HP UX Internet Express Software 18 BIND Domain Name Server Administration, BIND Overview, Important BIND Files and Directories

18 BIND Domain Name Server Administration

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical, distributed database that stores information for mapping Internet host names to IP addresses and vice versa. It also stores mail routing information and other data used by Internet applications.

The Internet Express version of the Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) implements a domain name server for the Tru64 UNIX operating system.

This chapter provides information that helps you enable the latest version of BIND and manage the BIND server. It contains the following sections:

•BIND overview (Section : BIND Overview).

•Location of BIND files and directories (Section : Important BIND Files and Directories).

•Enabling the latest version of BIND provided by Internet Express (Section : Enabling BIND).

•Running the BIND startup script (Section : Running the BIND Startup Script).

•Documentation provided with BIND Section : BIND Documentation.

BIND Overview

The Internet Domain Name System (DNS) consists of the syntax to specify the names of entities in the Internet in a hierarchical manner, the rules used for delegating authority over names, and the system implementation that actually maps names to Internet addresses. The Internet Express version of the Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) implements a domain name server for the Tru64 UNIX operating system. Using BIND, DNS data is maintained in a group of hierarchical databases.

Clients look up information in DNS by calling a resolver library. This library sends queries to one or more name servers and interprets the responses. BIND Version 9.3.6-P1 server, provided with Internet Express, is a complete rewrite of the Internet Software Consortium's BIND code base that contains both a name server and a resolver library.

Important BIND Files and Directories

Table 34 contains information about files, commands, and reference pages that helps you administer your BIND server. For further information about performing specific BIND administrative tasks, see the BIND administrator's reference and other information from the BIND Web site:

http://www.isc.org/products/BIND/bind9.html

Table 34 BIND Files and Directories

Directory	Contents
/usr/sbin/bind9enable	Script that switches the version of BIND from Version 8 to
	Version 9.3.6-P1, and back again.
/usr/sbin/init.d/named	Script that starts and stops the service.
/usr/sbin/	Location of BIND binary files. See Table 35 for descriptions
	of these files.
/usr/lib/bind9	Location of static and shared libraries.
usr/internet/docs/bind9/	Location of BIND documentation. See Section : BIND
	Documentation for complete information about the contents
	of this directory and other BIND documentation.
/usr/share/man/	Location of BIND reference pages.
usr/include/bind9	BIND Version 9.3.6-P1 header files. Existing header files
	for older versions of BIND are not overwritten. These files
	are placed in a subdirectory under the bind9 directory.

260 BIND Domain Name Server Administration