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Name

in.named, named, named-xfer - Internet domain name server

Synopsis

in.named [-b bootfile ] [ -d level ] [ -p port ]

named-xfer

Availability

SUNWcsu

Description

in.named is the Internet domain name server. It is used by hosts on the Internet to provide access to the Internet distributed naming database. See RFC 1034 and RFC 1035 for more details. With no arguments, in.named reads /etc/named.boot for any initial data, and listens for queries on a privileged port.

named-xfer is called by in.named whenever in.named needs to perform a Zone Transfer. named-xfer should not be called independently.

/etc/named.boot File Entries

The following is a sample of /etc/named.boot file entries: 

;
;    boot file for name server
;
; type        domain        source file or host
;
domain        berkeley.edu
primary    berkeley.edu    named.db
secondary    cc.berkeley.edu 10.2.0.78 128.32.0.10
cache        .               named.ca

The domain line specifies that berkeley.edu is the domain of the given server.

The primary line states that the file named.db contains authoritative data for berkeley.edu. The file named.db contains data in the Zone file format, described in RFC 1035, except that all domain names are relative to the origin; in this case, berkeley.edu (see Zone File Format below for a more detailed description).

The secondary line specifies that all authoritative data under cc.berkeley.edu is to be transferred from the name server at 10.2.0.78. If the transfer fails it will try 128.32.0.10, and continue for up to ten tries at that address. The secondary copy is also authoritative for the domain.

The cache line specifies that data in named.ca is to be placed in the cache (typically such data as the locations of root domain servers). The file named.ca is in the same format as named.db.

Zone File Format

The Zone file consists of entries of the form:

$INCLUDE < filename >
$ORIGIN < domain >
< domain > < opt_ttl > < opt_class > < type > < resource_record_data >

where domain is "." for the root, "@" for the current origin, or a standard domain name. If domain is a standard domain name that does not end with ".", the current origin is appended to the domain. Domain names ending with "." are unmodified.

The opt_ttl field is an optional integer number for the time-to-live field. It defaults to zero.

The opt_class field is currently one token, IN for the Internet.

The type field is one of the following tokens; the data expected in the resource_record_data field is in parentheses.

A
A host address (dotted quad).
CNAME
The canonical name for an alias (domain).
HINFO
Host information (cpu_type OS_type).
MB
A mailbox domain name (domain).
MG
A mail group member (domain).
MINFO
Mailbox or mail list information (request_domain error_domain).
MR
A mail rename domain name (domain).
MX
A mail exchanger (domain).
NS
An authoritative name server (domain).
NULL
A null resource record (no format or data).
PTR
A domain name pointer (domain).
SOA
Marks the start of a zone of authority (5 numbers). See RFC 1035.
TXT
Arbitrary number of strings.
WKS
A well know service description (not implemented yet).

Options

-b bootfile
Use bootfile rather than /etc/named.boot.
-d level
Print debugging information. level is a number indicating the level of messages printed.
-p port
Use a different port number.

Files

/etc/named.boot
name server configuration boot file
/etc/named.pid
the process ID
/var/tmp/named.run
debug output
/var/tmp/named_dump.db
dump of the name servers database

See Also

kill(1) , resolver(3N) , signal(3B) , resolv.conf(4)

Braden, R. (Editor), Requirements for Internet Hosts - Applications and Support, RFC 1123, Internet Engineering Task Force - Network Working Group, October 1989

Mockapetris, Paul, Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities, RFC 1034, Network Information Center, SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif., November 1987.

Mockapetris, Paul, Domain Names - Implementation and Specification, RFC 1035, Network Information Center, SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif., November 1987.

Mockapetris, Paul, Domain System Changes and Observations, RFC 973, Network Information Center, SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif., January 1986.

Partridge, Craig, Mail Routing and the Domain System, RFC 974, Network Information Center, SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif., January 1986.

Notes

The following signals have the specified effect when sent to the server process using the kill(1) command.
SIGHUP
Reads /etc/named.boot and reloads database.
SIGINT
Dumps the current database and cache to /var/tmp/named_dump.db.
SIGUSR1
Turns on debugging; each subsequent SIGUSR1 increments debug level.
SIGUSR2
Turns off debugging completely.

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