HP-UX IP Address and Client Management Administrator's Guide HP-UX 11i v2, HP-UX 11i v3

Configuring a Slave Name Server
After configuring the master name server, you must set up the slave server to share the load
with the master server, or to handle the entire load if the master server is down. The
/etc/named.boot file informs the server whether it is a master or a slave server. The difference
between a master server and a slave server is the source from which they obtain the data. The
master server reads its data from files. A slave server loads its data over the network from another
name server, usually the master name server, using a zone transfer. The slave server cannot load
data from another slave name server.
The advantage of a slave server is that you need to maintain only one set of the DNS database
files, and you need not synchronize these data files with other name servers.
A slave server can operate in either of the following methods:
• The slave server can store the authoritative data in backup files on its disk. When this type
of a slave server reboots, the slave server reads its data from the backup files and does not
to rely on loading data from a master server. After it is booted, the slave server checks with
the master server to verify that its data is up to date.
• The slave server can store the authoritative data only in the memory. When this type of slave
server boots, it always loads its data from a master server.
To set up a slave server, you need the following files:
• named.conf
• db.127.0.0
• db.cache
This section explains how to configure a slave server in your domain. It discusses the following
topics:
• “Creating Slave Server Data Files Using hosts_to_named” (page 75)
• “Creating the Slave Server’s Data Files Manually” (page 76)
• “Setting the Default Domain Name” (page 77)
Creating Slave Server Data Files Using hosts_to_named
This section discusses the steps involved in creating the slave server configuration files using
the hosts_to_named command.
1. If you want your slave server to store its data in backup files on its disk, run the
hosts_to_named command on the slave server as follows:
/usr/sbin/hosts_to_named
-z primary_server’s_IP_address
If you want your slave server to always load its data from the master server, run
hosts_to_named on the slave server as follows:
/usr/sbin/hosts_to_named
-Z primary_server’s_IP_address
2. If you run hosts_to_named with the -z option, copy the file conf.sec.save from the
current directory on the master server to the /etc directory on the slave server.
If you run hosts_to_named with the -Z option, copy the file conf.sec from the current
directory on the master server to the /etc directory on the slave server.
3. On the slave server, rename /etc/conf.sec.save or /etc/conf.sec to
/etc/named.conf.
4. Copy the files /etc/named.data/db.cache and /etc/named.data/db.127.0.0 from
the master server to the slave server.
The format of the data files copied from the master server is described in “Configuring a Master
Name Server” (page 66).
Configuring a Slave Name Server 75