named

 

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NAMED(8)                    System Manager's Manual                   NAMED(8)

NAME
     named - Internet domain name server

SYNOPSIS
     named [-c config-file] [-d debuglevel] [-f -g -s] [-n #cpus] [-p port#]
           [-t directory] [-u user-id] [-v] [-x cache-file]

DESCRIPTION
     named is a Domain Name System (DNS) server, part of the BIND 9 distribu­
     tion from ISC.  For more information on the DNS, see RFCs 1033, 1034, and
     1035.

     When invoked without arguments, named will read the default configuration
     file /etc/named.conf, read any initial data, and listen for queries.

     The options to named are as follows:

     -c      use config-file as the configuration file instead of the default,
             /etc/named.conf.  To ensure that reloading the configuration file
             continues to work after the server has changed its working direc­
             tory due to to a possible directory option in the configuration
             file, config-file should be an absolute pathname.

     -d      set the daemon's debug level to debuglevel.  Debugging traces
             from named become more verbose as the debug level increases.

     -f      run named in the foreground.

     -g      run named in the foreground and force all logging to stderr.

     -n      create #cpus worker threads to take advantage of multiple CPUs.
             If no option is given, named will try to determine the number of
             CPUs present and create one thread per CPU.  If named is unable
             to determine the number of CPUs, a single worker thread is cre­
             ated.

     -p      listen for queries on  port port# instead of the default port
             number, 53.

     -s      write memory usage statistics to stdout on exit.  This option is
             mainly of interest to BIND9 developers and may be removed or
             changed in a future release.

     -t      tells named to chroot() to directory as soon as it is finshed
             processing command line arguments, before reading its configura­
             tion file.  This should be used in conjunction with the -u
             option, as chrooting a process running as root doesn't enhance
             security on most systems - the way chroot() is defined allows a
             process with root privileges to escape the chroot jail.

     -u      run named as UID user-id.  named will change its UID after it has
             carried out any privileged operations, such as creating sockets
             that listen on privileged ports.

             On Linux, named uses the kernel's capability mechanism to drop
             all root privileges except the ability to bind() to a privileged
             port.  Unfortunately, this means that the "-u" option only works
             when named is run on 2.3.99-pre3 or later kernel, since previous
             kernels did not allow privileges to be retained after setuid().

     -v      report the version number and exit.

     -x      load data from cache-file.  into the cache of the default view.
             This option must not be used.  It is only of interest to BIND9
             developers and may be removed or changed in a future release.

SIGNALS
     In routine operation, signals should not be used to "control" the name
     server.  rndc should be used instead.  Sending the name server a SIGHUP
     signal forces a reload of the server.  A SIGINT or SIGTERM signal can be
     used to gracefully shut down the server.  Sending any other signals to
     the name server will have an undefined outcome.

FILES
     /etc/named.conf     default configuration file
     /var/run/named.pid  default process-id file

SEE ALSO
     RFC1033, RFC1034, RFC1035, rndc(8), lwresd(8), BIND9 Administrator Refer­
     ence Manual, June 2000.

BIND9 9                          Jun 30, 2000                          BIND9 9

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