Docker container cannot resolve ip via wins

Question

We have some windows servers and we usually access them via wins without problem. However, I cannot correctly resolve the ip address via wins in docker container.

Here is a Dockerfile:

FROM ubuntu:14.04
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y winbind libnss-winbind
ADD nsswitch.conf /etc/nsswitch.conf

with the file nsswitch.conf:

# /etc/nsswitch.conf
#
# Example configuration of GNU Name Service Switch functionality.
# If you have the `glibc-doc-reference' and `info' packages installed, try:
# `info libc "Name Service Switch"' for information about this file.

passwd:         compat
group:          compat
shadow:         compat

hosts:          files wins dns
networks:       files

protocols:      db files
services:       db files
ethers:         db files
rpc:            db files

netgroup:       nis

In the container, I cannot ping the machine with its name in wins, but the nmblookup works.

Do I miss something which makes the winbind work?

Answer 1

winbindd isn't the NBNS/WINS client – nmbd is.

While nmblookup talks NBNS directly, the nss-wins module relies on the "nmbd" service (for caching, 'browser' elections, and such).

Answer 2

In fact, after setting the wins server in /etc/smb.conf, it works.