Setting up DNS Servers

Initializing the Server

To initialize a server, do the following.

How to initialize the server

1. Become superuser.

2. Install the named.conf configuration file and the required data files, as described in the previous sections.

3. Run in.named.

   #/usr/sbin/in.named

   Instead of running in.named from the command line, you can reboot.

Testing Your Installation

After your boot and data files are set up and in.named running, test your installation.

How to Test Your Installation

1. Become superuser.

2. Check your syslog file for error messages.

   See Chapter 6, DNS Troubleshooting (Reference) for common DNS error messages and troubleshooting information.

3. Look up a host name in the local domain using the nslookup command.

   dnsmaster% nslookup altair Server: dnsmaster.doc.com Address: 192.146.168.5 Name: altair.doc.com Address: 192.146.168.10

   • If your lookup is successful, your name server is probably functioning correctly.

   • If you get a Can't find, or can't initialize address, type of message for your server, or a non-existent domain, type message, it might mean that your server is not correctly listed in the boot file or hosts files.

   • If you get a can't find name or non-existent domain type of message, it might mean that the host you looked up is not in the server's hosts file, or the domain is incorrectly set in resolv.conf, or there is some other server problem.

4. Look up a remote domain name with nslookup.

   If your network is connected to the Internet, look up the name of a remote domain. (If your network is not connected to the Internet, look up the name of a subdomain in another zone, if you have one.)

   For example, to look up the name of the remote internic.net Internet domain, you would enter the following.

   dnsmaster% nslookup internic.net

   Server: dnsmaster.doc.com Address: 192.168.168. Name: internic.net Addresses: 192.168.0.9, 192.168.0.6, 192.168.0.5, 192.168.0.8

   • If you are successful, your name server is probably functioning correctly.

   • If the above command does not find the remote domain name, one possible cause is that your network's connection to the Internet is not functioning properly.

   • Another possible cause is that your named.ca file is not properly installed or set up.

   The second time you use nslookup to find a domain, the answer will be returned as non-authoritative. This is normal because the answer is now coming from your cache, not the remote name server.

5. Look up a host name in your domain from a remote domain.

   If your network is connected to the Internet, look up the name of a host in your domain from a remote domain. If your network is not connected to the Internet, look up the name of a host in your domain from another zone, if you have one.

   For example, to look up the name of a host in your domain, from a remote Internet domain, you would enter two arguments after the nslookup command. The first argument is the name of the host for which you are searching, and the second argument is the name of the name server you are testing.

   remotemachine9% nslookup altair remotemaster.foo.org.

   Server: remotemaster.foo.org Address: 192.168.0.1 Name: altair.doc.com Addresses: 192.168.1.2

   • If you are successful, your name server is probably functioning correctly.

   • If the above command does not find the machine you are searching for, one possible cause is that your domain is not properly registered with whomever is administering the parent domain (.com in the above example).

Adding Additional Servers

You can add primary and secondary DNS servers to your network.

How to Add Additional Servers

1. Become superuser.

2. Set up the server as a DNS client. See Adding a Client.

3. Set up the following files.

   • boot file
   • named.ca
   • hosts
   • hosts.rev
   • named.local

   See Setting up DNS Servers for details.