Setting UP a Local network DNS Server using bind9 for debian
Installing bind9 and dns utilities
I assume that you already have a working Debian or Ubuntu installation. Lets install the bind9 package and dns utilities from Debian repository.
Configure your Linux system
Add this information to your /etc/hostname
Edit your /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost 192.168.100.1 main.debian.lan main # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts ::1 ip6-localhost ip6-loopback fe00::0 ip6-localnet ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix ff02::1 ip6-allnodes ff02::2 ip6-allrouters ff02::3 ip6-allhosts
Edit your /etc/resolv.conf
and add this information.
search debian.local nameserver 192.168.100.1 nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
This is where Linux looks to find out how it should perform DNS lookups.
Lets create a zone
The zone files (or database files) are the heart of your BIND system. This is where all the information is stored on what hostname goes with what ip address.
Before we create a zone file, lets edit first the local configuration file /etc/bind/named.conf.local.
and the zone file data.
// // Do any local configuration here // // Consider adding the 1918 zones here, if they are not used in your // organization //include "/etc/bind/zones.rfc1918"; zone "debian.lan" { type master; file "db.debian.lan"; }; zone "100.168.192.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "db.192.168.100"; };
Lets start creating a zone file in /var/cache/bind/ directory. Create a file called db.debian.lan
And add the following entry
$TTL 604800 @ IN SOA main.debian.lan. admin.debian.lan. ( 2008080101 ;serial 04800 ;refresh 86400 ;retry 2419200 ;expire 604800 ;negative cache TTL ) @ IN NS main.debian.lan. @ IN A 192.168.100.1 @ IN MX 10 main.debian.lan. main IN A 192.168.100.1 www IN CNAME main ubuntu IN A 192.168.100.2
Lets create the reverse DNS zone file called db.192.168.100
and the the following entry.
$TTL 604800 @ IN SOA main.debian.lan. admin.debian.lan. ( 2008080101 ;serial 604800 ;refresh 86400 ;retry 2419200 ;expire 604800 ;negative cache TTL ) @ IN NS main.debian.lan. @ IN A 192.168.100.1 1 IN PTR main.debian.lan. 2 IN PTR ubuntu.debian.lan.
The zone files are created, you can check your zone file configurations using these utilities:
Lets edit the file /etc/bind/named.conf.options
forwarders { 202.78.97.41; 202.78.97.3; };
Uncomment the line forwarders and add your ISP’s DNS server.
Lets restart our DNS server, and test using the tool dig.
dig debian.lan
You should see the following message
; <<>> DiG 9.3.4 <<>> debian.lan ;; global options: printcmd ;; Got answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 54950 ;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 1 ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;debian.lan. IN A ;; ANSWER SECTION: debian.lan. 64800 IN A 192.168.100.1 ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: debian.lan. 64800 IN NS main.debian.lan. ;; ADDITIONAL SECTION: main.debian.lan. 64800 IN A 192.168.100.1 ;; Query time: 1 msec ;; SERVER: 192.168.100.1#53(192.168.100.1) ;; WHEN: Tue Aug 5 09:33:40 2008 ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 79
Test your reverse DNS
If you see this message, you have successfully installed the DNS server.
; <<>> DiG 9.3.4 <<>> -x debian.lan ;; global options: printcmd ;; Got answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 42510 ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0 ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;lan.debian.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: in-addr.arpa. 10800 IN SOA A.ROOT-SERVERS.NET. dns-ops.ARIN.NET. 2008080416 1800 900 691200 10800 ;; Query time: 952 msec ;; SERVER: 192.168.100.1#53(192.168.100.1) ;; WHEN: Tue Aug 5 09:34:25 2008 ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 108
You can also check your DNS configuration using nslookup and host command.
nslookup 192.168.100.1
host debian.lan
host 192.168.0.1
All computers in the LAN are going to use 192.168.100.1 as a nameserver, this can be set manually by setting statically:
then put this information.
nameserver 192.168.100.1
Have fun!