Below  is the hosts portion of nsswitch.conf.  The actual hosts file is
below that. I have also included the simple config that I am using for
iptables. I have seen the -n option but it is not relevant for
appending, inserting or replacing. It only applies to listing (output)

--Brian

#hosts:     db files nisplus nis dns
hosts:      files dns

# Do not remove the following line, or various programs
# that require network functionality will fail.
127.0.0.1               testbox localhost.localdomain localhost
10.1.1.13               ns2.pzs.com 

# Generated by iptables-save v1.2.3 on Tue Jun  4 10:33:01 2002
*filter
:INPUT DROP [14:722]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [129912:18396846]
-A INPUT -d 10.1.1.13 -p udp -m udp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -d 10.1.1.13 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -d 10.1.1.13 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 21 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -d 10.1.1.13 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT
COMMIT
# Completed on Tue Jun  4 10:33:01 2002



>>> Ramin Alidousti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 06/04/02 10:28AM >>>
On Tue, Jun 04, 2002 at 09:51:31AM -0700, Brian Ugie wrote:

> Hi,
> 
>   I am hoping that someone can explain the role that DNS has in
> relation to iptables and if there is a way to stop iptables from
> resolving. 
> 
>   I have a network where a netscreen firewall sits in front or our
> servers. We map public IPs to the servers and do initial port
filtering
> from the netscreen. We also want to have each machine filter just in
> case the windows box gets compromised ;). It has seemed to me that
> iptables will not first use /etc/hosts to resolve but will go
straight
> to the DNS server. Is this a valid statement?

No. gethostbyaddr would go through the preference list in
nsswitch.conf.
This is part of a library and iptables uses it. #include <netdb.h>

> nsswitch.conf lists file
> first. Since DNS will resolve the server to a public address but it
is
> actually on a private address, iptables get confused and the net
result
> is long delays on ssh and ftp logins and server time outs on DNS
> queries. 

Do you have "hosts:  files dns" in your nsswitch.conf and have the
correct setup in /etc/hosts?

> 
>   To test my theory I set the DNS record to the private ip and that
> worked like a champ. I feel that I am left with only the option to
> create views in bind.
> 
>   Has anyone else out there seen this or know of a better solution? 

You can also provide "-n" to the iptables command to avoid names:

man iptables:
...
       -n, --numeric
              Numeric output.  IP addresses and port numbers will
              be printed in numeric format.  By default, the pro�
              gram  will  try to display them as host names, net�
              work names, or services (whenever applicable).
...

Ramin

> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Brian

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