I'm just taking my first steps with Linux and have successfully
installed Ubuntu Server on an 80 GB partition on a Mac Mini. It runs in command-line mode. When I try to download any further files (including
a GUI) I get a lot of "Temporary failure resolving ...." errors.

This happens with a wireless or an Ethernet connection and still occurs
ater I have re-started the router. I am due to move to a new ISP in a
couple of weeks, so do not want to start any correspondence with my
current ISP.

--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)

Hello Liz!

19 Oct 26 11:59, Liz Tuddenham wrote to all:

I'm just taking my first steps with Linux and have successfully
installed Ubuntu Server on an 80 GB partition on a Mac Mini. It runs
in command-line mode. When I try to download any further files
(including a GUI) I get a lot of "Temporary failure resolving ...."
errors.

This happens with a wireless or an Ethernet connection and still
occurs ater I have re-started the router. I am due to move to a new
ISP in a couple of weeks, so do not want to start any correspondence
with my
current ISP.

Server versions have Minimalistic installs in that GUI and many
applications such as office etc are not installed.

To get around that you have to install the desktop version.
This does install a GUI such as KDE or Gnome (usually selectable).

The server build does not have any of this as it assumes user wishes to on
have a server say for supporting files, printers, DBMS (such as Mysql, postgres), web services via apache for example.

Needless to say all these services can also be on a desktop install.

Installing extra services such as a GUI interface etc can cause problem depending on the Distro as some may well not really support it and more
than likely not have been tested for such so it is best to install the
correct one for you usage.

I would suggest you try and install a desktop version over the top of the current install over writing the lot and see if that is better.

Small point make very sure you are installing the correct version of Ubuntu
for you hardware and processor, e.g., ARM or AMD, Intel etc.
This, is the most important requirement !


Vincent



SEEN-BY: 25/0 21 250/0 1 2 4 5 7 8 9 13 14 362/6 371/52 712/1321

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

I'm just taking my first steps with Linux and have successfully
installed Ubuntu Server on an 80 GB partition on a Mac Mini. It runs in command-line mode. When I try to download any further files (including
a GUI) I get a lot of "Temporary failure resolving ...." errors.

This happens with a wireless or an Ethernet connection and still occurs
ater I have re-started the router. I am due to move to a new ISP in a
couple of weeks, so do not want to start any correspondence with my
current ISP.

Is the ubunto install on DHCP, or manual IP configuration?

if the former, it should get DNS setting from your router, if the latter
have you configured DNS server IPs for it?

if you haven't got a GUI installed, you'll probably need to edit /etc/resolv.conf
by hand

or possibly
/etc/netplan/somethingorother.yaml






--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Air Applewood, The Linux Gateway to the UK & Eire (2:250/1@fidonet)

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

I'm just taking my first steps with Linux and have successfully
installed Ubuntu Server on an 80 GB partition on a Mac Mini. It runs in command-line mode. When I try to download any further files (including
a GUI) I get a lot of "Temporary failure resolving ...." errors.

This happens with a wireless or an Ethernet connection and still occurs ater I have re-started the router. I am due to move to a new ISP in a couple of weeks, so do not want to start any correspondence with my
current ISP.

Is the ubunto install on DHCP, or manual IP configuration?

I don't know, how do I find out?

if the former, it should get DNS setting from your router, if the latter
have you configured DNS server IPs for it?

Beyond my capabilities at the moment.

if you haven't got a GUI installed, you'll probably need to edit /etc/resolv.conf
by hand

or possibly
/etc/netplan/somethingorother.yaml

I have no idea how to go about that at the moment. I am just coming to
terms with the command line interface (the last time I used one it was
on a Teletype).

I tried downloading a GUI but there were lots of missing components and,
even it it might work, I don't know how to switch it on.


--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

I am just coming to> terms with the command line interface (the last

time I used one it was

on a Teletype).

OK, welcome to a vertical learning curve.

Are you logged in as root?
What do you see if you type

cat /etc/resolv.conf

and hit return

Do you know what editor(s) you've got installed? vi? nano?




--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Air Applewood, The Linux Gateway to the UK & Eire (2:250/1@fidonet)

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

I am just coming to> terms with the command line interface (the last

time I used one it was

on a Teletype).

OK, welcome to a vertical learning curve.

Yes!

Are you logged in as root?

I suppose so but cannot be certain.

What do you see if you type

cat /etc/resolv.conf

and hit return

18 lines of text which I cannot expoer in any way, so I would have to
type them all out by hand. The main bits appear to be:

This is <long filepath> managed byman:systemd-resolved (8)
Do not edit
........
Run resolvect1 status to see details about the uplink DNS servers
currently in use
..........
nameserver 127.0.0.53
options edns0 trust-ad
search .


I typed "resolvect1 status" after the prompt but it gave "Command
resolvect1 could not be found".

Do you know what editor(s) you've got installed? vi? nano?

How do I find that?


--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Do you know what editor(s) you've got installed? vi? nano?

How do I find that?

try

nano testfile

first

if you do get in, use ctrl-X followed by Y to exit

failing that try

vi testfile

to exit from vi/vim, hit ESC a couple of times then
:q!



--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Air Applewood, The Linux Gateway to the UK & Eire (2:250/1@fidonet)

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

18 lines of text which I cannot expoer in any way, so I would have to
type them all out by hand. The main bits appear to be:
nameserver 127.0.0.53

So when it doesn't know an IP address, it's set to ask itself, and
presumbly it doesn't have a bind server installed so it won't get a
reply from itself, so it's stuck.

see the vi/nano message, and maybe you can edit /etc/resolv.conf to put 8.8.8.8 in temporarily

failing that, maybe consider Vincent's suggestion to wipe ubuntu server
and start again with ubuntu workstation, so you have a GUI to work with?



--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Air Applewood, The Linux Gateway to the UK & Eire (2:250/1@fidonet)

Vincent Coen <VBCoen@gmail.com> wrote:

[...]

Small point make very sure you are installing the correct version of Ubuntu for you hardware and processor, e.g., ARM or AMD, Intel etc.
This, is the most important requirement !

Yes, I was very careful about that. The installer wouldn't work on OS
13, which was the highest the Mini could use, so I had to do the
installation using 'Terminal' on the Mac to make a bootable USB stick -
what a dreadful chore!

Ubuntu downloaded and works fine in command-line mode but nothing has downloaded properly since.


--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Do you know what editor(s) you've got installed? vi? nano?

How do I find that?

try

nano testfile

first

It produce two lines of boxes along the bottom of the screen with what
appeared to be the keystrokes for editing commands.

if you do get in, use ctrl-X followed by Y to exit

failing that try

vi testfile

That produce a column of tildes (in blue) down the LH side of the
screen.



--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

nano testfile

It produce two lines of boxes along the bottom of the screen with what appeared to be the keystrokes for editing commands.

if you do get in, use ctrl-X followed by Y to exit

failing that try

vi testfile

That produce a column of tildes (in blue) down the LH side of the
screen.

OK, so you have both nano and vi. I like vi, but if you didn't start
using it several decades ago, you'll probably hate it, so I'd say stick
to using nano for now :-)

first off take a backup copy of your resolver config file

cp /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.bak

then edit the original

nano /etc/resolv.conf

it should be a fairly simple job to edit the line that says

nameserver 127.0.0.53

and make it say

nameserver 8.8.8.8

then save changes (ctrl-O)
and exit (ctrl-X)

when back at a prompt, see if you can e.g.
ping www.bbc.co.uk

if so your downloads stand half a chance ...




--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Air Applewood, The Linux Gateway to the UK & Eire (2:250/1@fidonet)

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

nano testfile

It produce two lines of boxes along the bottom of the screen with what appeared to be the keystrokes for editing commands.

if you do get in, use ctrl-X followed by Y to exit

failing that try

vi testfile

That produce a column of tildes (in blue) down the LH side of the
screen.

OK, so you have both nano and vi. I like vi, but if you didn't start
using it several decades ago, you'll probably hate it, so I'd say stick
to using nano for now :-)

first off take a backup copy of your resolver config file

cp /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.bak

Fell at the first hurdle:

cp: cannot create regular file 'etc/resolve.bak' : permission denied


--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

cp /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.bak

Fell at the first hurdle:

cp: cannot create regular file 'etc/resolve.bak' : permission denied

You're not logged in as root then, you need to be ...


--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Air Applewood, The Linux Gateway to the UK & Eire (2:250/1@fidonet)

Andy Burns wrote:

You're not logged in as root then, you need to be ...

Or maybe ubuntu prefers sudo, try

sudo cp /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.bak

then if that works

sudo nano /etc/resolv.conf

edit, save and exit as discussed before ...

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Air Applewood, The Linux Gateway to the UK & Eire (2:250/1@fidonet)

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Andy Burns wrote:

You're not logged in as root then, you need to be ...

Or maybe ubuntu prefers sudo, try

sudo cp /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.bak

then if that works

sudo nano /etc/resolv.conf

edit, save and exit as discussed before ...

That is beginning to make sense to my addled brain - but...

Things have moved on and I am now told I should have downloaded the
Desktop version first. I am downloading it on another Mac which,
presumably will allow me to make a bootable USB stick to start the Mini.
The only queston is how I get rid of the existing server system, as
holding down the 'option' key at startup doesn't give me the option to
boot back into High Sierra, even though I followed the dual-boot
instructions to the letter.

--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

nano testfile

It produce two lines of boxes along the bottom of the screen with what appeared to be the keystrokes for editing commands.

if you do get in, use ctrl-X followed by Y to exit

failing that try

vi testfile

That produce a column of tildes (in blue) down the LH side of the
screen.

OK, so you have both nano and vi. I like vi, but if you didn't start
using it several decades ago, you'll probably hate it, so I'd say stick
to using nano for now :-)

first off take a backup copy of your resolver config file

cp /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.bak

then edit the original

nano /etc/resolv.conf

it should be a fairly simple job to edit the line that says

nameserver 127.0.0.53

and make it say

nameserver 8.8.8.8

then save changes (ctrl-O)
and exit (ctrl-X)

when back at a prompt, see if you can e.g.
ping www.bbc.co.uk

if so your downloads stand half a chance ...

Have done this with "sudo" prefix as suggested.

It seemed to go as described but the result was:
ping: www.bbc.co.uk: Temporary failure in name resolution


--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)

Liz Tuddenham <liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid> wrote:

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

nano testfile

It produce two lines of boxes along the bottom of the screen with what appeared to be the keystrokes for editing commands.

if you do get in, use ctrl-X followed by Y to exit

failing that try

vi testfile

That produce a column of tildes (in blue) down the LH side of the
screen.

OK, so you have both nano and vi. I like vi, but if you didn't start
using it several decades ago, you'll probably hate it, so I'd say stick
to using nano for now :-)

first off take a backup copy of your resolver config file

cp /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.bak

then edit the original

nano /etc/resolv.conf

it should be a fairly simple job to edit the line that says

nameserver 127.0.0.53

and make it say

nameserver 8.8.8.8

then save changes (ctrl-O)
and exit (ctrl-X)

when back at a prompt, see if you can e.g.
ping www.bbc.co.uk

if so your downloads stand half a chance ...

Have done this with "sudo" prefix as suggested.

It seemed to go as described but the result was:
ping: www.bbc.co.uk: Temporary failure in name resolution

i've re-checked /etc/resolv.conf (using sudo nano...) and the nameserver
is definitely set to 8.8.8.8


--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 2026-10-19 11:59, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

I'm just taking my first steps with Linux and have successfully
installed Ubuntu Server on an 80 GB partition on a Mac Mini.

What version Ubuntu Server?

It runs in
command-line mode.

If that is a problem to you, I would advise simply starting again with
Ubuntu Desktop.

When I try to download any further files (including
a GUI) I get a lot of "Temporary failure resolving ...." errors.

This happens with a wireless or an Ethernet connection and still occurs
ater I have re-started the router. I am due to move to a new ISP in a
couple of weeks, so do not want to start any correspondence with my
current ISP.

Yes, I'm afraid this seems to be a common problem with IP4 on various
versions of Ubuntu, I think IP6 may actually work, but, because here in Scotland, I use a mobile broadband connection which doesn't support IP6,
I can't actually tell.

As far as IP4 is concerned, almost certainly the fix will vary with what version you have installed. I have fixes for versions 16 and 18 which I
give below, but you've probably installed a later version, and it's
possible that neither will work. Unless you actually have installed 16,
I'd give the 18 fix a try and see if that resolves the problem.

Ubuntu v18
Note: Beware unwanted line wrap in the middle line.

sudo sed -i -e 's~^hosts:.*$~hosts: files dns # mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] myhostname~' /etc/nsswitch.conf
sudo ln -sf /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf

Ubuntu v16
Note: Beware unwanted line wrap in the last line.
sudo systemctl disable systemd-resolved.service
sed -i -e 's~dns=dnsmasq~# dns=dnsmasq~' /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf


--

Fake news kills!

I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website: www.macfh.co.uk


--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

Java Jive <java@evij.com.invalid> wrote:

On 2026-10-19 11:59, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

I'm just taking my first steps with Linux and have successfully
installed Ubuntu Server on an 80 GB partition on a Mac Mini.

What version Ubuntu Server?

It runs in
command-line mode.

If that is a problem to you, I would advise simply starting again with
Ubuntu Desktop.

When I try to download any further files (including
a GUI) I get a lot of "Temporary failure resolving ...." errors.

This happens with a wireless or an Ethernet connection and still occurs ater I have re-started the router. I am due to move to a new ISP in a couple of weeks, so do not want to start any correspondence with my
current ISP.

Yes, I'm afraid this seems to be a common problem with IP4 on various versions of Ubuntu, I think IP6 may actually work, but, because here in Scotland, I use a mobile broadband connection which doesn't support IP6,
I can't actually tell.

As far as IP4 is concerned, almost certainly the fix will vary with what version you have installed. I have fixes for versions 16 and 18 which I
give below, but you've probably installed a later version, and it's
possible that neither will work.

It was version 26 but I have been advised to start again with Desktop,
rather than Server.


--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)

Am 19.10.26 um 12:59 schrieb Liz Tuddenham:

I'm just taking my first steps with Linux and have successfully
installed Ubuntu Server on an 80 GB partition on a Mac Mini. It runs in command-line mode. When I try to download any further files (including
a GUI) I get a lot of "Temporary failure resolving ...." errors.

Networking issue.

Show us the output of
ip a
ip -6 r s
ip -4 r s

--
Gruß
Marco

Junk-Mail bitte an trashcan@stinkedores.dorfdsl.de

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: keine, es herrscht Chaos (2:250/1@fidonet)

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Have done this with "sudo" prefix as suggested.

It seemed to go as described but the result was:
ping:www.bbc.co.uk: Temporary failure in name resolution

I agree, to save your own time, nuke it and start again with a GUI

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Air Applewood, The Linux Gateway to the UK & Eire (2:250/1@fidonet)

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Have done this with "sudo" prefix as suggested.

It seemed to go as described but the result was:
ping:www.bbc.co.uk: Temporary failure in name resolution

I agree, to save your own time, nuke it and start again with a GUI

Downloaded Ubuntu Desktop overnight and now in the process of making a
bootable USB stick.

Thanks to everyone who helped.

--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Have done this with "sudo" prefix as suggested.

It seemed to go as described but the result was:
ping:www.bbc.co.uk: Temporary failure in name resolution

I agree, to save your own time, nuke it and start again with a GUI

All up and running. ....Whew!


--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

--- MBSE BBS v1.1.7.2 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Poppy Records (2:250/1@fidonet)