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<refentry id="man.named">

<refentryinfo>

<date>June 30, 2000</date>

</refentryinfo>

<refmeta>

<refentrytitle><application>named</application></refentrytitle>

<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>

<refmiscinfo>BIND9</refmiscinfo>

</refmeta>

<refnamediv>

<refname><application>named</application></refname>

<refpurpose>Internet domain name server</refpurpose>

</refnamediv>

<docinfo>

<copyright>

<year>2004</year>

<year>2005</year>

<holder>Internet Systems Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")</holder>

</copyright>

<copyright>

<year>2000</year>

<year>2001</year>

<year>2003</year>

<holder>Internet Software Consortium.</holder>

</copyright>

</docinfo>

<refsynopsisdiv>

<cmdsynopsis>

<command>named</command>

<arg><option>-4</option></arg>

<arg><option>-6</option></arg>

<arg><option>-c <replaceable class="parameter">config-file</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg><option>-d <replaceable class="parameter">debug-level</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg><option>-f</option></arg>

<arg><option>-g</option></arg>

<arg><option>-n <replaceable class="parameter">#cpus</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg><option>-p <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg><option>-s</option></arg>

<arg><option>-t <replaceable class="parameter">directory</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg><option>-u <replaceable class="parameter">user</replaceable></option></arg>

<arg><option>-v</option></arg>

<arg><option>-x <replaceable class="parameter">cache-file</replaceable></option></arg>

</cmdsynopsis>

</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>

<title>DESCRIPTION</title>

<para><command>named</command>

is a Domain Name System (DNS) server,

part of the BIND 9 distribution from ISC. For more

information on the DNS, see RFCs 1033, 1034, and 1035.

</para>

<para>

When invoked without arguments, <command>named</command>

will

read the default configuration file

<filename>/etc/named.conf</filename>, read any initial

data, and listen for queries.

</para>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>OPTIONS</title>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>

<term>-4</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Use IPv4 only even if the host machine is capable of IPv6.

<option>-4</option> and <option>-6</option> are mutually

exclusive.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-6</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Use IPv6 only even if the host machine is capable of IPv4.

<option>-4</option> and <option>-6</option> are mutually

exclusive.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-c <replaceable class="parameter">config-file</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Use <replaceable class="parameter">config-file</replaceable> as the

configuration file instead of the default,

<filename>/etc/named.conf</filename>. To

ensure that reloading the configuration file continues

to work after the server has changed its working

directory due to to a possible

<option>directory</option> option in the configuration

file, <replaceable class="parameter">config-file</replaceable> should be

an absolute pathname.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-d <replaceable class="parameter">debug-level</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Set the daemon's debug level to <replaceable class="parameter">debug-level</replaceable>.

Debugging traces from <command>named</command> become

more verbose as the debug level increases.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-f</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Run the server in the foreground (i.e. do not daemonize).

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-g</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Run the server in the foreground and force all logging

to <filename>stderr</filename>.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-n <replaceable class="parameter">#cpus</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Create <replaceable class="parameter">#cpus</replaceable> worker threads

to take advantage of multiple CPUs. If not specified,

<command>named</command> will try to determine the

number of CPUs present and create one thread per CPU.

If it is unable to determine the number of CPUs, a

single worker thread will be created.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-p <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Listen for queries on port <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>. If not

specified, the default is port 53.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-s</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Write memory usage statistics to <filename>stdout</filename> on exit.

</para>

<note>

<para>

This option is mainly of interest to BIND 9 developers

and may be removed or changed in a future release.

</para>

</note>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-t <replaceable class="parameter">directory</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para><function>chroot()</function>

to <replaceable class="parameter">directory</replaceable> after

processing the command line arguments, but before

reading the configuration file.

</para>

<warning>

<para>

This option should be used in conjunction with the

<option>-u</option> option, as chrooting a process

running as root doesn't enhance security on most

systems; the way <function>chroot()</function> is

defined allows a process with root privileges to

escape a chroot jail.

</para>

</warning>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-u <replaceable class="parameter">user</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para><function>setuid()</function>

to <replaceable class="parameter">user</replaceable> after completing

privileged operations, such as creating sockets that

listen on privileged ports.

</para>

<note>

<para>

On Linux, <command>named</command> uses the kernel's

capability mechanism to drop all root privileges

except the ability to <function>bind()</function> to

a

privileged port and set process resource limits.

Unfortunately, this means that the <option>-u</option>

option only works when <command>named</command> is

run

on kernel 2.2.18 or later, or kernel 2.3.99-pre3 or

later, since previous kernels did not allow privileges

to be retained after <function>setuid()</function>.

</para>

</note>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-v</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Report the version number and exit.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-x <replaceable class="parameter">cache-file</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Load data from <replaceable class="parameter">cache-file</replaceable> into the

cache of the default view.

</para>

<warning>

<para>

This option must not be used. It is only of interest

to BIND 9 developers and may be removed or changed in a

future release.

</para>

</warning>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>SIGNALS</title>

<para>

In routine operation, signals should not be used to control

the nameserver; <command>rndc</command> should be used

instead.

</para>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>

<term>SIGHUP</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Force a reload of the server.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>SIGINT, SIGTERM</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Shut down the server.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

<para>

The result of sending any other signals to the server is undefined.

</para>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>CONFIGURATION</title>

<para>

The <command>named</command> configuration file is too complex

to describe in detail here. A complete description is provided

in the

<citetitle>BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual</citetitle>.

</para>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>FILES</title>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>

<term><filename>/etc/named.conf</filename></term>

<listitem>

<para>

The default configuration file.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term><filename>/var/run/named.pid</filename></term>

<listitem>

<para>

The default process-id file.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>SEE ALSO</title>

<para><citetitle>RFC 1033</citetitle>,

<citetitle>RFC 1034</citetitle>,

<citetitle>RFC 1035</citetitle>,

<citerefentry>

<refentrytitle>rndc</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>

</citerefentry>,

<citerefentry>

<refentrytitle>lwresd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>

</citerefentry>,

<citetitle>BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual</citetitle>.

</para>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>AUTHOR</title>

<para><corpauthor>Internet Systems Consortium</corpauthor>

</para>

</refsect1>

</refentry><!--