named

NAMED(8)                                                              NAMED(8)



NAME
       named - Internet domain name server

SYNOPSIS
       named  [  -c  config-file  ]   [ -d debug-level ]  [ -f ]  [ -g ]  [ -n
       #cpus ]  [ -p port ]  [ -s ]  [ -t directory ]  [ -u user ]  [ -v ]   [
       -x cache-file ]

DESCRIPTION
       named  is a Domain Name System (DNS) server, part of the BIND 9 distri-
       bution from ISC. For more information on the DNS, see RFCs 1033,  1034,
       and 1035.

       When  invoked without arguments, named will read the default configura-
       tion file /etc/named.conf,  read  any  initial  data,  and  listen  for
       queries.

OPTIONS
       -c config-file
              Use  config-file  as  the  configuration  file  instead  of  the
              default, /etc/named.conf. To ensure that reloading the  configu-
              ration  file  continues to work after the server has changed its
              working directory due to to a possible directory option  in  the
              configuration  file, config-file should be an absolute pathname.

       -d debug-level
              Set the daemon's debug level to debug-level.   Debugging  traces
              from named become more verbose as the debug level increases.

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

       -g     Run  the  server  in  the  foreground  and  force all logging to
              stderr.

       -n #cpus
              Create #cpus worker threads to take advantage of multiple  CPUs.
              If not specified, named 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.

       -p port
              Listen for queries on port port. If not specified,  the  default
              is port 53.

       -s     Write memory usage statistics to stdout on exit.

              Note: This option is mainly of interest to BIND 9 developers and
              may be removed or changed in a future release.


       -t directory
              chroot() to directory after processing the  command  line  argu-
              ments, but before reading the configuration file.

              Warning:  This  option should be used in conjunction with the -u
              option, as chrooting a process running as root  doesn't  enhance
              security  on  most systems; the way chroot() is defined allows a
              process with root privileges to escape a chroot jail.


       -u user
              setuid() to user after completing privileged operations, such as
              creating sockets that listen on privileged ports.

              Note:  On Linux, named uses the kernel's capability mechanism to
              drop all root privileges except the ability to bind() to a priv-
              ileged  port  and  set  process resource limits.  Unfortunately,
              this means that the -u option only works when named  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
              setuid().


       -v     Report the version number and exit.

       -x cache-file
              Load data from cache-file into the cache of the default view.

              Warning: 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.


SIGNALS
       In  routine  operation, signals should not be used to control the name-
       server; rndc should be used instead.

       SIGHUP Force a reload of the server.

       SIGINT, SIGTERM
              Shut down the server.

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


CONFIGURATION
       The named configuration file is too complex to describe in detail here.
       A  complete  description is provided in the BIND 9 Administrator Refer-
       ence Manual.

FILES
       /etc/named.conf
              The default configuration file.

       /var/run/named.pid
              The default process-id file.

SEE ALSO
       RFC 1033, RFC 1034, RFC 1035, rndc(8), lwresd(8), BIND 9  Administrator
       Reference Manual.

AUTHOR
       Internet Software Consortium



BIND9                            June 30, 2000                        NAMED(8)