How to Set Up and Configure Bind DNS on CentOS 8 – Step‑by‑Step Guide

Environment and Prerequisites

The lab runs on CentOS 8.3 (IP 192.168.100.50) inside a VMware NAT network. The target domain to resolve is test.com.

Install Required Packages

# yum install -y vim net-tools bind bind-utils

Disable SELinux and Firewall

Temporarily turn off SELinux: # setenforce 0 To disable SELinux permanently, edit /etc/sysconfig/selinux and change SELINUX=enforcing to SELINUX=disabled.

Stop and disable firewalld, then open the DNS service port:

# systemctl stop firewalld && systemctl disable firewalld
# firewall-cmd --add-service=dns --permanent
# firewall-cmd --reload

Configure Bind

The main configuration file is /etc/named.conf; zone files reside under /var/named. The service runs as the named user.

Edit the main file: # vim /etc/named.conf Typical sections include options (global settings), logging , zone definitions, and include statements. Ensure the server listens on all interfaces and permits any host to query.

Define a master zone for test.com directly in named.conf (remember the trailing semicolon):

zone "test.com" IN {
    type master;
    file "test.com.zones";
    allow-update { none; };
};

Create the Zone File

Navigate to /var/named, copy the template, and edit it:

# cd /var/named
# cp named.localhost test.com.zones
# vim test.com.zones

Key directives in the zone file: $TTL – default time‑to‑live (usually 1 day). @ IN SOA ns.test.com. rname.invalid. ( … ) – mandatory start‑of‑authority record. NS – specifies authoritative name servers. A – maps a hostname to an IPv4 address. AAAA – maps a hostname to an IPv6 address.

The $ORIGIN variable automatically appends the zone name (e.g., test.com.) to records that are not fully qualified.

Set Permissions and Start the Service

# chgrp named test.com.zones
# systemctl enable --now named

Verify DNS Resolution

Use a client on the host to query the new zone. Successful resolution confirms the configuration.

Reference: https://www.cnblogs.com/RichardLuo/p/DNS_P1.html