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documentation.suse.com / SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Documentation / Administration Guide / Services / The domain name system
Applies to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6

39 The domain name system

DNS (domain name system) is needed to resolve the domain names and host names into IP addresses. In this way, the IP address 192.168.2.100 is assigned to the host name jupiter, for example. Before setting up your own name server, read the general information about DNS in Section 23.3, “Name resolution”. The following configuration examples refer to BIND, the default DNS server.

39.1 DNS terminology

Zone

The domain namespace is divided into regions called zones. For example, if you have example.com, you have the example section (or zone) of the com domain.

DNS server

The DNS server is a server that maintains the name and IP information for a domain. You can have a primary DNS server for primary zone, a secondary server for secondary zone, or a secondary server without any zones for caching.

Primary zone DNS server

The primary zone includes all hosts from your network and a DNS server primary zone stores up-to-date records for all the hosts in your domain.

Secondary zone DNS server

A secondary zone is a copy of the primary zone. The secondary zone DNS server obtains its zone data with zone transfer operations from its primary server. The secondary zone DNS server responds authoritatively for the zone if it has valid (not expired) zone data. If the secondary server cannot obtain a new copy of the zone data, it stops responding for the zone.

Forwarder

Forwarders are DNS servers to which your DNS server should send queries it cannot answer. To enable different configuration sources in one configuration, netconfig is used (see also man 8 netconfig).

Record

The record is information about name and IP address. Supported records and their syntax are described in BIND documentation. Several special records are:

NS record

An NS record tells name servers which machines are in charge of a given domain zone.

MX record

The MX (mail exchange) records describe the machines to contact for directing mail across the Internet.

SOA record

SOA (Start of Authority) record is the first record in a zone file. The SOA record is used when using DNS to synchronize data between multiple computers.

39.2 Installation

To install a DNS server, start YaST and select Software › Software Management. Choose View › Patterns and select DHCP and DNS Server. Confirm the installation of the dependent packages to finish the installation process.

Alternatively use the following command on the command line:

> sudo zypper in -t pattern dhcp_dns_server

39.3 Configuration with YaST

Use the YaST DNS module to configure a DNS server for the local network. When starting the module for the first time, a wizard starts, prompting you to make a few decisions concerning administration of the server. Completing this initial setup produces a basic server configuration. Use the expert mode to deal with more advanced configuration tasks, such as setting up ACLs, logging, TSIG keys, and other options.

39.3.1 Wizard configuration

The wizard consists of three steps or dialogs. At the appropriate places in the dialogs, you can enter the expert configuration mode.

  1. When starting the module for the first time, the Forwarder Settings dialog, shown in Figure 39.1, “DNS server installation: forwarder settings”, opens. The Local DNS Resolution Policy allows to set the following options:

    • Merging forwarders is disabled

    • Automatic merging

    • Merging forwarders is enabled

    • Custom configuration—If Custom configuration is selected, Custom policy can be specified; by default (with Automatic merging selected), Custom policy is set to auto, but here you can either set interface names or select from the two special policy names STATIC and STATIC_FALLBACK.

    In Local DNS Resolution Forwarder, specify which service to use: Using system name servers, This name server (bind), or Local dnsmasq server.

    For more information about all these settings, see man 8 netconfig.

    DNS server installation: forwarder settings
    Figure 39.1: DNS server installation: forwarder settings

    Forwarders are DNS servers to which your DNS server sends queries it cannot answer itself. Enter their IP address and click Add.

  2. The DNS Zones dialog consists of several parts and is responsible for the management of zone files, described in Section 39.6, “Zone files”. For a new zone, provide a name for it in Name. To add a reverse zone, the name must end in .in-addr.arpa. Finally, select the Type (primary, secondary, or forward). See Figure 39.2, “DNS server installation: DNS zones”. Click Edit to configure other settings of an existing zone. To remove a zone, click Delete.

    DNS server installation: DNS zones
    Figure 39.2: DNS server installation: DNS zones
  3. In the final dialog, you can open the DNS port in the firewall by clicking Open Port in Firewall. Then decide whether to start the DNS server when booting (On or Off). You can also activate LDAP support. See Figure 39.3, “DNS server installation: finish wizard”.

    DNS server installation: finish wizard
    Figure 39.3: DNS server installation: finish wizard

39.3.2 Expert configuration

After starting the module, YaST opens a window displaying several configuration options. Completing it results in a DNS server configuration with the basic functions in place:

39.3.2.1 Start-up

Under Start-Up, define whether the DNS server should be started when the booting the system or manually. To start the DNS server immediately, click Start DNS Server Now. To stop the DNS server, click Stop DNS Server Now. To save the current settings, select Save Settings and Reload DNS Server Now. You can open the DNS port in the firewall with Open Port in Firewall and modify the firewall settings with Firewall Details.

By selecting LDAP Support Active, the zone files are managed by an LDAP database. Any changes to zone data written to the LDAP database are picked up by the DNS server when it is restarted or prompted to reload its configuration.

39.3.2.2 Forwarders

If your local DNS server cannot answer a request, it tries to forward the request to a Forwarder, if configured so. This forwarder may be added manually to the Forwarder List. If the forwarder is not static like in dial-up connections, netconfig handles the configuration. For more information about netconfig, see man 8 netconfig.

39.3.2.3 Basic options

In this section, set basic server options. From the Option menu, select the desired item then specify the value in the corresponding text box. Include the new entry by selecting Add.

39.3.2.4 Logging

To set what the DNS server should log and how, select Logging. Under Log Type, specify where the DNS server should write the log data. Use the system-wide log by selecting System Log or specify a different file by selecting File. In the latter case, additionally specify a name, the maximum file size in megabytes and the number of log file versions to store.

Further options are available under Additional Logging. Enabling Log All DNS Queries causes every query to be logged, in which case the log file could grow large. For this reason, it is not a good idea to enable this option for other than debugging purposes. To log the data traffic during zone updates between DHCP and DNS server, enable Log Zone Updates. To log the data traffic during a zone transfer from primary to secondary server, enable Log Zone Transfer. See Figure 39.4, “DNS server: logging”.

DNS server: logging
Figure 39.4: DNS server: logging

39.3.2.5 ACLs

Use this dialog to define ACLs (access control lists) to enforce access restrictions. After providing a distinct name under Name, specify an IP address (with or without netmask) under Value in the following fashion:

{ 192.168.1/24; }

The syntax of the configuration file requires that the address ends with a semicolon and is put into curly braces.

39.3.2.6 TSIG keys

The main purpose of TSIGs (transaction signatures) is to secure communications between DHCP and DNS servers. They are described in Section 39.8, “Secure transactions”.

To generate a TSIG key, enter a distinctive name in the field labeled Key ID and specify the file where the key should be stored (Filename). Confirm your choices with Generate.

To use a previously created key, leave the Key ID field blank and select the file where it is stored under Filename. After that, confirm with Add.

39.3.2.7 DNS zones (adding a secondary zone)

To add a secondary zone, select DNS Zones, choose the zone type Secondary, write the name of the new zone, and click Add.

In the Zone Editor sub-dialog under Primary DNS Server IP, specify the primary server from which the secondary server should pull its data. To limit access to the server, select one of the ACLs from the list.

39.3.2.8 DNS zones (adding a primary zone)

To add a primary zone, select DNS Zones, choose the zone type Primary, write the name of the new zone, and click Add. When adding a primary zone, a reverse zone is also needed. For example, when adding the zone example.com that points to hosts in a subnet 192.168.1.0/24, you should also add a reverse zone for the IP-address range covered. By definition, this should be named 1.168.192.in-addr.arpa.

39.3.2.9 DNS zones (editing a primary zone)

To edit a primary zone, select DNS Zones, select the primary zone from the table and click Edit. The dialog consists of several pages: Basics (the one opened first), NS Records, MX Records, SOA, and Records.

The basic dialog, shown in Figure 39.5, “DNS server: Zone Editor (Basics)”, lets you define settings for dynamic DNS and access options for zone transfers to clients and secondary name servers. To permit the dynamic updating of zones, select Allow Dynamic Updates and the corresponding TSIG key. The key must have been defined before the update action starts. To enable zone transfers, select the corresponding ACLs. ACLs must have been defined already.

In the Basics dialog, select whether to enable zone transfers. Use the listed ACLs to define who can download zones.

DNS server: Zone Editor (Basics)
Figure 39.5: DNS server: Zone Editor (Basics)
Zone Editor (NS Records)

The NS Records dialog allows you to define alternative name servers for the zones specified. Make sure that your own name server is included in the list. To add a record, enter its name under Name Server to Add then confirm with Add. See Figure 39.6, “DNS server: Zone Editor (NS Records)”.

DNS server: Zone Editor (NS Records)
Figure 39.6: DNS server: Zone Editor (NS Records)
Zone Editor (MX Records)

To add a mail server for the current zone to the existing list, enter the corresponding address and priority value. After doing so, confirm by selecting Add. See Figure 39.7, “DNS server: Zone Editor (MX Records)”.

DNS server: Zone Editor (MX Records)
Figure 39.7: DNS server: Zone Editor (MX Records)
Zone Editor (SOA)

This page allows you to create SOA (start of authority) records. For an explanation of the individual options, refer to Example 39.6, “The /var/lib/named/example.com.zone file”. Changing SOA records is not supported for dynamic zones managed via LDAP.

DNS server: Zone Editor (SOA)
Figure 39.8: DNS server: Zone Editor (SOA)
Zone Editor (Records)

This dialog manages name resolution. In Record Key, enter the host name then select its type. The A type represents the main entry. The value for this should be an IP address (IPv4). Use AAAA for IPv6 addresses. CNAME is an alias. Use the types NS and MX for detailed or partial records that expand on the information provided in the NS Records and MX Records tabs. These three types resolve to an existing A record. PTR is for reverse zones. It is the opposite of an A record, for example:

hostname.example.com. IN A 192.168.0.1
1.0.168.192.in-addr.arpa IN PTR hostname.example.com.
39.3.2.9.1 Adding reverse zones

To add a reverse zone, follow this procedure:

  1. Start YaST › DNS Server › DNS Zones.

  2. If you have not added a primary forward zone, add it and Edit it.

  3. In the Records tab, fill the corresponding Record Key and Value, then add the record with Add and confirm with OK. If YaST complains about a non-existing record for a name server, add it in the NS Records tab.

    Adding a record for a primary zone
    Figure 39.9: Adding a record for a primary zone
  4. Back in the DNS Zones window, add a reverse primary zone.

    Adding a reverse zone
    Figure 39.10: Adding a reverse zone
  5. Edit the reverse zone, and in the Records tab, you can see the PTR: Reverse translation record type. Add the corresponding Record Key and Value, then click Add and confirm with OK.

    Adding a reverse record
    Figure 39.11: Adding a reverse record

    Add a name server record if needed.

Tip
Tip: Editing the reverse zone

After adding a forward zone, go back to the main menu and select the reverse zone for editing. There in the tab Basics activate the check box Automatically Generate Records From and select your forward zone. That way, all changes to the forward zone are automatically updated in the reverse zone.

39.4 Starting the BIND name server

On a SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server system, the name server BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) comes preconfigured, so it can be started right after installation without any problems. Normally, if you already have an Internet connection and entered 127.0.0.1 as the name server address for localhost in /var/run/netconfig/resolv.conf, you already have a working name resolution without needing to know the DNS of the provider. BIND carries out name resolution via the root name server, a notably slower process. Normally, the DNS of the provider should be entered with its IP address in the configuration file /etc/named.conf under forwarders to ensure effective and secure name resolution. If this works so far, the name server runs as a pure caching-only name server. Only when you configure its own zones it becomes a proper DNS. Find a simple example documented in /usr/share/doc/packages/bind/config.

Tip
Tip: Automatic adaptation of the name server information

Depending on the type of Internet connection or the network connection, the name server information can automatically be adapted to the current conditions. To do this, set the NETCONFIG_DNS_POLICY variable in the /etc/sysconfig/network/config file to auto.

However, do not set up an official domain until one is assigned to you by the responsible institution. Even if you have your own domain and it is managed by the provider, you are better off not using it, because BIND would otherwise not forward requests for this domain. The Web server at the provider, for example, would not be accessible for this domain.

To start the name server, enter the command systemctl start named as root. Check with systemctl status named whether named (as the name server process is called) has been started successfully. Test the name server immediately on the local system with the host or dig programs, which should return localhost as the default server with the address 127.0.0.1. If this is not the case, /var/run/netconfig/resolv.conf may contain an incorrect name server entry or the file does not exist. For the first test, enter host 127.0.0.1, which should always work. If you get an error message, use systemctl status named to see whether the server is running. If the name server does not start or behaves unexpectedly, check the output of journalctl -e.

To use the name server of the provider (or one already running on your network) as the forwarder, enter the corresponding IP address or addresses in the options section under forwarders. The addresses included in Example 39.1, “Forwarding options in named.conf” are examples only. Adjust these entries to your own setup.

Example 39.1: Forwarding options in named.conf
options {
        directory "/var/lib/named";
        forwarders { 10.11.12.13; 10.11.12.14; };
        listen-on { 127.0.0.1; 192.168.1.116; };
        allow-query { 127/8; 192.168/16 };
        notify no;
};

The options entry is followed by entries for the zone, localhost, and 0.0.127.in-addr.arpa. The type hint entry under . should always be present. The corresponding files do not need to be modified and should work as they are. Also make sure that each entry is closed with a ; and that the curly braces are in the correct places. After changing the configuration file /etc/named.conf or the zone files, tell BIND to reread them with systemctl reload named. Achieve the same by stopping and restarting the name server with systemctl restart named. Stop the server at any time by entering systemctl stop named.

39.5 The /etc/named.conf configuration file

All the settings for the BIND name server itself are stored in the /etc/named.conf file. However, the zone data for the domains to handle (consisting of the host names, IP addresses, and so on) are stored in separate files in the /var/lib/named directory. The details of this are described later.

/etc/named.conf is roughly divided into two areas. One is the options section for general settings and the other consists of zone entries for the individual domains. A logging section and acl (access control list) entries are optional. Comment lines begin with a # sign or //. A minimal /etc/named.conf is shown in Example 39.2, “A basic /etc/named.conf”.

Example 39.2: A basic /etc/named.conf
options {
        directory "/var/lib/named";
        forwarders { 10.0.0.1; };
        notify no;
};

zone "localhost" in {
       type master;
       file "localhost.zone";
};

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

zone "." in {
        type hint;
        file "root.hint";
};

39.5.1 Important configuration options

directory "FILENAME";

Specifies the directory in which BIND can find the files containing the zone data. Usually, this is /var/lib/named.

forwarders { IP-ADDRESS; };

Specifies the name servers (of the provider) to which DNS requests should be forwarded if they cannot be resolved directly. Replace IP-ADDRESS with an IP address like 192.168.1.116.

forward first;

Causes DNS requests to be forwarded before an attempt is made to resolve them via the root name servers. Instead of forward first, forward only can be written to have all requests forwarded and none sent to the root name servers. This makes sense for firewall configurations.

listen-on port 53 { 127.0.0.1; IP-ADDRESS; };

Tells BIND on which network interfaces and port to accept client queries. port 53 does not need to be specified explicitly, because 53 is the default port. Enter 127.0.0.1 to permit requests from the local host. If you omit this entry entirely, all interfaces are used by default.

listen-on-v6 port 53 {any; };

Tells BIND on which port it should listen for IPv6 client requests. The only alternative to any is none. As far as IPv6 is concerned, the server only accepts wild card addresses.

query-source address * port 53;

This entry is necessary if a firewall is blocking outgoing DNS requests. This tells BIND to post requests externally from port 53 and not from any of the high ports above 1024.

query-source-v6 address * port 53;

Tells BIND which port to use for IPv6 queries.

allow-query { 127.0.0.1; NET; };

Defines the networks from which clients can post DNS requests. Replace NET with address information like 192.168.2.0/24. The /24 at the end is an abbreviated expression for the netmask (in this case 255.255.255.0).

allow-transfer ! *;;

Controls which hosts can request zone transfers. In the example, such requests are denied with ! *. Without this entry, zone transfers can be requested from anywhere without restrictions.

statistics-interval 0;

Without this entry, BIND generates several lines of statistical information per hour in the system's journal. Set it to 0 to suppress these statistics or set an interval in minutes.

cleaning-interval 720;

This option defines at which time intervals BIND clears its cache. This triggers an entry in the system's journal each time it occurs. The time specification is in minutes. The default is 60 minutes.

interface-interval 0;

BIND regularly searches the network interfaces for new or nonexistent interfaces. If this value is set to 0, this is not done and BIND only listens at the interfaces detected at start-up. Otherwise, the interval can be defined in minutes. The default is sixty minutes.

notify no;

no prevents other name servers from being informed when changes are made to the zone data or when the name server is restarted.

For a list of available options, read the man page man 5 named.conf.

39.5.2 Logging

What, how and where logging takes place can be extensively configured in BIND. Normally, the default settings should be sufficient. Example 39.3, “Entry to disable logging”, shows the simplest form of such an entry and suppresses any logging.

Example 39.3: Entry to disable logging
logging {
        category default { null; };
};

39.5.3 Zone entries

Example 39.4: Zone entry for example.com
zone "example.com" in {
      type master;
      file "example.com.zone";
      notify no;
};

After zone, specify the name of the domain to administer (example.com) followed by in and a block of relevant options enclosed in curly braces, as shown in Example 39.4, “Zone entry for example.com”. To define a secondary zone, switch the type to secondary and specify a name server that administers this zone as primary (which, in turn, may be a secondary server of another primary server), as shown in Example 39.5, “Zone entry for example.net”.

Example 39.5: Zone entry for example.net
zone "example.net" in {
      type secondary;
      file "secondary/example.net.zone";
      
      masters { 10.0.0.1; }; 
};

The zone options:

type primary;

By specifying primary, tell BIND that the zone is handled by the local name server. This assumes that a zone file has been created in the correct format.

type secondary;

This zone is transferred from another name server. It must be used together with primary_servers.

type hint;

The zone . of the hint type is used to set the root name servers. This zone definition can be left as is.

file example.com.zone or file secondary/example.net.zone;

This entry specifies the file where zone data for the domain is located. This file is not required for a secondary server, because this data is pulled from another name server. To differentiate files of the primary and secondary server, use the directory secondary for the secondary files.

primary_servers { SERVER_IP_ADDRESS; };

This entry is only needed for secondary zones. It specifies from which name server the zone file should be transferred.

allow-update {! *; };

This option controls external write access, which would allow clients to make a DNS entry—something not normally desirable for security reasons. Without this entry, zone updates are not allowed. The above entry achieves the same because ! * effectively bans any such activity.

39.6 Zone files

Two types of zone files are needed. One assigns IP addresses to host names and the other does the reverse: it supplies a host name for an IP address.

Tip
Tip: Using the dot (period, full stop) in zone files

The "." has an important meaning in the zone files. If host names are given without a final dot (.), the zone is appended. Complete host names specified with a full domain name must end with a dot (.) to avoid having the domain added to it again. A missing or wrongly placed "." is the most frequent cause of name server configuration errors.

The first case to consider is the zone file example.com.zone, responsible for the domain example.com, shown in Example 39.6, “The /var/lib/named/example.com.zone file”.

Example 39.6: The /var/lib/named/example.com.zone file
$TTL 2D 1
example.com. IN SOA      dns  root.example.com. ( 2
             2003072441  ; serial 3
             1D          ; refresh 4
             2H          ; retry 5
             1W          ; expiry 6
             2D )        ; minimum 7

             IN NS       dns 8
             IN MX       10 mail dns 9
gate         IN A        192.168.5.1 10
             IN A        10.0.0.1
dns          IN A        192.168.1.116
mail         IN A        192.168.3.108
jupiter      IN A        192.168.2.100
venus        IN A        192.168.2.101
saturn       IN A        192.168.2.102
mercury      IN A        192.168.2.103
ntp          IN CNAME    dns 11
dns6         IN A6  0    2002:c0a8:174::

1

$TTL defines the default time to live that should apply to all the entries in this file. In this example, entries are valid for a period of two days (2 D).

2

This is where the SOA (start of authority) control record begins:

  • The name of the domain to administer is example.com in the first position. This ends with ".", because otherwise the zone would be appended a second time. Alternatively, @ can be entered here, in which case the zone would be extracted from the corresponding entry in /etc/named.conf.

  • After IN SOA is the name of the name server in charge as a primary server for this zone. The name is expanded from dns to dns.example.com, because it does not end with a ".".

  • An e-mail address of the person in charge of this name server follows. Because the @ sign already has a special meaning, "." is entered here instead. For root@example.com the entry must read root.example.com.. The "." must be included at the end to prevent the zone from being added.

  • The ( includes all lines up to ) into the SOA record.

3

The serial number is a 10-digit number. It must be changed each time this file is changed. It is needed to inform the secondary name servers (secondary servers) of changes. For this, a 10-digit number of the date and run number, written as YYYYMMDDNN, has become the customary format (YYYY = year, MM = month and DD = day. NN is a sequence number in case you update it more than once on the given day).

4

The refresh rate specifies the time interval at which the secondary name servers verify the zone serial number. In this case, one day.

5

The retry rate specifies the time interval at which a secondary name server, in case of error, attempts to contact the primary server again. Here, two hours.

6

The expiration time specifies the time frame after which a secondary name server discards the cached data if it has not regained contact to the primary server. Here, a week.

7

The last entry in the SOA record specifies the negative caching TTL—the time for which results of unresolved DNS queries from other servers may be cached.

8

The IN NS specifies the name server responsible for this domain. dns is extended to dns.example.com because it does not end with a ".". There can be several lines like this—one for the primary and one for each secondary name server. If notify is not set to no in /etc/named.conf, all the name servers listed here are informed of the changes made to the zone data.

9

The MX record specifies the mail server that accepts, processes, and forwards e-mails for the domain example.com. In this example, this is the host mail.example.com. The number in front of the host name is the preference value. If there are multiple MX entries, the mail server with the smallest value is taken first. If mail delivery to this server fails, the entry with the next-smallest value is used.

10

This and the following lines are the actual address records where one or more IP addresses are assigned to host names. The names are listed here without a "." because they do not include their domain, so example.com is added to them all. Two IP addresses are assigned to the host gate, as it has two network cards. Wherever the host address is a traditional one (IPv4), the record is marked with A. If the address is an IPv6 address, the entry is marked with AAAA.

Note
Note: IPv6 syntax

The IPv6 record has a slightly different syntax than IPv4. Because of the fragmentation possibility, it is necessary to provide information about missed bits before the address. To fill up the IPv6 address with the needed number of 0, add two colons at the correct place in the address.

pluto     AAAA 2345:00C1:CA11::1234:5678:9ABC:DEF0
pluto     AAAA 2345:00D2:DA11::1234:5678:9ABC:DEF0

11

The alias ntp can be used to address dns (CNAME means canonical name).

The pseudo domain in-addr.arpa is used for the reverse lookup of IP addresses into host names. It is appended to the network part of the address in reverse notation. So 192.168 is resolved into 168.192.in-addr.arpa. See Example 39.7, “Reverse lookup”.

Example 39.7: Reverse lookup
$TTL 2D 1
168.192.in-addr.arpa.   IN SOA dns.example.com. root.example.com. ( 2
                        2003072441      ; serial
                        1D              ; refresh
                        2H              ; retry
                        1W              ; expiry
                        2D )            ; minimum

                        IN NS           dns.example.com. 3

1.5                     IN PTR          gate.example.com. 4
100.3                   IN PTR          www.example.com.
253.2                   IN PTR          cups.example.com.

1

$TTL defines the standard TTL that applies to all entries here.

2

The configuration file should activate reverse lookup for the network 192.168. Given that the zone is called 168.192.in-addr.arpa, it should not be added to the host names. Therefore, all host names are entered in their complete form—with their domain and with a "." at the end. The remaining entries correspond to those described for the previous example.com example.

See Example 39.6, “The /var/lib/named/example.com.zone file” for detail on the entries within this record.

3

This line specifies the name server responsible for this zone. This time, however, the name is entered in its complete form with the domain and a "." at the end.

4

This, and the following lines, are the pointer records hinting at the IP addresses on the respective hosts. Only the last part of the IP address is entered at the beginning of the line, without the "." at the end. Appending the zone to this (without the .in-addr.arpa) results in the complete IP address in reverse order.

Normally, zone transfers between different versions of BIND should be possible without any problems.

39.7 Dynamic update of zone data

The term dynamic update refers to operations by which entries in the zone files of a primary server are added, changed or deleted. This mechanism is described in RFC 2136. Dynamic update is configured individually for each zone entry by adding an optional allow-update or update-policy rule. Zones to update dynamically should not be edited by hand.

Transmit the entries to update to the server with the command nsupdate. For the exact syntax of this command, check the man page for nsupdate (man 8 nsupdate). For security reasons, any such update should be performed using TSIG keys as described in Section 39.8, “Secure transactions”.

39.8 Secure transactions

Secure transactions can be made with transaction signatures (TSIGs) based on shared secret keys (also called TSIG keys). This section describes how to generate and use such keys.

Secure transactions are needed for communication between different servers and for the dynamic update of zone data. Making the access control dependent on keys is much more secure than merely relying on IP addresses.

Generate a TSIG key with the following command (for details, see man tsig-keygen):

> sudo tsig-keygen -a hmac-md5 host1-host2 > host1-host2.key

This creates a file with the name host1-host2.key with contents that may look as follows:

key "host1-host2" {                       |
    algorithm hmac-md5;
    secret "oHpBLgtcZso6wxnRTWdJMA==";
};

The file must be transferred to the remote host, preferably in a secure way (using scp, for example). To enable a secure communication between host1 and host2, the key must be included in the /etc/named.conf file on both the local and the remote server.

key host1-host2 {
 algorithm hmac-md5;
 secret "ejIkuCyyGJwwuN3xAteKgg==";
};
Warning
Warning: File permissions of /etc/named.conf

Make sure that the permissions of /etc/named.conf are properly restricted. The default for this file is 0640, with the owner being root and the group named. As an alternative, move the keys to an extra file with specially limited permissions, which is then included from /etc/named.conf. To include an external file, use:

include  "filename"

Replace filename with an absolute path to your file with keys.

To enable the server host1 to use the key for host2 (which has the address 10.1.2.3 in this example), the server's /etc/named.conf must include the following rule:

server 10.1.2.3 {
  keys { host1-host2. ;};
};

Analogous entries must be included in the configuration files of host2.

Add TSIG keys for any ACLs (access control lists, not to be confused with file system ACLs) that are defined for IP addresses and address ranges to enable transaction security. The corresponding entry could look like this:

allow-update { key host1-host2. ;};

This topic is discussed in more detail in the BIND Administrator Reference Manual under update-policy.

39.9 DNS security

DNSSEC, or DNS security, is described in RFC 2535. The tools available for DNSSEC are discussed in the BIND Manual.

A zone considered secure must have one or several zone keys associated with it. These are generated with dnssec-keygen, as are the host keys. The DSA encryption algorithm is currently used to generate these keys. The public keys generated should be included in the corresponding zone file with an $INCLUDE rule.

With the command dnssec-signzone, you can create sets of generated keys (keyset- files), transfer them to the parent zone in a secure manner, and sign them. This generates the files to include for each zone in /etc/named.conf.

39.10 More information

For more information, see the BIND Administrator Reference Manual from the bind-doc package, which is installed under /usr/share/doc/packages/bind/arm. Consider additionally consulting the RFCs referenced by the manual and the manual pages included with BIND. /usr/share/doc/packages/bind/README.SUSE contains up-to-date information about BIND in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.