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
	      privileged  port	and  set  process  resource limits.  Unfortu-
	      nately, 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
       Reference 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 Systems Consortium



BIND9				June 30, 2000			     NAMED(8)