Background

Due to network changes that CIT made, it is no longer possible to, for instance, type in "mail" in a web browser and be redirected to the ObieMail page. Similarly, you cannot type "oncampus" for Blackboard, or "presto" for Presto, or for any subdomains. What happens in the background when you do this is your computer looks in the /etc/resolv.conf file for a "search ______" line. If it finds one, then it prepends the address you typed to that domain and sees whether there is a website at that location.

Fix

To fix this on a Linux system (tested under Debian), you need to update your DHCP client so that it overwrites what it receives from the DHCP server. Under a Debian-based distro, you will probably be using dhclient to select your IP address. If this is so, then edit your /etc/dhclient.conf file and add the following line:

Then run, as root (or sudo),

and you should be able to resolve addresses like "mail" and "oncampus". If this does not work, or you have suggestions for how to do this in other distros, please feel free to contact us with the link on the left.