Chapter 9. BIND DNS Server

Chapter 9. BIND DNS Server
9.2.4. Configuring The Client
In order to use your local network to resolve Internet addresses, you have to configure the client to access the
DNS. Go back to Webmin ’s index, and select the Hardware tab, then click on the Network Configuration icon.
Then, select the DNS Client and type your DNS’s IP if it is a remote client, or 127.0.0.1 if you are on the
server.
Figure 9-7. Configuring The Client
9.3. Advanced Configuration
9.3.1. How to Debug
If the service did not start, you should look at the /var/log/messages file to read the debug output of BIND .
If you do not find the error, you can use the named-checkconf program and named-checkzone to check your
configuration.
Through the bind-utils package, you can use many utilities and therefore, test your DNS (nslookup or dig).
To use them, you should add the DNS server’s IP, preceded by the word “nameserver”, in your local /etc/
resolv.conf file.
9.3.2. The rndc Command
BIND ’s configuration is not done yet, since rndc is not yet configured to work in all your network. rndc is the
name server control utility. You can, for example, have statistics (using the rndc stats command), or you can
ask for status (using the rndc status command). For more information about this powerful command, you
should read the man page: rndc.
rndc communicates with the nameserver over a TCP connection, sending commands authenticated with digital
signatures; you should change the default key using the /usr/sbin/new_key.pl command. If you installed
the caching-nameserver RPM package, a default rndc configuration will be done and you can use it. If not,
you will have to add the key which is in the /etc/rndc.conf file to your /etc/named.conf file.
The control statement declares control channels to be used by system administrators in order to affect the operation
of the local nameserver. These control channels are used by the rndc utility, to send commands to and
retrieve non-DNS results from a nameserver. To modify it, you should not select the Control Interface Options
icon. Indeed, Webmin removes the key options, which is in the “controls” statement. You should modify the
/etc/named.conf file using a text editor. Here is an example of local-only rndc use with key:
// secret must be the same as in /etc/rndc.conf
key "key" {
algorithm hmac-md5;
secret
"cOb0cEDYZIQKNXDjnRJLmcTuZiXADGfVBahwsAnOd0yJbTmzPeHWO0LTTeCt";
};
controls {
inet 127.0.0.1
allow { 127.0.0.1;
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