named(1Mtcp)

named -- Internet domain name server

Synopsis

in.named [-d debuglevel] [-p port] [-b config_file | -c) config_file] [-fqr] [-w directory] [config_file]

Description

named is the Internet domain name server. See RFCs 1033, 1034, and 1035 for more information on the Internet Domain Name System (DNS). Without any arguments, named will read the default configuration file /etc/inet/named.conf, read any initial data, and listen for queries. A config_file argument given at the end of the command line will override any config_file specified with the -b or -c flags.

NOTE: Several of named's options, and much more of its behavior, can be controlled in the configuration file. Please refer to the named.conf(4tcp) manual page for further information.

Options

named takes the following options:

-d debuglevel

Print debugging information. The debuglevel is a number that determines the level of messages printed. If negative, debuglevel is set to 1.

NOTE: The new debugging framework is considerably more sophisticated than it was in older versions of named. The configuration file's logging statement allows for multiple, distinct levels of debugging for each of a large set of categories of events (such as queries, transfers in or out, and so on). Please refer to the named.conf(4tcp) manual page for further information.

-p port

Use the specified remote port number. This is the port number to which named will send queries. The default value is the standard port number: that is, the port number returned by getservbyname(3N) for service domain.

NOTE: Previously, the -p port[/localport] syntax was supported; the first port was that used when contacting remote servers, and the second one was the service port bound by the local instance of named. The current usage is equivalent to the old usage without the local port specified; this functionality can be specified with the listen-on clause of the configuration file's options statement.

-b|-c config_file

Use an alternative config_file; this argument is overridden by any config_file which is specified at the end of the command line. The default value is /etc/inet/named.conf.

-f

Run this process in the foreground; do not fork(2) and daemonize. The default is to daemonize.

-q

Trace all incoming queries if named has been compiled with QRYLOG defined.

NOTE: This option is deprecated in favor of the queries logging category of the configuration file's logging statement. Please refer to the named.conf(4tcp) manual page for further information.

-r

Turns recursion off in the server. Answers can come only from local (primary or secondary) zones. This can be used on root servers. The default is to use recursion.

NOTE: This option can be overridden by, and is deprecated in favor of, the recursion clause of the configuration file's options statement.

-w directory

Sets the working directory of the server. The directory clause of the configuration file's options statement overrides any value specified on the command line. The default working directory is the current directory

Any additional argument is taken as the name of the configuration file, for compatibility with older implementations. As noted above, this argument overrides any config_file specified with -b or -c. If no further argument is given, then the default configuration file, /etc/inet/named.conf (see named.conf(4tcp)), is used.

The master file for a zone consists of control information and a list of resource records for objects in the zone with the form given in named.hosts(4tcp).

Each master file for a zone should begin with an SOA record for the zone. The SOA specifies a serial number, which should be changed each time the master file is changed. See named.soa(4tcp) for more information.

Usage

The following signals have the specified effect when sent to the server process using the kill(1) command:

SIGHUP: Causes server to read named.conf and reload the database. If the server is built with the FORCED_RELOAD compile-time option, then SIGHUP will also cause the server to check the serial number on all secondary zones. Normally, the serial numbers are only checked at the SOA-specified intervals.
SIGINT: Dumps the current data base and cache to /var/tmp/named_dump.db or to the file given by _PATH_DUMPFILE.
SIGILL: Dumps statistics data into /var/tmp/named.stats if the server is compiled with -DSTATS. Statistics data is appended to the file.
SIGSYS: Dumps the profiling data in /var/tmp if the server is compiled with profiling (server forks, chdirs and exits).
SIGTERM: Dumps the primary and secondary database files. Used to save modified data on shutdown if the server is compiled with dynamic updating enabled.
SIGUSR1: Turns on debugging. Each SIGUSR1 increments the debug level.
SIGUSR2: Turns off debugging completely.
SIGWINCH: Toggles logging of all incoming queries via syslog(3G).

Files

/etc/inet/named.boot: obsolete name server configuration file for versions of BIND previous to BIND 8
/etc/inet/named.conf: default name server configuration file
/etc/inet/named.pid: (_PATH_PIDFILE) contains the process ID
/var/tmp/named_dump.db: (_PATH_DUMPFILE) dump of the name server database
/var/tmp/named.run: (_PATH_DEBUG) debug output
/var/tmp/named.stats: (_PATH_STATS) name server statistics data

References

gethostbyname(3N), hostname(1bsd), kill(1), named.conf(4tcp), named.hosts(4tcp), named.local(4tcp), named.rev(4tcp), named.soa(4tcp), resolv.conf(4tcp), resolver(3N), root.cache(4tcp), signal(2)

RFC 882, RFC 883, RFC 973, RFC 974, RFC 1033, RFC 1034, RFC 1035, RFC 1123

Notices

The boot file directives, domain and suffixes, have been made obsolete by a more useful, resolver-based implementation of suffixing for partially-qualified domain names. The prior mechanisms could fail under a number of situations, especially when the local name server did not have complete information.