Hi,

DNS settings are actually stored in even more locations. These depend on
the method you use for connecting with the Internet.

I have thought about cleaning this up a couple of times. None of the
easy solutions makes the situation any better and therefore all remained
untouched.

This has been solved in IPFire 3 by just using one pool of DNS servers
and prioritizing them by the preference of the admin. This solution is
way over the top for IPFire 2 which always has just one uplink.

So I would still say to leave this as it is - unless you have got a
really good idea (or even better patches) for an easy solution that
doesn't make things worse.

Best,
-Michael

On Sat, 2014-10-25 at 22:46 -0500, R. W. Rodolico wrote:
> I was having some problems with a remote router not resolving addresses,
> so I started 'setup' from the CLI to change them. When I did this, I had
> the same problem (and suspected a network issue). Clearing dnsmasq
> (dnsmasqctl restart) showed it was still using the old DNS servers.
> 
> The router is using DHCP for the red interface, but I am trying to
> override the DNS given by them (it is their little monitoring tool).
> 
> Investigating, I found the following happened:
> 
> 1. DNS settings appear in two places
>    /var/ipfire/ethernet/settings
>    /var/ipfire/dns/settings
> 
> 2. 'setup' modifies /var/ipfire/ethernet/settings, but does not modify
> /var/ipfire/dns/settings. It appears dnsmasql uses /var/ipfire/dns/settings.
> 
> 3. In the webui, 'Network | Assign DNS Server' reads
> /var/ipfire/dns/settings, so changes made there correctly work.
> 
> Resolution:
> 
> Either fix the code or simply remove the text that says you can change
> the DNS for DHCP there:
> 
> Enter the DNS and gateway information.  These settings are used only
> with Static IP (and DHCP if DNS set) on the RED interface.
> 
> Frankly, the latter would be easiest, and most people will use the
> WebGUI, and weirdos like me will simply edit the settings file if I
> happen to need to change it from the CLI.
> 
> Rod