can't ping avahi alias from windows over LAN but can from other linux VMs

Question

Context: i've set up a vm server for GIS testing and dokuwiki on the domain root. I'd like to serve the gis web apps on a subdomain so that dokuwiki url renaming will never conflict (and it just feels cleaner). I thought i had it solved with avahi-aliases, but then discovered...

Problem: I can't reach the subdomain from any windows pcs on the LAN. Linux VMs connect just fine. Am i trying the impossible or just doing it wrong? (i'm a DNS noob) Why would Linux find the subdomain but Windows not, even on the same LAN??

Setup: i can't change anything on the corporate routers/servers. VMs are on different PCs on the same corporate LAN.

VM1 (virtualbox, hosted on windows PC1): Mint 13

VM2 (virtualbox headless server, hosted on windows PC2): ubuntu server 12.04, LAMP, samba, avahi, avahi-aliases.

primary domain: vm2.local

subdomain: gis.vm2.local (configured in apache and avahi-alias)

What works: I can reach vm2.local AND gis.vm2.local from vm1 (via ping and browser). I can reach vm2.local from any windows pc on LAN (via ping browser).

What doesn't work: I cannot reach gis.vm2.local from any windows pcs on the LAN.

Any ideas or advice is appreciated!

Answer 1

Sounds like either a firewall issue or Apache/IIS (whatever is hosting your web app) isn't listening to all traffic (If you are actually sharing networks). Try a traceroute/tracert from the machines to the destination and see what paths they take. It's a little hard to troubleshoot without actually seeing how your network looks.

You can also test if your hostname resolves by trying a ping on the PC's having issues. If it says "Ping request could not find host . Please check the name and try again" - It's a DNS issue and you can address it quickly by providing the IP of the machine with its hostname in %WINDIR%\\system32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts