Chapter 52. Configuring and managing a BIND DNS server

Procedure

1. Install BIND:

   # yum install bind bind-utils

2. Enable and start the named service:

   # systemctl enable --now named

Procedure

1. Ensure to take backup of the original configuration file.

   # cp /etc/named.conf /etc/named.conf.orig

2. Edit the /etc/named.conf file with the following changes:

   • In the options section, uncomment the listen-on, listen-on-v6, and directory parameters:

     acl clients {192.0.2.0/24;};
     
     options {
             listen-on port 53 { any; };
     
             listen-on-v6 port 53 { any; };
     
             directory       "/var/named";

   • Set the allow-query parameter to your network address. Only the hosts on your local network can query the DNS server:

         allow-query     { localhost; clients; };
         allow-recursion { localhost; clients; };
         recursion yes;
         allow-update { none; };
         allow-transfer { localhost; };
     };
     
     logging {
             channel default_debug {
                     file "data/named.run";
                     severity dynamic;
             };
     };

   • Use the package shipped file as:

     include "/etc/named.rfc1912.zones";

   • Create an extra include for any custom zone configuration:

     include "/etc/named/example.zones";

3. Create the /etc/named/example.zones file and add the following zone configuration:

   //forward zone
   zone "example.com" IN {
           type master;
           file "example.com.zone";
   
   };
   
   //backward zone
   zone "2.0.192.in-addr.arpa" IN {
           type master;
           file "example.com.rzone";
   
   };

   • type: It defines the zone’s role of the server.
   • master: It is an authoritative server and maintains the master copy of the zone data.
   • file: It specifies the zone’s database file.

4. Go to DNS data directory /var/named/:

   # cd /var/named/
   # ls
   
   data    dynamic  named.ca  named.empty    named.localhost    named.loopback  slaves

5. Create the /var/named/example.com.zone file with your forward zone parameters:

   $TTL    86400
   @	IN	SOA	example.com.	root (
   		42         ; serial
   		3H         ; refresh
   		15M        ; retry
   		1W         ; expiry
   		1D )       ; minimum
   
   	IN	NS	ns.example.com.
   
   ns              IN A            192.0.2.1
   station1        IN A            192.0.2.101
   station2        IN A            192.0.2.102
   station3        IN A            192.0.2.103

6. Create the /var/named/example.com.rzone file with your reverse zone parameters:

   $TTL    86400
   @	IN	SOA	example.com.	root.example.com. (
   		1997022700 ; serial
   		28800      ; refresh
   		14400      ; retry
   		3600000    ; expire
   		86400 )    ; minimum
   
   	IN	NS	ns.example.com.
   
   101     IN      PTR     station1.example.com.
   102     IN      PTR     station2.example.com.
   103     IN      PTR     station3.example.com.

7. Set secure permissions on the zone files:

   # chown root:named /var/named/example.com.zone /var/named/example.com.rzone
   # chmod 640 /var/named/example.com.zone /var/named/example.com.rzone

8. Restart BIND:

   # systemctl restart named