WINS Name Resolution for Linux

Here’s what I had to do to get WINS name resolution working on my Debian based linux:


apt-get install winbind

Note that the winbind program is part of the samba package and I alrady had installed samba and configured it to point to my local WINS server.

I then had to edit /etc/nsswitch.conf adding the winbind and wins entries:


passwd: compat winbind
group: compat winbind
shadow: compat

hosts: files wins dns mdns
networks: files

protocols: db files
services: db files
ethers: db files
rpc: db files

netgroup: nis

I can now ping and connect to Windows machines by name.

1 Comments.

  1. Thanks for the tip. Worked well for me.