how to setup Bind in CentOS 5

BIND is an open-source software that implements the Domain Name System (DNS) protocols for the Internet. The name BIND stands for “Berkeley Internet Name Domain”. This article describes how to install and configure BIND in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 or CentOS 5.

Installing BIND

The steps below will install the chrooted BIND and the GUI configuration tool.

1. Type in the command below to install BIND.

yum install bind-chroot system-config-bind

2. Start the named service. Learn how to start and stop services.

3. Open the TCP port 53 and UDP port 53. Learn how to configure the firewall.

Configuring BIND

The steps shows how to configure BIND using the GUI configuration tool.

1. Click System, select Administration and click Domain Name System. This will launch the BIND Configuration GUI window.

2. Click Ok to initialize BIND with default values.

3. BIND has now been initialized. We can now create a DNS zone and add DNS records.

Creating a DNS Zone

The steps below will show you how to create a DNS zone named “acme.local”.

1. To create a DNS zone, right click DNS Server, select Add and click Zone.

2. In the New Zone window, click the Ok button under Class.

3. Next, click the Ok button under Origin Type.

4. Provide the name of the zone and click Ok.

5. Review the various settings and click Ok.

6. Click Save and click Yes.

7. You now have a new DNS zone.

Creating DNS Records

The steps below describes how to create some of the most common DNS records.

Creating an A record

An A record maps a hostname to its IPv4 address.

1. Right click the zone you where you want to add an A record, select Add and click A IPv4 Address.

2. Specify the Domain Name and IPv4 Address and click Ok.

3. Click Save and click Yes.

Creating a CNAME record

A CNAME record specifies that a domain name is an alias of another domain name.

1. Right click the zone you where you want to add a CNAME record, select Add and click CNAME Alias.

2. Specify the Domain Name and Canonical Name (target domain name) and click Ok.

3. Click Save and click Yes.

Creating an MX record

An MX record specifies how Internet e-mail should be routed using SMTP.

1. Right click the zone you where you want to add an MX record, select Add and click MX Mail Exchange.

2. Specify the Mail Server Name and click Ok.

3. Click Save and click Yes.

Testing BIND

To test your BIND setup, you can use the nslookup and dig utility.

1. Type the command below in a terminal window to use nslookup

nslookup mail.acme.local localhost

Replace mail.acme.local with the domain you want to check. If your DNS server is not on localhost then change it.

2. Type in the command below to query any records using dig.

dig @localhost acme.local ANY

Replace acme.local with your own domain. If your DNS server is not on localhost then change it.