Within a mixed Linux and Microsoft Windows network I ran into the following problem:
A host with the hostname linux1.firm.local could be ping`ed and found
with `nslookup and dig, but it was impossible to start a ssh
session. The result kept being: Unknown host.
Playing Cherlock Holmes revealed that this had to do with Avahi and
mdns, so with the .local part of the hostname.
In my /etc/nsswitch.conf the hosts: line read: (Using Ubuntu 8.04)
hosts: files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4
This results in searching the IP address of the host through
mdns4_minimal. The .local domain now spoils it for me (use strings
on mdns4_minimal and be amazed.
The problem can be solved very easy. Just replace the hosts: line in
the /etc/nsswitch.conf with:
hosts: files dns mdns4
See also: Avahi