Charles,
> resolv.conf says
>
> search iisim.ac.in
> nameserver 203.197.150.52
> nameserver 203.197.150.140
> nameserver 202.54.6.1
>
> 203.197.150.52 is my DNS. rest is vsnl's.
Your DNS doesn't seem to be setup properly. I noticed the following problems
while using nslookup using your server (203.197.150.52)
1) No MX records are defined for your domain. So even if someone finds
a way to your domain's nameserver (i.e your server if you plan to set
it up that way), they wouldn't know where to send mails to.
2) Access to root servers don't seem to be defined properly. I couldn't
lookup any other hostnames (other than the ones in your domain) using
your nameserver. Put in an entry forwarding queries that you can't
resolve to your ISP's name server (or set up your zone "." entries
properly). Refer to the DNS Howto for details.
> i had my domain registered when we took the vsnl
> connection. i was making double sure since vsnl
> service are not reliable.
Looks like vsnl hasn't yet put in proper entries for your domain into
their nameserver databases. None of vsnl's nameservers can resolve your
domain by name (or reverse lookup your IP address).
>
> thanks once again. my DNS seems to work. When I had
> the connection with Ernet (vsat 9.6kbps), then i had
> redhat ver. 5. i never had a problem with the DNS. I
> get mail going out and receive incoming mail pretty
> well. its the same DNS i use now. the only thing that
> have changed is the redhat version to 6.1.
>
Your DNS setup might have been working earlier because the Ernet
nameservers you were using had proper entries for MX for your domain.
(And also external lookups which failed on your own nameserver were
probably located succesfully using their nameservers which you had
specified in your resolv.conf file)
So I guess what you need to do is :
1) Review your DNS setup (Refer the HOW-TO) and make sure you have all
the proper entries (MX & forward or zone ".") in it.
2) Scream at the vsnl guys (if they did the domain registration for
you - or else catch the guys who did the domain registration) and tell them
to make sure that proper entries are put into authoritative servers which
service the domain "ac.in."
Kala
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