AW: Strange db-files in working directory

[Mark Andrews]

> Hello,
> 
> > They were created by the name server, It uses temporary files to store
> > in-progress inbound zone transfers. When the zone transfer completes
> > successfully, the temporary files get renamed to whatever was
> > specified as the filename for the zone in the slave name server's
> > configuration. These temporary files might be left behind when a
> > zone transfer doesn't complete properly: for instance because the TCP
> > connection breaks.
> 
> I was thinking of something like that... I can't really tell what might have
> happened, there are no truncated lines in those files. Then again, they are
> a little smaller than the actual zone file.
> It might, however, be related to some permission-weirdness we had on that
> machine, or maybe a timeout from the master... 
> 
> >     Benjamin> 2. Is it safe for me to delete them?
> > 
> > Yes, provided nothing has the files open. lsof is your friend.
> 
> I was able to remove both files without problems. =)
> 
> > BTW, these are Frequently Asked Questions. Please consult the list
> > archives before posting. You may find that your question has been
> > asked and answered many times already.
> 
> Sorry, I should have thought of that.
> 
> >     Benjamin> (Yes, I should upgrade; No, 9.3 isn't available for our
> >     Benjamin> OS, yet...)
> > 
> > Why? Doesn't the 9.3 source compile on your chosen OS?
> 
> To be honest, I haven't tried. =(
> The machine runs z/OS, not a standard unix. I am not sure if there is a 
> C compiler installed; I am pretty sure I won't get permission to build BIND f
> rom
> source. Also, IBM seems to have modified its version of BIND a little(1), so 
> I am not sure
> if - and how - it would work at all. Not to speak of nasty EBCDIC-issues I mi
> ght encounter...
> At least IBM has announced to port 9.3 to z/OS...
> 
> Thank you very much,
> Benjamin
> 
> (1) Their version of BIND4 allowed you to include load-balancing into DNS,
> and their BIND9 allows for a BIND4-compatibility mode.

	The db-XXXXXXXX files are copies of zone files named rejected
	when loading.  There would have been log messages associated
	with its creation.   Migrating from BIND 8 to BIND 9 can
	create them due to differing handling of missing TTL fields.
	As can manually editing them.

	Named just re-transfers the offending zone.  There are basically
	there for forensic analysis.  You can safely remove them it they
	are not constantly being created.

	The temporary files have a different prefix (tmp-XXXXXXXXXX)
	and get renamed to that specified in the zone declaration once
	the write to disk is complete.

	Mark
--
Mark Andrews, ISC
1 Seymour St., Dundas Valley, NSW 2117, Australia
PHONE: +61 2 9871 4742                 INTERNET: Mark_Andrews at isc.org