C H A P T E R
28-1
Catalyst 6000 Family Software Configuration Guide—Releases 6.3 and 6.4
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Configuring DNS
This chapter describes how to configure the Domain Name System (DNS) on the Catalyst 6000 family
switches.
Note
For complete syntax and usage information for the commands used in this chapter, refer to the
Catalyst 6000 Family Command Reference
publication.
This chapter consists of these sections:
•
Understanding How DNS Works, page 28-1
•
DNS Default Configuration, page 28-1
•
Configuring DNS, page 28-2
Understanding How DNS Works
DNS is a distributed database with which you can map host names to IP addresses through the DNS
protocol from a DNS server. When you configure DNS on the switch, you can substitute the host name
for the IP address with all IP commands, such as
ping
,
telnet
,
upload
, and
download
.
To use DNS, you must have a DNS name server present on your network.
You can specify a primary DNS name server on the switch as well as two backup servers. The first server
specified is the primary unless you explicitly identify the primary server. The switch sends DNS queries
to the primary server first. If the query to the primary server fails, the backup servers are queried.
DNS Default Configuration
Table 28-1
shows the default DNS configuration.
Table 28-1 DNS Default Configuration
Feature
Default Value
DNS enable state
Disabled
DNS default domain name
Null
DNS servers
None specified