Solaris 10 - `host` and `nslookup` resolves hostnames while `ping` and `telnet` does not?

• /etc/resolv.conf contains a nameserver that is alive (as reported by the ping command)
  
• host or nslookup is able to resolve google.com
  
  

  $ host google.com
  google.com has address 74.125.228.3
  google.com has address 74.125.228.4
  ...
  $ nslookup google.com
  ...
  Non-authorative answer:
  Name:   google.com
  Address: 74.125.228.0
  Name:   google.com
  Address: 74.125.228.1
  ..

• ping or telnet is not able to resolve google.com

  

  $ ping google.com
  ping: unknown host google.com
  
  $ telnet google.com
  google.com: node name or service name not known

  Fix Solution:

  Your /etc/nsswitch.conf should have an entry like this:
  
  hosts:  files dns
  
  
  

  This tells the Solaris Naming Service that hosts should be looked up first in the local file (i.e. /etc/hosts) and then in DNS. You can of course also only have "dns" here but people will normally want it so that /etc/hosts can override what is in DNS.
  
  You may now have to restart the naming service daemon:
  $svcadm restart /system/name-service-cache