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Chapter 16. Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND)

  stats

  Dumps the current

named

stats to the

/var/named/named.stats

file.

  stop

  Stops the server gracefully, saving any dynamic update and IXFR data before exiting.

Occasionally, you may want to override the default settings in the

/etc/rndc.conf

file. The follow 

ing options are available:

   c

configuration file

  Tells

rndc

to use a configuration file other than the default

U

U

/etc/rndc.conf

.

   p

port number

  Specifies a different port number to use for the

rndc

connection other

U

U

than the default 953.

   s

server

  Tells

rndc

to send the command to a server other than the

default server

U

U

option in

/etc/rndc.conf

file.

In order for this to work, you must have configured the other

named

service to accept commands

from your host and have the key for that nameservice.

   y

key name

  Allows you to specify a key other than the

default key

option in

U

U

/etc/rndc.conf

file.

Additional information about these options can be found in the

rndc

man page.

16.4. Advanced Features of BIND

Most BIND implementations only use

named

to provide name resolution services or to act as an

authority for a particular domain or sub domain. However, BIND version 9 has a number of advanced

features that, when properly configured, allow for a more secure and efficient DNS service.

Caution

Some of these advanced features, such as DNSSEC, TSIG, and IXFR, should only be used in net 

work environments with nameservers that support the features. If your network environment includes

non BIND or older BIND nameservers, check to see if a particular advanced feature is available

before attempting to use it.

Do not assume another type of nameserver supports all of these features, as many do not.

All of the features discussed here are discussed in greater detail in the BIND 9 Administrator Reference

Manual. See Section 16.6 for places to find this manual.

16.4.1. DNS Protocol Enhancements

BIND supports Incremental Zone Transfers (IXFR), where slave nameserver will only download the

updated portions of a zone modified on a master nameserver. The standard transfer AXFR process

requires that the entire zone be transferred to each slave nameserver for even the smallest change.

For very popular domains with very lengthy zone files and many slave nameservers, IXFR makes the

notification and update process much less resource intensive.

Note that IXFR is only available if you are also using dynamic updating to make changes to master

zone records. If you are manually editing zone files to make changes, AXFR will be used. More

information on dynamic updating is available in the BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.