Specifications

Starting the Name Server BIND
The name server BIND is already preconfigured in SuSE Linux, so you can
easily start it right after installing the distribution.
If you already have a functioning Internet connection and have entered
127.0.0.1 as name server for the local host in /etc/resolv.conf, you
should normally already have a working name resolution without hav-
ing to know the DNS of the provider. BIND carries out the name reso-
lution via the root name server, a notably slower process. Normally, the
DNS of the provider should be entered with its IP address in the config-
uration file /etc/named.conf under forwarders to ensure effective and
secure name resolution. If this works so far, the name server will run as a
pure “caching-only” name server. Only when you configure its own zones
will it become a proper DNS. A simple example of this can be found under
/usr/share/doc/packages/bind8/sample-config. However, do not
set up any official domains until assigned one by the responsible institution.
Even if you have your own domain and it is managed by the provider, you
are better off not to use it, as BIND would otherwise not forward any more
requests for this domain. The provider’s web server, for example, would not
be accessible for this domain.
To start the name server, enter rcnamed start at the command line as
root. If “done” appears to the right in green, named, as the name server
process is called, has been started successfully. Immediately test the func-
tionality of the name server on the local system with the nslookup pro-
gram. The local host should appear as the default server with the address
127.0.0.1. If this is not the case, the wrong name server has probably been
entered in /etc/resolv.conf or this file does not exist. For the first test,
enter nslookup “localhost” or “127.0.0.1” at the prompt, which should al-
ways work. If you receive an error message instead, such as “No response
from server”, check to see if named is actually running using the command
rcnamed status. If the name server is not starting or is exhibiting faulty
behavior, find the possible causes of this logged in /var/log/messages.
If you have a dial-up connection, be sure that BIND8, once it starts, will re-
view the root name server. If it does not manage this because an Internet
connection has not been made, this can cause the DNS requests not to be re-
solved other than for locally-defined zones. BIND9 behaves differently, but
requires quite a bit more resources than BIND8.
To implement the name server of the provider or one already running on
your network as “forwarder”, enter one or more of these in the options sec-
tion under forwarders. See File 8.
158 Starting the Name Server BIND