DNS

DNS, especially DNS on Linux servers is both a staple of many data centers, and a bit daunting at first. Here are some basic resources:

The "Bind" software

• • The official web page for bind is here.

    • This is a good place for official documentation.

    • In many cases you may not end up getting the software here; all major Linux distributions have a version of Bind available. Right now, that is a version of Bind 9, usually a bit behind the newest version on the Bind web site, and also usually selected from a the stable releases available. For example, as I write this, Ubuntu 14.04 offers Bind 9.9.5 which the Bind web site shows as supported through 2017.\

In addition to the Bind documentation, you might find these books (available on Safari) useful:

Pro DNS and BIND 10

By: Ron Aitchison

Publisher: Apress

Pub. Date: February 24, 2011

Print ISBN-13: 978-1-4302-3048-9

Web ISBN-10: 1-4302-3048-7

DNS and BIND on IPv6

By: Cricket Liu

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.

Pub. Date: May 20, 2011

Print ISBN-13: 978-1-4493-0519-2

Older

DNS and BIND, 5th Edition

By: Cricket Liu; Paul Albitz

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.

Pub. Date: May 26, 2006

Print ISBN-13: 978-0-596-10057-5

Print ISBN-10: 0-596-10057-4

Tools

You will need tools to determine what your server is doing. Here are the ones you should look at:

• • dig (on Unix/Linux)

  • host (similar functions compared to dig, a matter of preference)

  • nslookup (an older tool, still widely used from Windows clients)

  • nsupdate (a tool to send dynamic DNS requests)