Thursday, July 5, 2012
How to Set Up a Custom DNS Server Using BIND9?
Setting up a small or private DNS server is an effective way to handle a network that has more than just a few computers when you need to improve efficiency. BIND9 is the most widely deployed DNS server, and it can be configured to meet a variety of needs. This version was actually written from scratch in order to fix some of the intrinsic difficulties with the previous architectures. Now it is relatively easy to deploy and maintain your custom server configuration to provide the power and efficiency you need.
1. Begin with the Hardware
The hardware requirements are not all that steep when you are setting up your server. In fact, many home DNS servers are made from repurposed systems that can no longer handle their other tasks. BIND9 can be run on an i486-class CPU, but if you’re going to process dynamic updates or use the DNSSEC and IPv6 features, you might want something that’s a little more robust. Memory is also a concern, and you should make sure that you have enough to load all the relevant zone and cache data.
2. Install BIND9
Depending on the operating system, you may already have BIND9 available to you and you can simply install the package. If it’s there, you may have to compile the source code from a different location.
3. Configure the System
The default configuration for BIND9 is usually to act as a caching server. If that’s the case, all you need is the IP numbers of the DNS servers and you’ll be ready to go. If you want to configure it to perform other functions, though, there are a few more options available to you. Some of the common setups also include a primary or secondary master server, a hybrid of the caching and primary DNS servers, and stealth servers that have a different organizational structure.
4. “Chroot” the Install
Chrooting Bind9 is an important step in the setup process because this will eliminate root privileges from the configuration. In other words, if someone were to exploit a BIND vulnerability, they would only be able to access BIND’s folder structure and not get in any further where they could do some serious damage. AppArmor is another option that will help accomplish the same functionality.
5. Test and Log
There are some effective tools and applications that can be used to test and troubleshoot DNS issues (such as the dnsutils package), but it is also important to log and track activity on the server. BIND9 actually offers a range of logging configurations, but the two main options are the channel option (which tells logs where to go) and the category options (which will delineate exactly what should be logged in the first place).
Setting up a DNS server in Ubunto or Red Hat or other Linux systems isn’t too difficult, and it is possible to use these networks as a private internal domain at home or as a simple alternative to an enterprise-level network at work. Follow these steps and make sure that you continue to monitor the network and troubleshoot any issues as they arise and you can start to see a marked improvement in performance.
Further resources for setting up BIND9:
John Hodge is a writer for RackMountPro. When he’s not writing he loves computers and everything related to them, gaming and spending time with his family. In addition to selling Linus and Windows servers RackMountPro has been producing and selling rackmount servers and storage since 2001.
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