• Home
  • Disclaimer
  • Contact
  • Archives
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Advertise

Kernel Talks

Unix, Linux, & Cloud!

  • How-to guides
    • Howto
    • Disk management
    • Configurations
    • Troubleshooting
  • OS
    • HPUX
    • Linux
  • Miscellaneous
    • Software & Tools
    • Cloud Services
    • System services
    • Virtualization
  • Certification Preparations
    • AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
    • AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional
    • AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate
    • AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
    • Certified Kubernetes Administrator
    • Hashicorp Certified Terraform Associate
    • Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Foundations 2020 – Associate
  • Tips & Tricks
  • Linux commands
You are here: Home / Howto

How to configure nameserver in Linux

Published: September 26, 2017 | Modified: June 25, 2020



Beginners guide on how to configure nameserver in Red Hat, CentOs, Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu or Suse Linux to resolve DNS queries.

Configure nameserver in Linux

Nameserver is the DNS server to which your machine query for name resolutions.  This is pretty much important on servers facing the Internet or having an active internet connection or if your system is part of an organization where the internal domain name system is implemented for IT Infra. In this article, we will walk you through how to set up nameserver in your Linux machine

What is nameserver?

Its server which response to the queries normally domain name resolution. It’s like a phone directory, where you query name and you get phone number. Nameserver receives hostname or domain name in the query and responds back with IP address.

How to setup nameserver in Red Hat?

You  need to open file /etc/resolv.conf in a text editor like vi or nano and add your name server IP in the below format.

nameserver X.X.X.X

For example :

root@kerneltalks # cat /etc/reolv.conf
nameserver 10.10.2.56

You can use the same above same method to configure nameserver in CentOS, Debian, Fedora.

How to setup nameserver in Ubuntu?

Addition to /etc/resolv.conf file, in ubuntu, you can edit file /etc/network/interfaces with the same above said information. The format remains the same.

root@kerneltalks # cat /etc/network/interfaces
nameserver 10.10.2.56

How to configure nameserver in Suse Linux?

If you have access to Suse desktop environment i.e. GUI then you can go to YaST network settings. Navigate to ‘Hostname/DNS‘. Like below :

Suse DNS settings

Here you will be able to add name servers and click Ok to save.

Alternatively, /etc/resolv.conf is way out from command line.

⇠ Previous article
How to install VMware Tools on Linux guest machine
Next article ⇢
How to setup domain name in Linux server

Related stuff:

  • Hyperthreading in HPUX
  • How to save top command output in file
  • How to resolve the MFA entity already exists error
  • How to convert JKS file to KEY file for Apache
  • How to upgrade package using YUM in RHEL
  • How to enable repository using subscription-manager in RHEL
  • How to download the package using YUM or APT
  • How to check and test APA in HPUX
  • 5 steps guide for SMTP configuration in Linux
  • How to enter single user mode in SUSE 12 Linux?
  • How to move /tmp on a separate disk as a separate mount point
  • How to disable GUI in SUSE Linux

Filed Under: Howto Tagged With: dns client config in ubuntu, dns client configuration in redhat, nameserver setup in debian, nameserver setup in fedora, suse dns setup in gui

If you like my tutorials and if they helped you in any way, then

  • Consider buying me a cup of coffee via paypal!
  • Subscribe to our newsletter here!
  • Like KernelTalks Facebook page.
  • Follow us on Twitter.
  • Add our RSS feed to your feed reader.

Share Your Comments & Feedback: Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Get fresh content from KernelTalks

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Get Linux & Unix stuff right into your mailbox. Subscribe now!

* indicates required

This work is licensed under a CC-BY-NC license · Privacy Policy
© Copyright 2016-2026 KernelTalks · All Rights Reserved.
The content is copyrighted to Shrikant Lavhate & can not be reproduced either online or offline without prior permission.