LAN with Devices

Gabi5537

Hi, I want to create a LAN with embedded devices and give each one a hostname. So far I have tried using avahi, but the results are so good, the DNS resolution times vary between 1s and 5s and I have to keep a domain like 'local'. Is there an alternative that I can use to create a LAN network without a domain name and with a decent DNS resolution time?

The machines are arm64 architecture and running ubuntu.

rejas

If you don't need the configuration to be dynamic you can run a local dns server like dnsmasq. It is easy to set up.
Then I don't understand why you not want a domain name? That is part of DNS. If you don't want to type it you can use the "search" parameter in resolv.conf.

Gabi5537

I want to change the hostname from a web interface, but not on the fly, I am fine with rebooting the device. I don't want a domain name because that is the requirement. I have run out of ideas on what software to use. If I use dnsmasq, do I need to set up another PC to act as a "server"?

Tobias

This is very dependant on the gatway you have.

Some gateways will create ordinary dns entries from devices host name via dhcp,
allowing device1.localdomain or device1.lan to be resolved through the gateway dns.

some gateways allow changing the localdomain to something else (or add additional ones) thus allowing you to point your browser to whatever domain it is set to eg device1.home.

other gateways might even allow you to assign hosts a specific dns name. (I know ubiquiti can do this)

usually, the gateway dhcp server pushes search domains to dhcp clients in the likes of lan or home so you can lookup eg device1 instead of the whole device1.lan or device1.home respectively.

I know sometimes browsers tend to be "smart" and use the addressbar as a search-box and leaves you searching for "device.localdomain" on your search engine instead of pointing you at the device.
You can get around that by explicitly type http://device1.localdomain or http://device1.

the .local domain is typically resolved with mDNS, and if you have devices that are slow on responding to queries, it can take some time to resolv.

Your search domains should be listed with search keyword in the /etc/resolv.conf file, if you have any.
The dig tool is very good to test with eg dig @192.168.1.1 device1.localdomain will ask the dns server at 192.168.1.1 for device1.localdomain

the dig tool can be installed with sudo apt-get install dnsutils