fli4l documentation - Configuration

2. Basic configuration - Domain configuration

##### :::[ START_DNS ][ DNS_FORWARDERS ][ DNS_VERBOSE ][ DOMAIN_NAME ]:::
:::[ HOSTS_N ; HOST_1 ; HOST_2 ; ... ]:::

Windows PCs in a LAN own - among others ;-) - one unpleasant property:

When you need a name server in your network and you define it in Windows, all Windows computers will search this name server in intervals (appr. five minutes) - even if nobody is using the computer in the moment!

If you defined a DNS server somewhere in the internet on your Windows PC it would be really expensive :-(

Now the trick:

If there isnīt already a DNS server in your LAN, you may use DNS in your FLI4L router.

From FLI4L version 1.5.2 ENS is used as DNS server. This replaced dnscache/tinydns / named(bind) .

Before you start DNS configuration, you should definitely think about domain name and names of PCs in your network. The domain name you will use is not visible for the internet. So you are free to use almost any name as domain name.

Beside this you should name each Windows computer in your network. These names must be available for and known by the FLI4L router.

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#### START_DNS

When there are no Windows computers in your LAN or if there already is an existing DNS server, you should set START_DNS to 'no' and ignore the rest of this section.

If you are not sure (default setting): START_DNS='yes'

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#### DNS_FORWARDERS

Enter the IP address of the DNS server of your internet provider in this position, if FLI4L will be used as router to the internet. FLI4L will then forward all DNS queries which it can not answer to this address.

If you want to enter more than one DNS forwarder, separate all IP addresses by blanks.

Attention: This is different to former versions: At least one forwarder is necessary for correct function!

FLI4L as router in a local network WITHOUT any connection to the internet or (company) networks with additional DNS servers. In this case you will have to enter 127.0.0.1 to avoid forwarding.

In some cases it is necessary to allow access via port 53 to enable correct function of DNS forwarding. This depends on the DNS server of your provider; see: FIREWALL_DENY_PORT_x

Here is a list of DNS servers.
Usually it makes sense to enter your own providerīs DNS server IP address; some DNS servers may also be used from other networks.

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#### DOMAIN_NAME

The distibuted version of FLI4L uses "lan.fli4l" as default setting. Feel free to enter your own domain name, because this name is not visible to the internet.
You should have a look on real and existing domains. If you use an existing domain name, you will not be able to access this domain!

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#### HOSTS_N HOST_1 HOST_2 ...

You should describe all computers in your network - including IP address and name. To do so, you first set the number of Computers (incl. FLI4L router) with variable HOSTS_N.

After this you will have to define data for these computers by using variables HOST_1 to HOST_X . In our example there are four configured computers - these are: "fli4l", "client2", "client3" und "client4". "fli4l" is the FLI4L router itself (identical with HOSTNAME). It makes also sense to insert computers in this section, which will are not allowed to use the FLI4L router for connections to other networks (FORWARD_DENY_HOST_N), because these computers should be accessible by other computers in the LAN per their names.

Construction of variable HOST_x:

    HOST_x='IP address name [MAC address]'

The third value [MAC address] is an optional parameter and is only relevant, if FLI4L will be used as additional DHCP server and the client shall get a static IP address. All of this is described in detail in the description for optional program package OPT_DHCP .

Without using any DHCP server you will only have to enter IP address and name of each computer; ex.:

    HOST_x='192.168.6.5 joe'

The optional MAC address is a 48 bit address and is build from 6 hexadecimal values which are separated by ":"; ex.:

    00:00:E8:83:72:92

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