Master BIND DNS Server: Installation, Configuration, and Testing Guide

Linux System Administrator Advanced: BIND DNS Server from Beginner to Master

Case: BIND Installation and Configuration Details

1. Install BIND Packages

Install BIND using the package manager or an RPM file.

yum install bind -y

rpm -ivh bind-x.x.x-x.el7.x86_64.rpm

2. Locate BIND Configuration Files

The main configuration file is /etc/named.conf, which controls global settings such as zones, forwarders, and ACLs. Zone configuration files include /etc/named.rfc1912.zones and /var/named/named.localhost.

3. Configure the Primary DNS Server (Forward Lookup)

Edit /etc/named.conf to set the listening port, directory, and allowed query networks.

options {
    listen-on port 53 { 20.0.0.100; };
    directory "/var/named";
    allow-query { any; };
};

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

Create the zone file my.com.zone with SOA, NS, A, MX, CNAME, and wildcard records.

$TTL 1D
@ IN SOA my.com. rname.invalid (
    0 ; serial
    1D ; refresh
    1H ; retry
    1W ; expire
    3H ) ; minimum
NS my.com.
A 20.0.0.11
MX 10 mail.my.com.
www IN A 20.0.0.20
ftp IN CNAME www
* IN A 20.0.0.20

4. Configure Reverse Lookup

Add a reverse zone for the IP range.

zone "0.0.20.in-addr.arpa" IN {
    type master;
    file "my.com.zone.local";
    allow-update { none; };
};

In the reverse zone file, map IP addresses back to hostnames.

$TTL 1D
@ IN SOA my.com. rname.invalid (
    0 ; serial
    1D ; refresh
    1H ; retry
    1W ; expire
    3H ) ; minimum
NS my.com.
100 IN PTR www.my.com.
200 IN PTR mail.my.com.

5. Set Up Master‑Slave DNS Synchronization

On the master server, allow zone transfers to the slave IP.

zone "my.com" IN {
    type master;
    file "my.com.zone";
    allow-transfer { 20.0.0.12; };
};
zone "0.0.20.in-addr.arpa" IN {
    type master;
    file "my.com.zone.local";
    allow-transfer { 20.0.0.12; };
};

On the slave server, configure the zones as slaves.

zone "my.com" IN {
    type slave;
    file "slaves/my.com.zone";
    masters { 20.0.0.11; };
};
zone "0.0.20.in-addr.arpa" IN {
    type slave;
    file "slaves/my.com.zone.local";
    masters { 20.0.0.11; };
};

6. Start BIND Service and Test Resolution

Start or restart the BIND service and disable firewalls if necessary.

systemctl start named
systemctl stop firewalld
setenforce 0

Test forward lookups on Windows using nslookup and on Linux using host or nslookup commands.

nslookup www.my.com 20.0.0.11
host 20.0.0.100

Verify reverse lookups similarly.