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named(8)

NAME

       named - Internet domain name server

SYNOPSIS

       named [ -4 ]  [ -6 ]  [ -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/namedb/named.conf, read any initial data, and listen for
       queries.

OPTIONS

       -4     Use  IPv4  only even if the host machine is capable of IPv6.  -4
	      and -6 are mutually exclusive.

       -6     Use IPv6 only even if the host machine is capable of  IPv4.   -4
	      and -6 are mutually exclusive.

       -c config-file
	      Use  config-file	as  the  configuration	file  instead  of  the
	      default, /etc/namedb/named.conf. To ensure  that	reloading  the
	      configuration  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 abso-
	      lute 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
	      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/namedb/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

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