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<section xmlns:db="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" version="5.0" xml:id="dlz-info"><info><title>DLZ (Dynamically Loadable Zones)</title></info>
<para>
DLZ (Dynamically Loadable Zones) is an extension to BIND 9 that allows
zone data to be retrieved directly from an external database. There is
no required format or schema. DLZ drivers exist for several different
database backends including PostgreSQL, MySQL, and LDAP and can be
written for any other.
</para>
<para>
Historically, DLZ drivers had to be statically linked with the <command>named</command>
binary and were turned on via a configure option at compile time (for
example, <userinput>"configure --with-dlz-ldap"</userinput>).
Currently, the drivers provided in the BIND 9 tarball in
<filename>contrib/dlz/drivers</filename> are still linked this
way.
</para>
<para>
In BIND 9.8 and higher, it is possible to link some DLZ modules
dynamically at runtime, via the DLZ "dlopen" driver, which acts as a
generic wrapper around a shared object implementing the DLZ API. The
"dlopen" driver is linked into <command>named</command> by default, so configure options
are no longer necessary when using these dynamically linkable drivers,
but are still needed for the older drivers in
<filename>contrib/dlz/drivers</filename>.
</para>
<para>
When the DLZ module provides data to <command>named</command>, it does so in text format.
The response is converted to DNS wire format by <command>named</command>. This
conversion, and the lack of any internal caching, places significant
limits on the query performance of DLZ modules. Consequently, DLZ is
not recommended for use on high-volume servers. However, it can be
used in a hidden master configuration, with slaves retrieving zone
updates via AXFR. (Note, however, that DLZ has no built-in support for
DNS notify; slaves are not automatically informed of changes to the
zones in the database.)
</para>
<section><info><title>Configuring DLZ</title></info>
<para>
A DLZ database is configured with a <command>dlz</command>
statement in <filename>named.conf</filename>:
</para>
<screen>
dlz example {
database "dlopen driver.so <option>args</option>";
search yes;
};
</screen>
<para>
This specifies a DLZ module to search when answering queries; the
module is implemented in <filename>driver.so</filename> and is
loaded at runtime by the dlopen DLZ driver. Multiple
<command>dlz</command> statements can be specified; when
answering a query, all DLZ modules with <option>search</option>
set to <literal>yes</literal> will be queried to find out if
they contain an answer for the query name; the best available
answer will be returned to the client.
</para>
<para>
The <option>search</option> option in the above example can be
omitted, because <literal>yes</literal> is the default value.
</para>
<para>
If <option>search</option> is set to <literal>no</literal>, then
this DLZ module is <emphasis>not</emphasis> searched for the best
match when a query is received. Instead, zones in this DLZ must be
separately specified in a zone statement. This allows you to
configure a zone normally using standard zone option semantics,
but specify a different database back-end for storage of the
zone's data. For example, to implement NXDOMAIN redirection using
a DLZ module for back-end storage of redirection rules:
</para>
<screen>
dlz other {
database "dlopen driver.so <option>args</option>";
search no;
};
zone "." {
type redirect;
dlz other;
};
</screen>
</section>
<section><info><title>Sample DLZ Driver</title></info>
<para>
For guidance in implementation of DLZ modules, the directory
<filename>contrib/dlz/example</filename> contains a basic
dynamically-linkable DLZ module--i.e., one which can be
loaded at runtime by the "dlopen" DLZ driver.
The example sets up a single zone, whose name is passed
to the module as an argument in the <command>dlz</command>
statement:
</para>
<screen>
dlz other {
database "dlopen driver.so example.nil";
};
</screen>
<para>
In the above example, the module is configured to create a zone
"example.nil", which can answer queries and AXFR requests, and
accept DDNS updates. At runtime, prior to any updates, the zone
contains an SOA, NS, and a single A record at the apex:
</para>
<screen>
example.nil. 3600 IN SOA example.nil. hostmaster.example.nil. (
123 900 600 86400 3600
)
example.nil. 3600 IN NS example.nil.
example.nil. 1800 IN A 10.53.0.1
</screen>
<para>
The sample driver is capable of retrieving information about the
querying client, and altering its response on the basis of this
information. To demonstrate this feature, the example driver
responds to queries for "source-addr.<option>zonename</option>&gt;/TXT"
with the source address of the query. Note, however, that this
record will *not* be included in AXFR or ANY responses. Normally,
this feature would be used to alter responses in some other fashion,
e.g., by providing different address records for a particular name
depending on the network from which the query arrived.
</para>
<para>
Documentation of the DLZ module API can be found in
<filename>contrib/dlz/example/README</filename>. This directory also
contains the header file <filename>dlz_minimal.h</filename>, which
defines the API and should be included by any dynamically-linkable
DLZ module.
</para>
</section>
</section>