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$Id: named.8,v 1.1 2000/06/27 21:49:15 jim Exp $

.Dd Jun 30, 2000 .Dt NAMED 8 .Os BIND9 9 .Sh NAME .Nm named .Nd Internet domain name server (DNS) .Sh SYNOPSIS .Nm named .Op Fl c Ar config-file .Op Fl d Ar debuglevel .Op Fl f g s .Op Fl n Ar #cpus .Op Fl p Ar port# .Op Fl t Ar directory .Op Fl u Ar user-id .Op Fl x Ar cache-file .Sh DESCRIPTION .Nm named is the ISC implementation of an Internet domain name server. See RFCs 1033, 1034, and 1035 for more information on the Internet domain name system. For historical reasons, the ISC's DNS software is known as BIND - Berkeley Internet Nameserver Distribution - because it was originally supplied with BSD x releases.

p Without any arguments, .Nm named will read the default configuration file

a /etc/named.conf , read any initial data, and listen for queries. It is also possible to use the BIND9 name server as a lightweight resolver server .Nm lwresd . However when operating as a lightweight resolver server, .Nm named is functionally and logically distinct from a conventional name server. More information can be found in .Xr lwresd 8 .

p Although some command-line options can be used with .Nm named , the name server's behaviour is controlled by its configuration file,

a /etc/named.conf . Refer to the BIND9 Administrator Reference Manual for further details.

p The options to .Nm named are as follows: l -tag -width Ds t Fl c use .Ar config-file as the configuration file instead of the default,

a /etc/resolv.conf . t Fl d set the daemon's debug level to .Ar debuglevel . Debugging traces from .Nm named become more verbose as the debug level increases. t Fl f run .Nm named in the foreground. t Fl g also runs the name server in the foreground, but logs to .Dv stderr . t Fl n create threads that use .Ar #cpus CPUs if the hardware and software permits this. When .Ar #cpus is set to zero, .Nm named will use 1 CPU. t Fl p listen for queries on port .Ar port# instead of the default port number, 53. t Fl s write memory usage statistics to .Dv stdout on exit. This option is only of interest to BIND9 developers and may be removed or changed in a future release. t Fl t tells .Nm named to chroot() to .Ar directory immediately after reading its config file. t Fl u run .Nm named as UID .Ar user-id . .Nm named will change its UID after it has carried out any privileged operations, such as writing the PID file or creating a socket that listens on port number 53. t Fl x load DNS data from .Ar cache-file . This option must not be used. It is only of interest to BIND9 developers and may be removed or changed in a future release. .El .Sh SIGNALS In routine operation, signals should not be used to \*qcontrol\*q the name server. .Nm rndc should be used instead. Sending the name server a .Dv SIGHUP signal forces a reload of the server. A .Dv SIGINT or .Dv SIGTERM signal can be used to gracefully shut down the server. With the exception of .Dv SIGPIPE which .Nm named uses internally, sending any other signals to the name server will have an undefined outcome. The most likely result will be for the name server to terminate. It could hang because an internal deadlock was created when the name server took delivery of the signal. .Sh CONFIGURATION FILE FORMAT
.Nm named 's
configuration file is too complex to describe in detail here.
A complete description is provided in the BIND9 Administrator
Reference Manual.
.Sh FILES l -tag -width /var/run/named.pid -compact t Pa /etc/named.conf default configuration file t Pa /var/run/named.pid default process-id file .El .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr RFC1033 , .Xr RFC1034 , .Xr RFC1035 , .Xr named.conf 5 , .Xr zonefile 5 , .Xr rndc 8 , .Xr lwresd 8 , BIND9 Administrator Reference Manual, June 2000.