When doing DNS lookups (specifically using nslookup, for some reason most things are not effected) Windows XP Pro SP3 is using the DNS suffix search list for every single one. Even for fully qualified domain names. For example I lookup "" but windows actually asks for "" (eondream.com is my primary domain). Now I can fix the issue by removing the Primary DNS suffix, but it seems to me that the DNS suffix search list should be for short, invalid names (where dots=0 or something). I'm sure I have a misconfiguration somewhere in windows but I don't know where. I've changed every option I can think of or find.
Below is the output of ipconfig /all and nslookup (with debug & db2 enabled). This is using a static IP & (internal) DNS server.
C:\>ipconfig /all Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : frayedlogic Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : eondream.com Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : eondream.com Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1B-FC-29-EB-6B Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.13.32 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.13.13 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.19.19
C:\>nslookup Default Server: shardik.eondream.com Address: 192.168.19.19 > set debug > set db2 > Server: shardik.eondream.com Address: 192.168.19.19 ------------ Got answer: HEADER: opcode = QUERY, id = 2, rcode = NOERROR header flags: response, want recursion, recursion avail. questions = 1, answers = 1, authority records = 0, additional = 0 QUESTIONS: type = A, class = IN ANSWERS: -> internet address = 208.69.36.132 ttl = 0 (0 secs) ------------ Non-authoritative answer: Name: Address: 208.69.36.132
(Note: it resolves to that IP because I use the opendns service and that is their suggestion page or whatever you want to call it) If I am reading the nslookup output correctly then it is not a problem with my DNS server because windows is actually asking for the incorrect domain.
15 Answers
Well, I'm no expert, but here's what I found:
This registry entry works for both Windows XP and Windows Vista
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DNSClient]
"AppendToMultiLabelName"=dword:00000000HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DNSClient\AppendToMultiLabelName
Type = DWORD
Data:
- 0 (Do not Append Suffix)
- 1 (Append suffix)
If the registry entry is not present, the default in Windows XP is 1, and 0 in Windows Vista.
Note: This registry changes and its effect apply only to the ping command, they do not apply to the nslookup tool. This is because nslookup contains its own DNS resolver and does not rely on the resolver built into the operating system (DNS Client). The DNS (multi-label) query packets sent by the nslookup tool will append the domains listed in the suffix search order irrespective of the registry key settings mentioned here.
Reference:
1Sorry to revive a clearly old question, but it seems no one suggested the obvious answer of forcing a fqdn. Just use a trailing dot to force top level lookup. So in this example lookup .
2I had the same problem because my domain controller was installed as part of a domain and then removed from the domain. For instance domain cloud as subdomain for mydomain.com
Every DNS related action such as running nslookup resulted in an address with the suffix .mydomain.com being appended. For example, performing an nslookup of showed up as .
To work around this:
- Go to your network card's IP settings and click Advanced
- On the DNS tab select Append these DNS suffixes (in order)
- Add the two suffixes
.andmydomain.comas shown here: - Click OK
This takes effect immediately and affects all NICs on the computer. This must be done for all domain computers.
1It works as designed. Just append a dot at the end.
so for e.g.:
nslookup instead of
nslookup then you'll get the result you probably want to see.
2look to see if you have a domain name defined in your Router/Gateway.
