1.3 DNS support broken

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amgems

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Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2011 9:12 am

Post by amgems » Wed Jun 01, 2011 9:30 am
I wish to add my vote to having the "Use alternate DNS support" added back ASAP.

James

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Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:27 pm

Post by James » Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:16 pm
Hi amgems,

Please give the latest beta version a try, which includes an "Apply DNS settings simultaneously" option. Please let us know if you have any problems with it.

Cheers,
James
Web: https://www.sparklabs.com
Support: https://www.sparklabs.com/support
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jakemaul

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Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 4:25 pm

Post by jakemaul » Sun Jun 05, 2011 4:40 pm
I'm running 1.3.1... the "Apply DNS settings simultaneously" setting doesn't seem to be useful. I have tried both checked and unchecked, and I never get all of the nameservers or search domains added to /etc/hosts... last VPN connected wins.

It doesn't matter if I specify DNS servers under each connection or take them via DHCP, or whether the "apply simultaneously" option is on or off... in all 4 combinations, ultimately I end up with only the nameservers and search domains of the last VPN that connects.

(The current beta right now is 1.3.2b1, but the changelog for it doesn't say anything about this issue so I haven't tried it. I'm assuming the beta changelog shown there is cumulative since the latest release- can't find any other changelog to check.)

James

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Post by James » Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:52 pm
Hi jakemaul,

Viscosity doesn't touch the /etc/hosts file - perhaps you mean the /etc/resolv.conf file? Even so, this is a bad indicator of your computer's DNS settings: Mac OS X doesn't use it. It is kept around for legacy *nix apps, and Mac OS X only adds the DNS servers from your primary interface to it (which sounds like what you are seeing).

Mac OS X instead uses it's System Configuration resolver system. You'll need to use the "scutil --dns" command in the Terminal to see the DNS settings (see this article for info). If you have the "Apply DNS settings simultaneously" option enabled you should see your VPN settings get appended in separate "resolver" sections.

The new system leaves it up to Mac OS X to handle the resolv.conf file based off the System Configuration system. We could have Viscosity take tighter control of it again, however it is not advised by Apple. We'll see what kind of feedback we get before making a decision.

Cheers,
James
Web: https://www.sparklabs.com
Support: https://www.sparklabs.com/support
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sparklabs

jakemaul

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Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 4:25 pm

Post by jakemaul » Sun Jun 05, 2011 7:11 pm
Hello James,

Of course you're right, I meant /etc/resolv.conf. And now that you point out "scutil --dns", I may have spotted the problem. Even when not connected, all of my DNS servers are listed in it... of course, they're mostly not reachable until VPN'd in, so this is useless. But, the VPN hostnames I'm trying to reach are listed in the domains list for those other resolvers... so they won't resolve, so I can't VPN into them. It's a catch-22.

How do I rip them out and go back to the way it's supposed to be when I'm not connected? Rebooting and reconnecting to my network don't have any effect... dhcp release/renew doesn't seem to do the trick either.

James

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Post by James » Sun Jun 05, 2011 7:20 pm
This sounds like it might be a carry over from your post in another thread where the DNS servers hung around after quitting.

Viscosity's DNS settings aren't static, they should be cleared if you perform a reboot. If for some reason that doesn't work you'll need to delve into the SC resolver system - try something like so in the Terminal:

1. Enter "sudo scutil" and press Return
2. Type "list". Look for a key like "State:/Network/Service/com.viscosityvpn.vpn-tun0/DNS"
3. Enter "remove <key" (e.g. " remove State:/Network/Service/com.viscosityvpn.vpn-tun0/DNS")
4. Enter "quit"

Cheers,
James
Web: https://www.sparklabs.com
Support: https://www.sparklabs.com/support
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sparklabs

jakemaul

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Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 4:25 pm

Post by jakemaul » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:14 pm
Excellent, thank you! There were 3 of them listed in there. Removing them seems to have cleared up the problem. I'm not back to normal on 1.2.3... perhaps in a few minor revisions I'll give 1.3.x a try again, but for now I'm content to sit here. :)

matt.wasserman

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Joined: Sun May 22, 2011 9:41 pm

Post by matt.wasserman » Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:57 pm
I've been trying to get split DNS working for days. Writing AppleScripts, etc... Installed 1.3.2b2, checked Apply DNS Settings Simultaneously and viola, working split DNS. Key word is working - VPN domain is accessible, external domains are accessible, performance is now great.

This has been too thorny a problem for me to be sure that everything is OK after testing with one machine, but I'm still casting my vote for this change to get pushed to the production client right away. DNS has become a huge problem for my Viscosity users in the last week.

James

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Post by James » Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:45 pm
Hi Matt,

The "Apply DNS Settings Simultaneously" option was pushed out with version 1.3.1 (which is the current stable/production version). We haven't made any changes to it in the current 1.3.2 betas, so your users should be able to do an update (if they're not already using 1.3.1) and then enable the option.

Cheers,
James
Web: https://www.sparklabs.com
Support: https://www.sparklabs.com/support
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sparklabs
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