[vox-tech] home network - how to make a UNIX known to the other PC (Windows)

[David Rosenstrauch]

Hai Yi wrote:
> This might be a very simple question, so forgive me if it is.
> 
> I have two PCs at home. One is Ubuntu the other is Windows XP.
> 
> Ubuntu machine has a name "zodiac", how can it makes it known to the
> Window XP machine? I want to install a tightvnc server on Ubuntu and a
> client on Windows so it can visit the Ubuntu.
> 
> I  guess I need to modify the hosts and network files on Win XP to
> include the IP and name of the Ubuntu machine?
> 
> Thanks for your help!
> 
> Hai

Basically the problem is that you have no DNS server on your local 
network, so the boxes don't know each others names.

So you can choose either a) the hard-coded solution (i.e., modify the 
hosts files) or b) the dynamic solution (i.e., run a dns server on your 
network).

I do the latter.  But FYI - there's no need to run a full-fledged (and 
complex) BIND server.  There's a small DNS server that's perfect for 
small home LAN's, called dnsmasq.  It's a combination DNS and DHCP 
server.  So I've configured the linux server on my LAN to run dnsmasq 
(and thus serve as the DHCP server dishing out IP addresses) and to tell 
each box to use dnsmasq as its DNS server.  And voila - all the boxes 
can now access each other by name.

So if you feel like working a bit more for the "right" solution, try 
giving dnsmasq a shot.

DR