AW: Strange db-files in working directory

[Walkenhorst, Benjamin]

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 from
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 might 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.