Specify a DNS server for a domain

[mand]

Hello,
I a using Viscosity to connect to a remote network from our company lag, which has its own internal DNS servers. After connecting and receiving network configuration from the remote network, I am unable to resolve addresses in the local lag, even when I have entered the local DNS server in /etc/resolv.conf. It seems that only the first DNS server in the list is queried, which knows nothing about the local lan.
How can I specify a DNS server for a particular domain, or insure that all of the listed DNS servers are actually queried?

Thanks!

[James]

Hi mand,

Make sure you're using Viscosity's DNS support, rather than attempting to edit the DNS settings directly. Assuming the OpenVPN server is pushing out the DNS servers to use, you can simply tick the "Apply DNS settings simultaneously" option under Preferences->Advanced to get the behaviour you require.

If the OpenVPN server isn't pushing out the DNS settings, you can set them yourself under the Networking tab when editing your connection in Viscosity.

Cheers,
James

[mand]

Hi James,

Thanks for your reply. I still haven't figured it out, though. My server pushes DNS information as "dhcp-option:", which works fine with the "Enable DNS Support" box checked, but it stops working as soon as I check the "Apply DNS settings simultaneously"
box. Is there something else I need to do?

Thanks!

[James]

Hi mand,

Make sure that the OpenVPN server is also pushing out the domains you want to use the VPN DNS server for (using the dhcp-option DOMAIN command), or specify them locally in Viscosity.

When the "Apply DNS settings simultaneously" option is enabled, your local network's DNS server will be used for everything except for domains associated with the VPN connection (in which case the VPN DNS server will be used instead).

Cheers,
James

[mand]

Aha! It actually does work.
It's just that lookups using the built-in Bind9 "host" utility fail - that kind of threw me for a loop.
Is this normal? Is there something analogous to an "/etc/nsswitch" that should be set for that to work?
(not critically important, but nevertheless I'm curious.)

[James]

Hi mand,

Yes, older tools such as host and nslookup use the resolv.conf file, which has been deprecated by Mac OS X. Instead the System Configuration store is used. You can check what DNS settings are in use using the command "scutil --dns".

Cheers,
James