dig does not resolve unqualified domain names, but nslookup does

Question

I have a lab set up with DNS running on a CentOS7 server (dns01.local.lab). The local.lab domain is defined in named.conf:

zone "local.lab" IN {
    type master;
    file "local.lab.zone";
    allow-update { none; };
};

I also have a reverse zone but that doesn't matter for this question as far as I can tell.

The zone file looks like:

$TTL 86400
@  IN SOA  dns01.local.lab. root.local.lab. (
    1 ; Serial
    3600 ; Refresh
    1800 ; Retry
    604800 ; Expire
    86400 ; Minimum TTL
)
@        IN NS  dns01.local.lab.
@        IN A   192.168.122.100
@        IN A   192.168.122.1
dns01      IN A 192.168.122.100
virt-host  IN A 192.168.122.1

If I use nslookup using just the hostname I get a resolved IP:

[root@dns01 ~]# nslookup dns01
Server:          192.168.122.100
Address:         192.168.122.100#53

Name:    dns01.local.lab
Address:  192.168.122.100

However, if I use dig using just the hostname I do not get the expected response:

[root@dns01 ~]# dig dns01

; <<>> DiG 9.9.4-RedHat-9.9.4-29.el7_2.2 <<>> dns01
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 9070
;; flags: qr rd ra ad; QUERY: 1, ANSWER 0; AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 4096
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;dns01.                         IN        A

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
.                       10800   IN        SOA    a.root-servers.net. nstld.verisign-grs.com. 2016020401 1800 900 604800 86400

;; Query time: 95 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.122.100#53(192.168.122.100)
;; WHEN: Thu Feb 04 09:15:07 HST 2016
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 109

I only get the expected response when I use the FQDN:

[root@dns01 ~]# dig dns01.local.lab

; <<>> DiG 9.9.4-RedHat-9.9.4-29.el7_2.2 <<>> dns01
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 9070
;; flags: qr rd ra ad; QUERY: 1, ANSWER 1; AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 4096
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;dns01.local.lab.               IN        A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
dns01.local.lab.        86400   IN        A        192.168.122.100

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
local.lab.              86400   IN        NS       dns01.local.lab.

;; Query time: 8 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.122.100#53(192.168.122.100)
;; WHEN: Thu Feb 04 09:22:15 HST 2016
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 74

Reverse lookups with dig provide the expected answer. Likewise with nslookup.

I know that dig and nslookup use different resolver libraries, but from what I understand dig is considered the better way.

As the results above indicate, the correct named server is being queried. It's as if dig doesn't recognize that the server is the authority for hostname being queried.

named.conf:

options {
    listen-on port 53 { 127.0.0.1; 192.168.122.100; };
    directory    "/var/named";
    dump-file    "/var/named/data/cache_dump.db";
    statistics-file    "/var/named/data/named_stats.txt";
    memstatistics-file    "/var/named/data/named_mem_stats.txt";
    allow-query    {localhost; 192.168.122.0/24; };
    recursion yes;
    dnssec-enable yes;
    dnssec-validation yes;
    bindkeys-file "/etc/named.iscdlv.key";
    managed-keys-directory "/var/named/dynamic";
    pid-file "/run/named/named.pid";
    session-keyfile "/run/named/session.key";
};

logging {
    channel default_debug {
        file "data/named.run";
        severity dynamic;
    };
};

zone "." IN {
    type hint;
    file "named.ca";
};

zone "local.lab" IN {
    type master;
    file "local.lab.zone";
    allow-update { none; };
};

zone "122.168.192.in-addr.arpa" IN {
    type master;
    file "local.lab.revzone";
    allow-update { none; };
};

include "/etc/named.rfc1912.zones";
include "/etc/named.root.key";

Answer 1

Does dig +search dns01 give you what you want? If so, it it possible that +nosearch somehow got added to your ~/.digrc ?

ETA: Or, if you're like me, maybe the dig fairies failed to come and add +search to your ~/.digrc.