Static IP with DHCP-Assigned DNS on Ubuntu 9.10
There is a ton of bug reports regarding the Network-Manager’s nm-applet not properly configuring static ips. There are, and always have been, bugs in the nm-applet, in each of its versions. In short, getting a static ip with dhcp assigned DNS parameters requires editing the /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf file. Here we go.
sudo vi /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf>> alias { interface "eth0"; fixed-address 192.168.1.101; option subnet-mask 255.255.255.255; } <<sudo dhclient -rsudo dhclient
MySQL DNS Caching
On December 12, 2008, SCCOOS metadata system was broken. The error was cryptic, but the message was clear: Connection to [IP] denied.
Resolution
Using the MySQL command-line tool:
mysql -u admin -p [-h
mysql> flush hosts;
That’s it!
Chain of Events
- UCSD’s DNS was polluted, identifying 132.239.123.144 as ridge2000.org for the past few weeks.
- Sandbar was restarted last week, freeing up both the OS and MySQL DNS caches, which meant all new connections will need to query a DNS server to identify whether it’s an allowed machine or not (do you see a security vulnerability?).
- Both the OS and MySQL cached the hostname, but MySQL further rejected all connections from alfredo because MySQL thought that alfredo was ridge2000 instead.
- The mysql database, user table identifies user sccoos can connect to sandbar from alfredo.ucsd.edu.
- The OS cache probably cleared, but since so few machines access sandbar, the MySQL cache hadn’t filled up yet.
- Just last night (2008-12-22), the UCSD DNS purged the ridge2000.org name from its list, so UCSD’s DNS is clean, but any caches may still be polluted.
- Windows machines cycle their caches regularly, so the problem isn’t more wide-spread or commonly understood.
- The long-lasting MySQL DNS cache is disturbing, but alternatives would cripple the imperative nature of a database.