How to Fix “/etc/rndc.key: permission denied” for named Service Error

The named service is a DNS server software that runs on Linux systems. One common issue that can occur with named is the “permission denied” error when attempting to start the service. This error usually indicates that the named service cannot access the /etc/rndc.key file, which it needs to authenticate remote connections.

[root@centos62 ~]# service named start
Starting named:                                            [FAILED]

In this guide, we will show you how to fix the “/etc/rndc.key: permission denied” error for the named service.

Step 1: Check File Permissions

The first step is to check the file permissions for the /etc/rndc.key file. Run the following command in your terminal:

ls -l /etc/rndc.key

This command will show you the file permissions for the /etc/rndc.key file. The output should look something like this:

-rw-r----- 1 root bind 77 Apr 13 15:30 /etc/rndc.key

If the file permissions are not set correctly, the named service will not be able to access the file. In this case, you will need to change the file permissions.

Step 2: Change File Permissions

To change the file permissions for /etc/rndc.key, run the following command:

sudo chmod 640 /etc/rndc.key

This command will set the file permissions to -rw-r—–, which allows the root user and the bind group to read and write to the file, but only the root user can modify the file.

Step 3: Restart the named Service

After changing the file permissions, you need to restart the named service to apply the changes. Run the following command:

sudo systemctl restart named

This command will restart the named service.

Step 4: Verify the Service Status

To verify that the named service is running and has not encountered any errors, run the following command:

sudo systemctl status named

If the service is running correctly, the output should indicate that it is active and running.

Commands Mentioned:

• ls -l /etc/rndc.key – Check file permissions for /etc/rndc.key file
• sudo chmod 640 /etc/rndc.key – Change file permissions for /etc/rndc.key file
• sudo systemctl restart named – Restart the named service
• sudo systemctl status named – Verify the status of the named service

Conclusion

In this guide, we have shown you how to fix the “/etc/rndc.key: permission denied” error for the named service. By checking and changing the file permissions for /etc/rndc.key, you can ensure that the named service can access the file and authenticate remote connections. We also showed you how to restart the named service and verify its status to ensure that it is running correctly. We hope this guide has been helpful to you. If you have any comments or suggestions for improvements, please feel free to share them below.