Chapter 21. BIND Configuration
This chapter assumes that you have a basic understanding of BIND and DNS;
it does not attempt to explain the concepts of BIND and DNS. This chapter
does explain how to use the Bind Configuration Tool
(redhat-config-bind) to configure basic BIND server
zones. The Bind Configuration Tool creates the
/etc/named.conf configuration file and the zone
configuration files in the /var/named directory each
time you apply your changes.
 | Important |
|---|
| | Do not edit the /etc/named.conf configuration
file. Bind Configuration Tool generates this file after
you apply your changes. If you want to configure settings that are not
configurable using Bind Configuration Tool,
add them to /etc/named.custom.
|
The Bind Configuration Tool requires the X Window System
and root access. To start the Bind Configuration Tool, go
to the (on the Panel) =>
=>
=> or type the command
redhat-config-bind at a shell prompt (for example, in
an XTerm or GNOME-terminal).
The Bind Configuration Tool configures the default zone
directory to be /var/named. All zone files specified
are relative to this directory. The
Bind Configuration Tool also includes basic syntax
checking when values are entered. For example, if a valid entry is an IP
address, you are only allowed to type numbers and periods (.)
into the text area.
The Bind Configuration Tool allows you to add a
forward master zone, a reverse master zone, and a slave zone. After
adding the zones, you can edit or delete them from the main window as
shown in Figure 21-1.
After adding, editing, or deleting a zone, you must choose click the
Save button or select => to write the
/etc/named.conf configuration file and all the
individual zone files in the /var/named
directory. Saving changes also causes the
named service to reload the configuration files. Selecting
=> saves the
changes before quitting the application.
21.1. Adding a Forward Master Zone
To add a forward master zone (also known as a primary master), click the
New button, select , and enter the domain name for the master zone in the
Domain name text area.
A new window as shown in Figure 21-2 will
appear with the following options:
Name — Domain name that was just entered
in the previous window.
File Name — File name of the DNS database
file, relative to /var/named. It is preset to
the domain name with .zone appended
to it.
Contact — Email address of the main
contact for the master zone.
Primary Nameserver (SOA) — State of
authority (SOA) record. This specifies the nameserver that is the
best resource of information for this domain.
Serial Number — The serial number of
the DNS database file. This number must be incremented each time the
file is changed, so that the slave nameservers for the zone will
retrieve the latest data. The
Bind Configuration Tool increments this number each
time the configuration changes. It can also be incremented manually
by clicking the Set button next to the
Serial Number value.
Time Settings — The
Refresh, Retry,
Expire, and Minimum TTL
(Time to Live) values that are stored in the DNS database file. All
values are in seconds.
Records — Add, edit, and delete record
resources of type ,
, and .
A Primary Nameserver (SOA) must be specified, and
at least one nameserver record must be specified by clicking the
Add button in the Records
section.
After configuring the Forward Master Zone, click
OK to return to the main window as shown in Figure 21-1. From the pulldown menu, click
Save to write the
/etc/named.conf configuration file, write all the
individual zone files in the /var/named directory,
and have the daemon reload the configuration files.
The configuration creates an entry similar to the following in
/etc/named.conf:
zone "forward.example.com" {
type master;
file "forward.example.com.zone";
}; |
It also creates the file
/var/named/forward.example.com.zone with the
following information:
$TTL 86400
@ IN SOA ns.example.com. root.localhost (
2 ; serial
28800 ; refresh
7200 ; retry
604800 ; expire
86400 ; ttl
)
IN NS 192.168.1.1. |
