How to Configure Bind Chroot DNS Server on CentOS 6.2

In this post, i will show you on how to configure Bind Chroot DNS Server on CentOS 6.2. Assumed that you have installed Bind Chroot DNS.

1. Install Bind Chroot DNS Server

[root@centos62 ~]# yum install bind-chroot -y

2. Create a file /var/named/chroot/var/named/ehowstuff.local with the following configuration:

[root@centos62 ~]# vi /var/named/chroot/var/named/ehowstuff.local

;
;       Addresses and other host information.
;
@       IN      SOA     ehowstuff.local. hostmaster.ehowstuff.local. (
                               2011030801      ; Serial
                               43200      ; Refresh
                               3600       ; Retry
                               3600000    ; Expire
                               2592000 )  ; Minimum
 
;       Define the nameservers and the mail servers
 
               IN      NS      ns.ehowstuff.local.
               IN      A       192.168.1.44
               IN      MX      10 mail.ehowstuff.local.
 
mail            IN      A       192.168.1.42
ns              IN      A       192.168.1.44

3. Generate an RNDC key :
The rndc tool is used to managed the named daemon. We need to generate a keyfile called /etc/rndc.key which is referenced both by /etc/rndc.conf and /etc/named.conf To do this we use the following command;

[root@centos62 ~]# rndc-confgen -a -c /etc/rndc.key
wrote key file "/etc/rndc.key"

View the content of the RNDC key :

[root@centos62 ~]# cat /etc/rndc.key
key "rndc-key" {
        algorithm hmac-md5;
        secret "T6tduqyMQ/YbIDXOmE0Fzg==";
};

4. Edit the /var/named/chroot/etc/named.conf file for ehowstuff.local

[root@centos62 ~]# vi /var/named/chroot/etc/named.conf

options {
       directory "/var/named";
       dump-file "/var/named/data/cache_dump.db";
       statistics-file "/var/named/data/named_stats.txt";
forwarders { 8.8.8.8; };
};
include "/etc/rndc.key";
// We are the master server for ehowstuff.local

zone "ehowstuff.local" {
    type master;
    file "ehowstuff.local";
};

5. Start the DNS service using the following command :

[root@centos62 ~]# /etc/init.d/named start
Starting named:                                            [  OK  ]

6. Make named daemon auto start during boot :

[root@centos62 ~]# chkconfig named on

7. Before testing, make sure your pc or server using the Bind Chroot DNS Server that has been set up :

[root@centos62 ~]# cat /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 192.168.1.44

8. Test your DNS service :

[root@centos62 ~]# host -t mx ehowstuff.local
ehowstuff.local mail is handled by 10 mail.ehowstuff.local.

[root@centos62 ~]# host -t ns ehowstuff.local
ehowstuff.local name server ns.ehowstuff.local.