.local domain names on OS X

a-osx-and-local-domains

OS X has issues with any domain ending in .local. This can't be fixed by adding a value in 
/etc/hosts because while the ping utility and other cli utilities use /etc/hosts first, as 
expected, other applications on OS X do not.

In order to get around this problem, the DNS entry could be changed, and probably should be 
so that anyone else using OS X who is trying to access this domain won't have to struggle through 
this issue. 

However, if the DNS entry for the service in question can not be changed, then you will need 
to install a local DNS server and add a wildcard entry for .local domains to resolve to your 
loopback address, and then add the necessary entry to /etc/hosts in order to get around this 
issue. Here are the steps that I took on my own machine.

1. Install dnsmasq via Homebrew:
  brew update
  brew install dnsmasq
2. After installing dnsmasq, follow brew's instructions for configuring dnsmasq: 
  cp /usr/local/opt/dnsmasq/dnsmasq.conf.example /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf
  sudo cp -fv /usr/local/opt/dnsmasq/*.plist /Library/LaunchDaemons
  sudo chown root /Library/LaunchDaemons/homebrew.mxcl.dnsmasq.plist
3. Edit /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf, adding a wildcard DNS entry for .local entries
4. Add your DNS entry to /etc/hosts
5. Finally, start dnsmasq: sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/homebrew.mxcl.dnsmasq.plist

dnsmasq.conf

# /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf
# the dnsmasq.conf.example file contains many lines of documentation and example configuration. 
# that content has been omitted for brevity

address=/.local/127.0.0.1

etc-hosts

# /etc/hosts file; usual contents omitted for brevity

# you .local domains in IPv4 format
10.10.10.10    <your-subdomain>.local