DNS server can't resolve localhost name

Question

I am trying to set up an apache server on my RHEL6.4 vm and can't because dnsmasq can't recognize the hostname for some reason:

nslookup rhel64.example.com
Server:         xxx.xxx.xx.1
Address:        xxx.xxx.xx.1#53

** server can't find rhel64.exmple.com: NXDOMAIN

/etc/hosts

xxx.x.x.1   localhost localhost.localdomain localhost4 localhost4.localdomain4
::1         localhost localhost.localdomain localhost6 localhost6.localdomain6

/etc/resolv.conf

; generated by /sbin/dhclient-script
search novalocal example.com
nameserver xxx.xxx.xx.1

Please let me know if there is anything you need to see to solve my problem. I cannot use a different dns server.

Looking for a way to make dnsmasq resolve the hostname without changing dns servers.

Answer 1

DNS client was never initiated when the virtual machine booted up

Answer 2

Can you output your /etc/sysconfig/iptables, /etc/sysconfig/network and /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0?