How to Specify a Cache-Only or Stub Server

All servers are caching servers as all servers maintain a cache of DNS data. A cache-only or stub server is a server that is not a master server for any zone other than the reverse loopback zone in the in-addr.arpa. domain.

A cache-only server handles queries but does not maintain any authoritative data. The cache-only server handles queries by asking the hosts that are listed in the named.ca file for the needed information.

The following is a sample configuration file for a cache-only server. Note that the class (in) has been omitted as it is the default

Example 4–3 Sample Master Configuration File for Caching-Only Server

;
; Sample named.conf file for caching only name server
;

options {
        directory "/var/named";
};

zone "0.0.127.in-addr.arpa" {
        type master;
        file "db.127.0.0";
};

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