski@...> wrote:

> 
> The boss calleth on me today, with a 'simple request'. This is for a
> small business site: what I want to achieve is to have any end-user
> simply enter a valid domainname into their browser, then have that name
> redirect to a business website, i.e. they'll enter smallbiz.com, and
> they go off to www.smallbiz.com. Obviously many big sites do this: for
> instance, yahoo.com will redirect to www.yahoo.com. An nslookup on
> yahoo.com will give the IP/names of several servers - or maybe cluster
(Continue reading)

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Gmane