Proto-FAQ
Bill Larson
wllarso at swcp.com
Wed Sep 15 16:54:31 UTC 1999
Included is a beginning for a bind-users/comp.protocols.dns.bind FAQ.
Please review it and make comments upon it. Additions, corrections,
and just about anything with this will be appreciated.
I'm hoping to be able to post this regularly to the bind-users
mailing list to head off some of the more common questions that
we are seeing.
Bill Larson (wllarso at swcp.com)
============================================================
bind-users/comp.protocols.dns.bind Frequently Asked Questions
============================================================
0.0 Table of contents
1.0 FAQ information
2.0 DNS information
3.0 BIND information
4.0 SMTP interactions
5.0 Troubleshooting
6.0 Misc.
7.0 References
8.0 Contributers
1.0 FAQ information - "What is this?"
(First Created 9/15/99)
1.1 General FAQ information
The following is an attempt at creating a list of Frequently Asked
Questions, and answers, for subjects that are commonly asked in
the bind-info mailing list or comp.protocols.dns.bind newsgroup.
1.2 Where to get this FAQ
It is desired that this information will be posted once a week to
the mailing list to circumvent people asking the same questions
over and over.
If anyone is willing to host this FAQ as a small web page,
I would be interested. Also, it they were interested in
supporting a BIND FAQ-O-Matic on their web site, I would
be extremely willing to move this information there.
1.3 Request for input
Any assistance that is offered in maintaining and adding to this
FAQ will be greatly appreciated. This can consist of:
1) Identifying frequently asked questions
2) Providing answers to frequently asked questions
3) Organizing this information
4) Correcting grammer (please!)
Comments and additions will be greatfully appreciated. I am NOT
a writer and so submissions that are complete, clearly worded,
and with correct grammer and spelling, will be the most helpful.
I really don't want to have to perform too much editing.
Please note that there are MANY questions identified in this FAQ
that do NOT have answers (yet!). I would appreciate answers to
these questions which were originally identified by Cricket Liu
as FAQ candidates. (When these questions are completed, I will
remove this paragraph.)
1.4 Disclaimer
Please note that this information provided ***AS IS***. It is
hoped that people find it useful and correct, but absolutely
no guarantees are offered. As a blanket disclaimer, USE THIS
INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK!
1.5 FAQ Maintainer
Please address comments and additions to Bill Larson
(wllarso at swcp.com).
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2.0 DNS information
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This section is for questions that are DNS specific questions,
not questions about DNS client or server implementations.
2.1 Why doesn't this work:
foo IN CNAME
foo IN MX 10 foo
2.2 How do I set up reverse mapping for a network smaller than a /24?
2.3 What characters are legal in an Internet hostname?
2.4 How large can a serial number be?
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3.0 BIND information
========================================================================
This section is for questions specific to BIND.
3.1 Is BIND Y2K compliant?
BIND and DNS basically does not use dates for any purpose, so
it should be Y2K compliant. If you use the date to generate
the serial number for the SOA record, it is possible to cause a
Y2K problem.
For a statement about the Y2K issue with BIND, please refer to
<http://www.isc.org/view.cgi?y2k.phtml> for more information
directly from the maintainers of the BIND software package.
3.2 How do I get rid of the error "No default TTL set using SOA
minimum instead"?
You are using BIND 8.2 or later. This version incorporates the
"$TTL" directive in a zone file to specify the "default TTL"
for the zone. Add a "$TTL 9999" directive prior to the SOA
record for the zone. The "9999" following the "$TTL"
identifies the default TTL in seconds.
(Question - What are "good" values for the default TTL?)
3.3 My in-addr.arpa zones seem to be set up correctly, but I only
my name servers can reverse map addresses, not other name
servers on the Internet.
3.4 How can I find out what the values in BIND's stats output mean?
3.5 Can I run a name server on a dynamic IP address?
3.6 How do I set up split DNS?
3.7 BIND-4/BIND-8
3.7.1 What are the differences between BIND 4 and BIND 8?
3.7.2 What do I need to do to migrate DNS from a BIND 4 server
to a BIND 8 server?
You need to upgrade you BIND software, including named, named-xfr,
and ndc. This can be done by compiling the sources for BIND 8
that are available from <http://www.isc.org>.
The "named.boot" configuration file used with BIND 4 is no longer
supported. The configuration information for BIND 8 is kept in
the "named.conf" file, which has a completely different syntax.
To insure a correct configuration for the new server, PLEASE
READ THE named.conf(4) MAN PAGE.
To assist in this migration the BIND 8 sources include a
named-bootconf Perl script which will translate the old
"named.boot" file into a new "named.conf" file.
If you are migrating to BIND 8.2 or later, you will need to add a
"$TTL" directive at the beginning of each zone file. Refer to
question 3.2 for further information about this $TTL directive.
(Thanks to Barry Margolin. Barry's response to this question
was heavily paraphrased for this FAQ answer.)
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4.0 SMTP/Mail interactions
========================================================================
This section is for questions about how DNS interacts with
SMTP mail.
4.1 Why am I seeing the error
> 553 mail.foo.com. config error: mail loops back to me (MX problem?)
> 554 <info at foo.com>... Local configuration error
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5.0 Troubleshooting
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Hints, tips, and suggestions for solving DNS problems
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6.0 Misc
========================================================================
Anything that can't be better catagorized in some other
section.
6.1 Why has my domain name disappeared from the com/net/org name
servers? (Or: How do I check to see whether I've paid my
bill?)
6.2 Granit Canyon public DNS service
6.2.1 Why isn't Granite Canyon's web interface working?
6.2.2 Why aren't Granite Canyon's name servers working?
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7.0 References
========================================================================
The developers of the BIND software are available from
<http://www.isc.org/view.cgi?/products/BIND/index.phtml>.
Anyone that is responsible for administering a DNS name
server using BIND should have a copy of "BND & BIND", 3rd
Edition, Paul Albitz & Cricket Liu, O'Reilly and Assc.
<http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/dns3>. Older editions are
extremely useful, but don't cover the newer versions of BIND.
Andras Salamon maintains the terrific "DNS Resource Directory"
available from <http://www.dns.net/dnsrc>
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8.0 Contributers
========================================================================
Many people are involved in providing assistance to users of
the BIND software. The following is a list of people that
have provided input to this list. Unfortunately, it is easily
possible for me to have missed someone here. If you feel that
someone should be added (such as yourself), please feel free to
contact me and I will add their name.
Please note that I will NOT include an email address for these
individuals unless specificly requested by that individual.
I'm sure that everyone already gets enough junk mail without me
greating an additional source of a list of names.
Cricket Liu (initial FAQ questions)
Barry Margolin (BIND 4->8 migration)
Again, thanks to everyone who participates in either the
bind-users mailing list or comp.protocols.dns.bind newsgroup.
Without your questions and answers, this FAQ would go nowhere.
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mailing list