2 - Copyright (C) 2004-2006 Internet Systems Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")
3 - Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2003 Internet Software Consortium.
5 - Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
6 - purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
7 - copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
9 - THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND ISC DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH
10 - REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
11 - AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL ISC BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT,
12 - INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM
13 - LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE
14 - OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR
15 - PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
17 <!-- $Id: named.html,v 1.4.2.1.4.13 2006/06/29 13:02:30 marka Exp $ -->
20 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
22 <meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.70.1">
24 <body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="refentry" lang="en">
25 <a name="id2482688"></a><div class="titlepage"></div>
26 <div class="refnamediv">
28 <p><span class="application">named</span> — Internet domain name server</p>
30 <div class="refsynopsisdiv">
32 <div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">named</code> [<code class="option">-4</code>] [<code class="option">-6</code>] [<code class="option">-c <em class="replaceable"><code>config-file</code></em></code>] [<code class="option">-d <em class="replaceable"><code>debug-level</code></em></code>] [<code class="option">-f</code>] [<code class="option">-g</code>] [<code class="option">-n <em class="replaceable"><code>#cpus</code></em></code>] [<code class="option">-p <em class="replaceable"><code>port</code></em></code>] [<code class="option">-s</code>] [<code class="option">-t <em class="replaceable"><code>directory</code></em></code>] [<code class="option">-u <em class="replaceable"><code>user</code></em></code>] [<code class="option">-v</code>] [<code class="option">-x <em class="replaceable"><code>cache-file</code></em></code>]</p></div>
34 <div class="refsect1" lang="en">
35 <a name="id2549491"></a><h2>DESCRIPTION</h2>
37 <span><strong class="command">named</strong></span> is a Domain Name System (DNS) server,
38 part of the BIND 9 distribution from ISC. For more
39 information on the DNS, see RFCs 1033, 1034, and 1035.
42 When invoked without arguments, <span><strong class="command">named</strong></span> will
43 read the default configuration file
44 <code class="filename">/etc/named.conf</code>, read any initial
45 data, and listen for queries.
48 <div class="refsect1" lang="en">
49 <a name="id2549516"></a><h2>OPTIONS</h2>
50 <div class="variablelist"><dl>
51 <dt><span class="term">-4</span></dt>
53 Use IPv4 only even if the host machine is capable of IPv6.
54 <code class="option">-4</code> and <code class="option">-6</code> are mutually
57 <dt><span class="term">-6</span></dt>
59 Use IPv6 only even if the host machine is capable of IPv4.
60 <code class="option">-4</code> and <code class="option">-6</code> are mutually
63 <dt><span class="term">-c <em class="replaceable"><code>config-file</code></em></span></dt>
65 Use <em class="replaceable"><code>config-file</code></em> as the
66 configuration file instead of the default,
67 <code class="filename">/etc/named.conf</code>. To
68 ensure that reloading the configuration file continues
69 to work after the server has changed its working
70 directory due to to a possible
71 <code class="option">directory</code> option in the configuration
72 file, <em class="replaceable"><code>config-file</code></em> should be
75 <dt><span class="term">-d <em class="replaceable"><code>debug-level</code></em></span></dt>
77 Set the daemon's debug level to <em class="replaceable"><code>debug-level</code></em>.
78 Debugging traces from <span><strong class="command">named</strong></span> become
79 more verbose as the debug level increases.
81 <dt><span class="term">-f</span></dt>
83 Run the server in the foreground (i.e. do not daemonize).
85 <dt><span class="term">-g</span></dt>
87 Run the server in the foreground and force all logging
88 to <code class="filename">stderr</code>.
90 <dt><span class="term">-n <em class="replaceable"><code>#cpus</code></em></span></dt>
92 Create <em class="replaceable"><code>#cpus</code></em> worker threads
93 to take advantage of multiple CPUs. If not specified,
94 <span><strong class="command">named</strong></span> will try to determine the
95 number of CPUs present and create one thread per CPU.
96 If it is unable to determine the number of CPUs, a
97 single worker thread will be created.
99 <dt><span class="term">-p <em class="replaceable"><code>port</code></em></span></dt>
101 Listen for queries on port <em class="replaceable"><code>port</code></em>. If not
102 specified, the default is port 53.
104 <dt><span class="term">-s</span></dt>
107 Write memory usage statistics to <code class="filename">stdout</code> on exit.
109 <div class="note" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;">
110 <h3 class="title">Note</h3>
112 This option is mainly of interest to BIND 9 developers
113 and may be removed or changed in a future release.
117 <dt><span class="term">-t <em class="replaceable"><code>directory</code></em></span></dt>
120 <code class="function">chroot()</code> to <em class="replaceable"><code>directory</code></em> after
121 processing the command line arguments, but before
122 reading the configuration file.
124 <div class="warning" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;">
125 <h3 class="title">Warning</h3>
127 This option should be used in conjunction with the
128 <code class="option">-u</code> option, as chrooting a process
129 running as root doesn't enhance security on most
130 systems; the way <code class="function">chroot()</code> is
131 defined allows a process with root privileges to
132 escape a chroot jail.
136 <dt><span class="term">-u <em class="replaceable"><code>user</code></em></span></dt>
139 <code class="function">setuid()</code> to <em class="replaceable"><code>user</code></em> after completing
140 privileged operations, such as creating sockets that
141 listen on privileged ports.
143 <div class="note" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;">
144 <h3 class="title">Note</h3>
146 On Linux, <span><strong class="command">named</strong></span> uses the kernel's
147 capability mechanism to drop all root privileges
148 except the ability to <code class="function">bind()</code> to a
149 privileged port and set process resource limits.
150 Unfortunately, this means that the <code class="option">-u</code>
151 option only works when <span><strong class="command">named</strong></span> is run
152 on kernel 2.2.18 or later, or kernel 2.3.99-pre3 or
153 later, since previous kernels did not allow privileges
154 to be retained after <code class="function">setuid()</code>.
158 <dt><span class="term">-v</span></dt>
160 Report the version number and exit.
162 <dt><span class="term">-x <em class="replaceable"><code>cache-file</code></em></span></dt>
165 Load data from <em class="replaceable"><code>cache-file</code></em> into the
166 cache of the default view.
168 <div class="warning" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;">
169 <h3 class="title">Warning</h3>
171 This option must not be used. It is only of interest
172 to BIND 9 developers and may be removed or changed in a
179 <div class="refsect1" lang="en">
180 <a name="id2550002"></a><h2>SIGNALS</h2>
182 In routine operation, signals should not be used to control
183 the nameserver; <span><strong class="command">rndc</strong></span> should be used
186 <div class="variablelist"><dl>
187 <dt><span class="term">SIGHUP</span></dt>
189 Force a reload of the server.
191 <dt><span class="term">SIGINT, SIGTERM</span></dt>
193 Shut down the server.
197 The result of sending any other signals to the server is undefined.
200 <div class="refsect1" lang="en">
201 <a name="id2550049"></a><h2>CONFIGURATION</h2>
203 The <span><strong class="command">named</strong></span> configuration file is too complex
204 to describe in detail here. A complete description is
205 provided in the <em class="citetitle">BIND 9 Administrator Reference
209 <div class="refsect1" lang="en">
210 <a name="id2550066"></a><h2>FILES</h2>
211 <div class="variablelist"><dl>
212 <dt><span class="term"><code class="filename">/etc/named.conf</code></span></dt>
214 The default configuration file.
216 <dt><span class="term"><code class="filename">/var/run/named.pid</code></span></dt>
218 The default process-id file.
222 <div class="refsect1" lang="en">
223 <a name="id2550105"></a><h2>SEE ALSO</h2>
225 <em class="citetitle">RFC 1033</em>,
226 <em class="citetitle">RFC 1034</em>,
227 <em class="citetitle">RFC 1035</em>,
228 <span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">rndc</span>(8)</span>,
229 <span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">lwresd</span>(8)</span>,
230 <span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">named.conf</span>(5)</span>,
231 <em class="citetitle">BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual</em>.
234 <div class="refsect1" lang="en">
235 <a name="id2550157"></a><h2>AUTHOR</h2>
237 <span class="corpauthor">Internet Systems Consortium</span>