Connected to office via VPN. How to resolve computer names?

Question

I'm using VPN Tracker to get an VPN connection to work. My problem, though, is that I have to use ip addresses to connect to 'in-office'-computers.

How can I make my mac resolve computer names belonging the office-network?

Thanks,
-Vegar

Solution 1

Another way, if the VPN server you connect to is not cooperative or just generally you want to tweak things for your liking (e.g. add your own domain search path) is to edit /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf to append or supersede the information your client receives from the VPN server, e.g.:

supersede domain int.company.com
supersede domain-search ny.int.company.com, la.int.threatmetrix.com
supersede domain-name-servers 192.168.0.x, 192.168.0.y
#request subnet-mask, broadcast-address, time-offset, routers,
#       domain-name, domain-name-servers, domain-search, host-name,
#       netbios-name-servers, netbios-scope, interface-mtu,
#       rfc3442-classless-static-routes, ntp-servers;
request subnet-mask, broadcast-address, time-offset, routers,
        host-name, netbios-name-servers, netbios-scope, interface-mtu,
        rfc3442-classless-static-routes, ntp-servers;

That way you don't touch /etc/resolv.conf behind any program's back and have it maintained properly.

The "request" line means that I commented out the default one and dropped the domaind-name and domain-name-servers it provides. I'm not 100% sure it's still required, it might be a left-over from the time I experimented with this solution.

Solution 2

Try the full domain name (like machine.example.com), or add the domain search path to your network preferences by doing:

1. System Preferences
2. Network
3. Select your active network interface
4. Advanced
5. DNS
6. Add your work's domain to the search domains

My Nortel VPN client doesn't do DNS correctly either.

Solution 3

The VPN server your company is using will likely allow them to manually specify the DNS servers that will be handed-out when a client connects. Check with your VPN administrator and verify that the company's internal DNS server is on the list.

Otherwise you can add the internal DNS server by going into the network settings, like churnd describes.

Comments

[Vegar]

Sorry, but I think you should read the question once more...