NAMED(8)                             BSD                              NAMED(8)



NAME
     named - internet domain name server

SYNOPSIS
     named [ -d debuglevel ] [ -p port# ] [ bootfile ]

DESCRIPTION
     named is the internet domain name server (see RFC883 for more details).
     Without any arguments, named reads the default boot file /etc/named.boot,
     reads any initial data, and listens for queries.

OPTIONS
     -d debuglevel
                Print debugging information.  A number after the d determines
                the level of messages printed.

     -p port#   Use a different port number. The default is the standard port
                number as listed in /etc/services.

     bootfile   Any additional argument is taken as the name of the boot file.
                The boot file contains information about where the name server
                is to get its initial data.

EXAMPLE
     The following example shows a boot file:

     ;
     ;    boot file for name server
     ;
     ; type         domain         source file or host
     ;
     domain         berkeley.edu
     primary        berkeley.edu    named.db
     secondary      cc.berkeley.edu 10.2.0.78 128.32.0.10
     cache          .               named.ca

     The first line specifies that berkeley.edu is the domain for which the
     server is authoritative.  The second line states that the file named.db
     contains authoritative data for the domain berkeley.edu. The file
     named.db contains data in the master file format described in RFC883,
     except that all domain names are relative to the origin; in this case,
     berkeley.edu (see below for a more detailed description).

     The third line specifies that all authoritative data under
     cc.berkeley.edu is to be transferred from the name server at 10.2.0.78.
     If the transfer fails it will try 128.32.0.10 and continue trying the
     address, up to 10, listed on this line.  The secondary copy is also
     authoritative for the specified domain.

     The fourth line specifies data in named.ca is to be placed in the cache
     (i.e., well known data such as locations of root domain servers).  The
     file named.ca is in the same format as named.db.

MASTER FILE FORMAT
     The master file consists of entries of the form:

          $INCLUDE <filename>
          $ORIGIN <domain>
          <domain> <opt_ttl> <opt_class> <type> <resource_record_data>

     where domain is dot " ." for root, "@" for the current origin, or a

     standard domain name. If domain is a standard domain name that does not
     end with ".", the current origin is appended to the domain. Domain names
     ending with "." are unmodified.  The opt_ttl field is an optional integer
     number for the time-to-live field.  It defaults to zero.  The opt_class
     field is the object address type; currently only one type is supported,
     IN, for objects connected to the DARPA internet.  The type field is one
     of the following tokens; the data expected in the resource_record_data
     field is in parentheses.

     A        A host address (dotted quad)

     NS       An authoritative name server (domain)

     MX       A mail exchanger (domain)

     CNAME    The canonical name for an alias (domain)

     SOA      Marks the start of a zone of authority (5 numbers (see RFC883))

     MB       A mailbox domain name (domain)

     MG       A mail group member (domain)

     MR       A mail rename domain name (domain)

     NULL     A null resource record (no format or data)

     WKS      A well-known service description (not implemented yet)

     PTR      A domain name pointer (domain)

     HINFO    Host information (cpu_type OS_type)

     MINFO    Mailbox or mail list information (request_domain error_domain)

NOTES
     The following signals have the specified effect when sent to the server
     process using the kill(1) command.

     SIGHUP    Causes server to read named.boot and reload database.

     SIGINT    Dumps current data base and cache to /usr/tmp/named_dump.db

     SIGUSR1   Turns on debugging; each SIGUSR1 increments debug level.

     SIGUSR2   Turns off debugging completely.

FILES
     /etc/named.boot             name server configuration boot file
     /etc/named.conf             configuration file
     /etc/named.pid              the process id
     /usr/tmp/named.run          debug output
     /usr/tmp/named_dump.db      dump of the name servers database

     Configuration files read by /etc/named.boot:
     /etc/named.ca
     /etc/named.hosts
     /etc/named.local
     /etc/named.rev

SEE ALSO
     kill(1), gethostbyname(3N), signal(3c), resolver(3), resolver(5);
     Configuring and Managing TCP/IP;
     RFC882, RFC883, RFC973, RFC974, Name Server Operations Guide for BIND.