Posting to Newsgroup

[Andris Kalnozols]

> Bryan A. Zimmer wrote:
>
> Finally, allow me to put in a good word for the utility "h2n", which
> is a Perl program that essentially takes your /etc/hosts file and,
> with a bunch of command line parms, creates some pretty nice zone
> and configuration files. You may have to go in and clean up a bit,
> but the utility will give you a good start if you are stuck. It is
> available on ftp.isc.org.

Thanks for the kind word, Bryan.  IMHO, /etc/hosts can be a very
convenient place from which your DNS data can be generated.  Granted,
it's not exactly sexy hi-tech but, with the error-checking that "h2n"
does, your DNS zone files will be RFC-compliant instead of a broken
nuisance.

For those who find /etc/hosts to be an archaic anathema, "h2n" can
function alternatively or additionally to "dnswalk" as a tool to
verify the compliance of DNS zones that are generated by other means.  
Whatever makes you happy as long as due diligence is exercised for
your particular part(s) of the global DNS.

I should have version 2.40 ready by Bastille Day, 14 July.  A couple
of bug fixes plus a check for non-glue at or below a zone cut.
See < ftp://ftp.hpl.hp.com/pub/h2n/h2n.tar.gz > for versions may be
newer than the one included in the latest BIND 8 distribution.

Andris Kalnozols
Hewlett Packard Laboratories
andris at hpl.hp.com