Do you want to check your BIND9 zone file in your Ubuntu server? We can help you.

BIND9 is the DNS server used in Ubuntu servers and the zone file holds the domain details.

The command named-checkzone checks BIND9 zone files in the server to avoid DNS errors.

At Bobcares, we get requests to check BIND9 zone files, as a part of our Server Management Services.

Today, let’s see how our Support Engineers check the zone file in an Ubuntu server.

What is BIND9?

Basically, a DNS lookup resolves a domain name into an IP address. A web browser displays a webpage after a DNS lookup. This is where BIND has a role to play.

BIND aka Berkeley Internet Name Domain is a flexible, full-featured DNS system. Above all, this open-source software allows a user to publish the DNS information on the Internet. Hence it resolves DNS queries quickly.

BIND is a commonly used DNS server. And BIND9 is the package used for Ubuntu servers. The named is the service that executes the DNS server daemon. The default port of the named service is 53.

A quick look at zone file in BIND9

A zone file is a text-based file stored in a DNS server. This file contains the mapping between the domain name and IP address. A zone file can be a DNS master file or a file authoritatively describing a zone.

The file usually contains A record, MX record, domain name, mail servers, nameservers details and so on. So, this file is critically important as it holds the domain details.

Any error in this file can cause trouble while loading the domain. Because DNS lookup resolves a domain with the help of this zone file.

Let’s see how our Support Engineers check a DNS zone file.

How to check the zone file?

A zone file is a text file so it can contain syntax errors. Hence we need to check the syntax and integrity of this important configuration file. For this, we can make use of the command, named-checkzone.

The command checks named as it does, while loading a zone. And the command usage is as,

named-checkzone <domain.com> <zone file with location>

The output gives an OK status if the zone file does not have any error. Here is a sample output,

Alternatively, we can check the configuration file of BIND. For this, we can make use of the command, named-checkconf. The command usage is as,

named-checkconf <named.conf file with location>

If the file has any syntax error, the output will mention this.

[Still, having trouble in checking BIND9 configuration? – We can help you.]

Conclusion

In short, to check the BIND9 zone file we can use the command named-checkzone. Today, we saw how our Support Engineers check the zone file in an Ubuntu server.