Setting the DNS Configuration

You can set the DNS configuration with ESXCLI or with vicfg-dns.

Setting the DNS Configuration with ESXCLI

The esxcli network ip dns command lists and specifies the DNS configuration of your ESXi host.

Important If you try to change the host or domain name or the DNS server on hosts that use DHCP, an error results.

In network environments where a DHCP server and a DNS server are available, ESXi hosts are automatically assigned DNS names.

In network environments where automatic DNS is not available or you do not want to use automatic DNS, you can configure static DNS information, including a host name, primary name server, secondary name server, and DNS suffixes.

The esxcli network ip dns namespace includes two namespaces.

■	esxcli network ip dns search includes commands for DNS search domain configuration.

■	esxcli network ip dns server includes commands for DNS server configuration.

The following example illustrates setting up a DNS server. Specify one of the options listed in Connection Options in place of <conn_options>.

To set up a DNS Server

1	Print a list of DNS servers configured on the system in the order in which they will be used.

esxcli <conn_options> network ip dns server list

If DNS is not set up for the target server, the command returns an empty string.

2	Add a server by running esxcli network ip dns server add and specifying the server IPv4 address or IPv6 address.

esxcli <conn_options> network ip dns server add --server=<str>

3	Change the settings with esxcli network ip dns.

■	Specify the DNS server using the --dns option and the DNS host.

esxcli <conn_options> network ip dns server add --server=<server>

Run the command multiple times to specify multiple DNS hosts.

■	Configure the DNS host name for the server specified by --server (or --vihost).

esxcli <conn_options> system hostname set --host=<new_host_name>

■	Configure the DNS domain name for the server specified by --server (or --vihost).

esxcli <conn_options> system hostname --domain=mydomain.biz

4	To turn on DHCP, enable DHCP and set the VMkernel NIC.

■	Turn on DHCP for IPv4

esxcli <conn_options> network ip interface ipv4 set --type dhcp/none/static

esxcli <conn_options> network ip interface ipv4 set --peer-dns=<str>

■	Turn on DHCP for IPv6

esxcli <conn_options> network ip interface ipv6 set --enable-dhcpv6=true/false

esxcli <conn_options> network ip interface ipv6 set --peer-dns=<str>

To modify DNS setup for a preconfigured server

1	Display DNS properties for the specified server as follows:

■	List the host and domain name.

esxcli <conn_options> system hostname get

■	List available DNS servers

esxcli <conn_options> network ip dns server list

■	List the DHCP settings for individual VMkernel NICs.

esxcli <conn_options> network ip interface ipv4 get

esxcli <conn_options> network ip interface ipv6 get

2	If the DNS properties are set, and you want to change the DHCP settings, you must specify the virtual network adapter to use when overriding the system DNS. Override the existing DHCP setting as follows:

esxcli <conn_options> network ip interface ipv4 set --type dhcp/none/static

esxcli <conn_options> network ip interface ipv6 set --enable-dhcpv6=true/false

Setting the DNS Configuration with vicfg-dns

The vicfg-dns command lists and specifies the DNS configuration of your ESXi host. Call the command without command-specific options to list the existing DNS configuration. You can also use esxcli network ip dns for DNS management.

Important If you try to change the host or domain name or the DNS server on hosts that use DHCP, an error results.

In network environments where a DHCP server and a DNS server are available, ESXi hosts are automatically assigned DNS names.

In network environments where automatic DNS is not available or not desirable, you can configure static DNS information, including a host name, primary name server, secondary name server, and DNS suffixes.

The following example illustrates setting up a DNS server. Specify one of the options listed in Connection Options in place of <conn_options>.

To set up DNS

1	Run vicfg-dns without command-specific options to display DNS properties for the specified server.

vicfg-dns <conn_options>

If DNS is not set up for the target server, the command returns an error.

2	To change the settings, use vicfg-dns with --dns, --domain, or --hostname.

■	Specify the DNS server by using the --dns option and a comma-separated list of hosts, in order of preference.

vicfg-dns <conn_options --dns <dns1,dns2>

■	Configure the DNS host name for the server specified by --server (or --vihost).

vicfg-dns <conn_options> -n dns_host_name

■	Configure the DNS domain name for the server specified by --server (or --vihost).

vicfg-dns <conn_options> -d mydomain.biz

3	To turn on DHCP, use the --DHCP option.

vicfg-dns <conn_options> --dhcp yes

To modify DNS setup for a preconfigured server

1	Run vicfg-dns without command-specific options to display DNS properties for the specified server.

vicfg-dns <conn_options>

The information includes the host name, domain name, DHCP setting (true or false), and DNS servers on the ESXi host.

2	If the DNS properties are set, and you want to change the DHCP settings, you must specify the virtual network adapter to use when overriding the system DNS. v_nic must be one of the VMkernel network adapters.

Override the existing DHCP setting as follows:

vicfg-dns <conn_options> --dhcp yes --v_nic <vnic>