Master Linux DNS with BIND: Step‑by‑Step Installation, Configuration, and Testing

DNS Service (Linux)

DNS Introduction

DNS (Domain Name System) translates domain names to IP addresses and vice versa, operating on TCP or UDP port 53. Queries first use UDP; if a response is not received, TCP is used.

Bind Software

Installation

[root@localhost ~]# dnf install bind -y
Updating Subscription Management repositories.
BaseOS 2.7 MB/s | 2.7 kB 00:00
AppStream 2.9 MB/s | 3.2 kB 00:00
Dependencies resolved.
Installing:
  bind.x86_64 32:9.16.23-24.el9_5 509 k
  bind-dnssec-doc.noarch 32:9.16.23-24.el9_5 49 k
  bind-libs.x86_64 32:9.16.23-24.el9_5 1.2 M
  bind-license.noarch 32:9.16.23-24.el9_5 14 k
  fstrm.x86_64 0.6.1-3.el9 30 k
  libmaxminddb.x86_64 1.5.2-4.el9 35 k
  libuv.x86_64 1:1.42.0-2.el9_4 151 k
  protobuf-c.x86_64 1.3.3-13.el9 37 k
  python3-bind.noarch 32:9.16.23-24.el9_5 72 k
  python3-ply.noarch 3.11-14.el9 111 k
Installing weak dependencies:
  bind-dnssec-utils.x86_64 32:9.16.23-24.el9_5 122 k
  bind-utils.x86_64 32:9.16.23-24.el9_5 213 k
Transaction Summary
Install 12 Packages
Total size: 2.6 M
Installed size: 7.2 M
Complete!

View Installed Files

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -ql bind
/etc/named.conf     # main configuration file
/etc/named.rfc1912.zones   # zone data files
/var/named          # directory for zone files
/var/named/named.empty   # forward‑lookup template
/var/named/named.localhost
/var/named/named.loopback # reverse‑lookup template
/usr/lib/systemd/system/named.service   # service unit file

Forward Zone Configuration

Example named.conf.options:

options {
    directory "/var/named";
    forwarders { 8.8.8.8; 8.8.4.4; };
    dnssec-validation auto;
    auth-nxdomain no;
    listen-on-v6 { any; };
};

Example named.conf.local:

zone "example.com" {
    type master;
    file "/etc/bind/db.example.com";
};

Sample zone file db.example.com:

$TTL    604800
@       IN      SOA     ns1.example.com. admin.example.com. (
                        2         ; Serial
                        604800    ; Refresh
                        86400     ; Retry
                        2419200   ; Expire
                        604800 )  ; Negative Cache TTL
@       IN      NS      ns1.example.com.
@       IN      A       192.168.1.100
ns1     IN      A       192.168.1.100
www     IN      A       192.168.1.100

Reverse Zone Configuration

Define a reverse zone in named.conf:

zone "72.168.192.in-addr.arpa" IN {
    type master;
    file "fanxiang.zone";
};

Sample reverse zone file fanxiang.zone:

$TTL    1D
@       IN      SOA     ns.example.com. amdin.example.com. (
                        7         ; Serial
                        1D        ; Refresh
                        1W        ; Retry
                        2M        ; Expire
                        1D )      ; Minimum
        IN      NS      ns
ns      IN      A       192.168.72.135
135     IN      PTR     www.example.com.

Syntax Checking and Service Management

Check the main configuration: [root@localhost ~]# named-checkconf Check a zone file:

[root@localhost ~]# named-checkzone example.com /var/named/example.zone
zone example.com/IN: loaded serial 0
OK

Start or restart the BIND service:

# systemctl start named
# systemctl restart named

Testing the DNS Server

Query NS records:

# dig -t NS example.com @192.168.72.135
;; ANSWER SECTION:
example.com. 86400 IN NS ns.example.com.
ns.example.com. 86400 IN A 192.168.72.135

Query A records:

# dig -t A www.example.com @192.168.72.135
;; ANSWER SECTION:
www.example.com. 86400 IN A 10.10.10.11

Reverse lookup:

# dig -x 192.168.72.135 @192.168.72.135
;; ANSWER SECTION:
135.72.168.192.in-addr.arpa. 86400 IN PTR www.example.com.