How to have a Windows-PC registers it's name on dns server automatically

Question

If I'm correct (please correct me if I'm wrong), a Windows-PC's name on a local network is not published via DNS but via WINS. Now let's assume I have a network with Windows workstations and I'm going to setup a Linux server for DHCP to be installed.

Do I have to install/configure WINS on my Linux server to have a WINS name resolution for Windows-PCs? If so, is there a better way of having Windows-PCs names published on my network without installing/configure any software on that Windows work stations?

Thanks in advance. Don't hesitate to ask for more clearance.

Answer 1

WINS is obsolete and should not be used. Enabling NBTNS name resolution on the client is a critical security risk and should always be disabled unless absolutely necessary.

Windows clients will attempt to automatically register an A record in DNS if the network adapter has the box checked "Register this connection's addresses in DNS".

Answer 2

If I'm correct (please correct me if I'm wrong), a Windows-PC's name on a local network is not published via DNS but via WINS

They don't register in either if you don't have a DNS or WINS server. As Greg stated in his answer, WINS is obsolete and shouldn't be used. If you want all of your hosts (Windows, Linux, etc.) to register their names in a central "repository" and to be able to resolve names from that central "repository" then you'll need to install a DNS server somewhere on your network and you'll need to configure it and your clients appropriately (DNS zone on the server, DNS suffix on the hosts for that DNS zone, configure the clients to register in DNS, etc.).