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<refentry id="man.named">

<refentryinfo>

<date>May 21, 2009</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>

<year>2006</year>

<year>2007</year>

<year>2008</year>

<year>2009</year>

<year>2012</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>-m <replaceable class="parameter">flag</replaceable></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>-S <replaceable class="parameter">#max-socks</replaceable></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>-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>-m <replaceable class="parameter">flag</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Turn on memory usage debugging flags. Possible flags are

<replaceable class="parameter">usage</replaceable>,

<replaceable class="parameter">trace</replaceable>,

<replaceable class="parameter">record</replaceable>,

<replaceable class="parameter">size</replaceable>, and

<replaceable class="parameter">mctx</replaceable>.

These correspond to the ISC_MEM_DEBUGXXXX flags described in

<filename>&lt;isc/mem.h&gt;</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>-S <replaceable class="parameter">#max-socks</replaceable></term>

<listitem>

<para>

Allow <command>named</command> to use up to

<replaceable class="parameter">#max-socks</replaceable> sockets.

</para>

<warning>

<para>

This option should be unnecessary for the vast majority

of users.

The use of this option could even be harmful because the

specified value may exceed the limitation of the

underlying system API.

It is therefore set only when the default configuration

causes exhaustion of file descriptors and the

operational environment is known to support the

specified number of sockets.

Note also that the actual maximum number is normally a little

fewer than the specified value because

<command>named</command> reserves some file descriptors

for its internal use.

</para>

</warning>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

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

<listitem>

<para>Chroot

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(2)</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>Setuid

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(2)</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(2)</function>.

</para>

</note>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-v</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Report the version number and exit.

</para>

</listitem>

</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>

<term>-V</term>

<listitem>

<para>

Report the version number and build options, 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>

<para>

<command>named</command> inherits the <function>umask</function>

(file creation mode mask) from the parent process. If files

created by <command>named</command>, such as journal files,

need to have custom permissions, the <function>umask</function>

should be set explicitly in the script used to start the

<command>named</command> process.

</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/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>named-checkconf</refentrytitle>

<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>

</citerefentry>,

<citerefentry>

<refentrytitle>named-checkzone</refentrytitle>

<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>

</citerefentry>,

<citerefentry>

<refentrytitle>rndc</refentrytitle>

<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>

</citerefentry>,

<citerefentry>

<refentrytitle>lwresd</refentrytitle>

<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>

</citerefentry>,

<citerefentry>

<refentrytitle>named.conf</refentrytitle>

<manvolnum>5</manvolnum>

</citerefentry>,

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

</para>

</refsect1>

<refsect1>

<title>AUTHOR</title>

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

</para>

</refsect1>

</refentry><!--