nss-resolve is a plug-in module for the GNU Name Service Switch (NSS) functionality of the GNU C Library (glibc) enabling it to resolve hostnames via the systemd-resolved(8) local network name resolution service. It replaces the nss-dns plug-in module that traditionally resolves hostnames via DNS.
To activate the NSS module, add "resolve [!UNAVAIL=return]" to the line starting with "hosts:" in /etc/nsswitch.conf. Specifically, it is recommended to place "resolve" early in /etc/nsswitch.conf's "hosts:" line. It should be before the "files" entry, since systemd-resolved supports /etc/hosts internally, but with caching. To the contrary, it should be after "mymachines", to give hostnames given to local VMs and containers precedence over names received over DNS. Finally, we recommend placing "dns" somewhere after "resolve", to fall back to nss-dns if systemd-resolved.service is not available.
Note that systemd-resolved will synthesize DNS resource records in a few cases, for example for "localhost" and the current local hostname, see systemd-resolved(8) for the full list. This duplicates the functionality of nss-myhostname(8), but it is still recommended (see examples below) to keep nss-myhostname configured in /etc/nsswitch.conf, to keep those names resolveable if systemd-resolved is not running.
Here is an example /etc/nsswitch.conf file that enables nss-resolve correctly:
passwd: compat systemd group: compat [SUCCESS=merge] systemd shadow: compat hosts: mymachines resolve [!UNAVAIL=return] files myhostname dns networks: files protocols: db files services: db files ethers: db files rpc: db files netgroup: nis
systemd(1), systemd-resolved(8), nss-systemd(8), nss-myhostname(8), nss-mymachines(8), nsswitch.conf(5)