Configuring a host as a name server

To configure a host as a name server for a zone using the DNS Manager:

1. Select Zones Add.

2. Select the type of server that the host machine will act as for this zone; Caching-only, Master, Slave, or Stub.

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   NOTE: You do not need to supply any other information to configure a caching-only server. If required, you can specify the use of forwarders and other server features as described in ``Setting general preferences for name service''.

   If you want to configure a caching-only name server as any other type of name server, you must first remove this configuration by selecting Zones Delete.

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3. Enter the name of the zone.

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   NOTE: As recommended by RFC 952, a component of the zone name (delimited by dots (.)) can be composed of alphabetic characters (a-z or A-Z without regard to case), digits (0-9), and minus signs (-). Each component must start with an alphabetic character and must not end with a minus sign. Space, tab and underscore characters (_) may not be used in the name.

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4. Enter the IP address of each network in the zone, and click on Add to add it to the list.

5. For a master server, click on Start of Authority to define the SOA resource record for the zone. The fields are:

   Person in charge

   Enter the mail address of the administrator who is responsible for the zone. The address must be in DNS form using ``.'' instead of ``@'' to delimit the username from the remainder of the address.

   Refresh rate

   The interval in seconds that a slave name server should wait before checking with the master name server to see if it needs to update its zone data.

   Transfer retry

   The time in seconds that a slave name server will wait before retrying a failed zone transfer.

   Expire

   The maximum time in seconds that a slave name server is to use the data before it expires for lack of being refreshed.

   Time-to-live

   The default time in seconds for which data in resource records remains valid on slave name server. This value may be overridden by a time-to-live value (ttl) in the record itself.

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   NOTE: The time-to-live assigned to records and to the zone is very important. A high value leads to low network traffic and fast response time, while lower values generate additional traffic but allow faster propagation of changes. As a general guideline, set the minimum time-to-live to three days (259200 seconds). If your zone is very stable, consider setting the value even higher.

   If you need to propagate changes more quickly, reduce the time-to-live several days before making the changes, then restore it to its previous values after making your changes.

   Only changes and deletions are affected by the time-to-live value; propagation of additions is governed by the refresh rate.

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   All fields except Person in charge have default values. Click on OK to accept the values.

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   NOTE: The DNS Manager automatically increments the serial number in the SOA record whenever it changes a zone's data.

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6. Click on Name servers, then click on Add to define the name servers for the zone:

   • For a master server, define the slave servers for the zone.

   • For a stub server, define the master or slave name servers for the child zone.

   • For a slave server, define the master or slave name servers for the zone.
   For each name server, enter its host name and IP address, then click on OK. When you have added all the name servers to the list, click on OK.

7. Define optional resource records for the zone as described in ``Zone resource records''. These records define the default mail exchangers, the zone administrator, information about the server machine, and a description of the zone.

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   NOTE: You can only define these records for a master server's zone.

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8. Define the hosts and networks that can request zone transfers for the zone.

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   NOTE: You can only define permitted requesters for a master server's zone.

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9. When you have finished configuring the zone, click on OK to view the list of configured zones for this server, then click on OK again.