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DNS and BIND, 5th Edition

Help for System Administrators

By Paul Albitz, Cricket Liu

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Release Date: February 2009

Pages: 648

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DNS and BIND tells you everything you need to work with one of the Internet's fundamental building blocks: the distributed host information database that's responsible for translating names into addresses, routing mail to its proper destination, and even listing phone numbers with the new ENUM standard. This book brings you up-to-date with the latest changes in this crucial service.

The fifth edition covers BIND 9.3.2, the most recent release of the BIND 9 series, as well as BIND 8.4.7. BIND 9.3.2 contains further improvements in security and IPv6 support, and important new features such as internationalized domain names, ENUM (electronic numbering), and SPF (the Sender Policy Framework).

Whether you're an administrator involved with DNS on a daily basis or a user who wants to be more informed about the Internet and how it works, you'll find that this book is essential reading.

Topics include:

What DNS does, how it works, and when you need to use it
How to find your own place in the Internet's namespace
Setting up name servers
Using MX records to route mail
Configuring hosts to use DNS name servers
Subdividing domains (parenting)
Securing your name server: restricting who can query your server, preventing unauthorized zone transfers, avoiding bogus servers, etc.
The DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) and Transaction Signatures (TSIG)
Mapping one name to several servers for load sharing
Dynamic updates, asynchronous notification of change to a zone, and incremental zone transfers
Troubleshooting: using nslookup and dig, reading debugging output, common problems
DNS programming using the resolver library and Perl's Net::DNS module

Chapter 1 Background
1. A (Very) Brief History of the Internet
2. On the Internet and Internets
3. The Domain Name System, in a Nutshell
4. The History of BIND
5. Must I Use DNS?
Chapter 2 How Does DNS Work?
1. The Domain Namespace
2. The Internet Domain Namespace
3. Delegation
4. Nameservers and Zones
5. Resolvers
6. Resolution
7. Caching
Chapter 3 Where Do I Start?
1. Getting BIND
2. Choosing a Domain Name
Chapter 4 Setting Up BIND
1. Our Zone
2. Setting Up Zone Data
3. Setting Up a BIND Configuration File
4. Abbreviations
5. Hostname Checking
6. Tools
7. Running a Primary Nameserver
8. Running a Slave Nameserver
9. Adding More Zones
10. What's Next?
Chapter 5 DNS and Electronic Mail
1. MX Records
2. Movie.edu's Mail Server
3. What's a Mail Exchanger, Again?
4. The MX Algorithm
5. DNS and Email Authentication
Chapter 6 Configuring Hosts
1. The Resolver
2. Resolver Configuration
3. Sample Resolver Configurations
4. Minimizing Pain and Suffering
5. Additional Configuration Files
6. The Windows XP Resolver
Chapter 7 Maintaining BIND
1. Controlling the Nameserver
2. Updating Zone Datafiles
3. Organizing Your Files
4. Changing System File Locations
5. Logging
6. Keeping Everything Running Smoothly
Chapter 8 Growing Your Domain
1. How Many Nameservers?
2. Adding More Nameservers
3. Registering Nameservers
4. Changing TTLs
5. Planning for Disasters
6. Coping with Disaster
Chapter 9 Parenting
1. When to Become a Parent
2. How Many Children?
3. What to Name Your Children
4. How to Become a Parent: Creating Subdomains
5. Subdomains of in-addr.arpa Domains
6. Good Parenting
7. Managing the Transition to Subdomains
8. The Life of a Parent
Chapter 10 Advanced Features
1. Address Match Lists and ACLs
2. DNS Dynamic Update
3. DNS NOTIFY (Zone Change Notification)
4. Incremental Zone Transfer (IXFR)
5. Forwarding
6. Views
7. Round-Robin Load Distribution
8. Nameserver Address Sorting
9. Preferring Nameservers on Certain Networks
10. A Nonrecursive Nameserver
11. Avoiding a Bogus Nameserver
12. System Tuning
13. Compatibility
14. The ABCs of IPv6 Addressing
15. Addresses and Ports
Chapter 11 Security
1. TSIG
2. Securing Your Nameserver
3. DNS and Internet Firewalls
4. The DNS Security Extensions
Chapter 12 nslookup and dig
1. Is nslookup a Good Tool?
2. Interactive Versus Noninteractive
3. Option Settings
4. Avoiding the Search List
5. Common Tasks
6. Less Common Tasks
7. Troubleshooting nslookup Problems
8. Best of the Net
9. Using dig
Chapter 13 Reading BIND Debugging Output
1. Debugging Levels
2. Turning On Debugging
3. Reading Debugging Output
4. The Resolver Search Algorithm and Negative Caching (BIND 8)
5. The Resolver Search Algorithm and Negative Caching (BIND 9)
6. Tools
Chapter 14 Troubleshooting DNS and BIND
1. Is NIS Really Your Problem?
2. Troubleshooting Tools and Techniques
3. Potential Problem List
4. Transition Problems
5. Interoperability and Version Problems
6. TSIG Errors
7. Problem Symptoms
Chapter 15 Programming with the Resolver and Nameserver Library Routines
1. Shell Script Programming with nslookup
2. C Programming with the Resolver Library Routines
3. Perl Programming with Net::DNS
Chapter 16 Architecture
1. External, Authoritative DNS Infrastructure
2. Forwarder Infrastructure
3. Internal DNS Infrastructure
4. Operations
5. Keeping Up with DNS and BIND
Chapter 17 Miscellaneous
1. Using CNAME Records
2. Wildcards
3. A Limitation of MX Records
4. Dial-up Connections
5. Network Names and Numbers
6. Additional Resource Records
7. ENUM
8. Internationalized Domain Names
9. DNS and WINS
10. DNS, Windows, and Active Directory

Appendix DNS Message Format and Resource Records
1. Master File Format
2. DNS Messages
3. Resource Record Data
Appendix BIND Compatibility Matrix
Appendix Compiling and Installing BIND on Linux
1. Instructions for BIND 8
2. Instructions for BIND 9
Appendix Top-Level Domains
Appendix BIND Nameserver and Resolver Configuration
1. BIND Nameserver Boot File Directives and Configuration File Statements
2. BIND 8 Configuration File Statements
3. BIND 9 Configuration File Statements
4. BIND Resolver Statements
5. BIND 9 Options Statement
Colophon

Books & Videos

DNS and BIND, 5th Edition

Help for System Administrators

Read on Safari with a 10-day trial

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Background

A (Very) Brief History of the Internet

On the Internet and Internets

The Domain Name System, in a Nutshell

The History of BIND

Must I Use DNS?

Chapter 2 How Does DNS Work?

The Domain Namespace

The Internet Domain Namespace

Delegation

Nameservers and Zones

Resolvers

Resolution

Caching

Chapter 3 Where Do I Start?

Getting BIND

Choosing a Domain Name

Chapter 4 Setting Up BIND

Our Zone

Setting Up Zone Data

Setting Up a BIND Configuration File

Abbreviations

Hostname Checking

Tools

Running a Primary Nameserver

Running a Slave Nameserver

Adding More Zones

What's Next?

Chapter 5 DNS and Electronic Mail

MX Records

Movie.edu's Mail Server

What's a Mail Exchanger, Again?

The MX Algorithm

DNS and Email Authentication

Chapter 6 Configuring Hosts

The Resolver

Resolver Configuration

Sample Resolver Configurations

Minimizing Pain and Suffering

Additional Configuration Files

The Windows XP Resolver

Chapter 7 Maintaining BIND

Controlling the Nameserver

Updating Zone Datafiles

Organizing Your Files

Changing System File Locations

Logging

Keeping Everything Running Smoothly

Chapter 8 Growing Your Domain

How Many Nameservers?

Adding More Nameservers

Registering Nameservers

Changing TTLs

Planning for Disasters

Coping with Disaster

Chapter 9 Parenting

When to Become a Parent

How Many Children?

What to Name Your Children

How to Become a Parent: Creating Subdomains

Subdomains of in-addr.arpa Domains

Good Parenting

Managing the Transition to Subdomains

The Life of a Parent

Chapter 10 Advanced Features

Address Match Lists and ACLs

DNS Dynamic Update

DNS NOTIFY (Zone Change Notification)

Incremental Zone Transfer (IXFR)

Forwarding

Views

Round-Robin Load Distribution

Nameserver Address Sorting

Preferring Nameservers on Certain Networks

A Nonrecursive Nameserver