Resolve Linux Hostnames on Windows Systems

The following are the steps for enabling the ability to ping a Debian Linux system by hostname on a Windows system

Step 1: Update and install packages with the following command.

sudo apt-get update && apt-get install winbind samba -y

Step 2: Launch a text editor (in this case nano) to modify nsswitch.conf.

sudo nano /etc/nsswitch.conf

Step 3: Append the “hosts:” portion to the following and save the changes.

hosts: files dns wins

Now you should be able to resolve the Linux hostname on a Windows system!