Resolve Windows hostname in Linux

Resolve Windows hostname in Linux

I work a lot in heterogeneous environment, and ofcourse, windows is one of the system in that network. So, I would like to be able to resolve windows hostname (netbios) and access it's resource. In order to do that, there are packages needed to be installed first.

$ sudo apt-get install winbind

after that, edit /etc/nsswitch.conf configuration file.
Search for word "hosts", and add "wins" at the end of the line. Below is an example of "hosts" configuration after update.

# /etc/nsswitch.conf
#
# ....

hosts: files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4 wins

#....

after that, restart winbind service (if necessary). Now, windows computers should be able to be accessed using it's windows hostname. Pretty convenient way to access those windows computer in the network.

If you are still not able to resolve windows hostname, perhaps there is a firewall running in your computer. In that case you need to add extra rule to allow udp.

I use firestarter for my personal firewall, and what I did was edit the /etc/firestarter/inbound/setup configuration file.
Search for:
$IPT -A INBOUND -p udp -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT
and put the following rule right after it:
$IPT -A INBOUND -s $NET -p udp -m state --state NEW -j ACCEPT

restart firestarter, to load the new config. Try to access windows computer using it's hostname again.


I just found out a way to configure UFW for this matter.
First edit: /etc/default/ufw
Search for:

IPT_MODULES="nf_conntrack_ftp nf_nat_ftp nf_conntrack_irc nf_nat_irc"

and change it to:
IPT_MODULES="nf_conntrack_ftp nf_nat_ftp nf_conntrack_irc nf_nat_irc nf_conntrack_netbios_ns"


Then: reload ufw
# sudo ufw reload

Next step: Configure UFW Rules
Allow outgoing UDP to port: 137, 138
Allow outgoing TCP to port: 139, 445