DNS & BIND Cookbook

Chapter 8. Interoperability and Upgrading

Introduction

Not all name servers run BIND. And, much as it may disappoint the authors of the various RFCs that standardize the DNS protocol, some of these non-catholic name servers don’t interoperate with BIND name servers. With a little administrative arm-twisting, however, you can usually coax BIND and the alien name servers into a DNS détente. Recipes Section 8.4 through Section 8.6 cover this kind of diplomacy.

If you’re a conscientious administrator, you’ll upgrade your name servers when new versions are released, to close vulnerabilities and take advantage of new features. If you’re making a big jump, from BIND 4 or BIND 8 to a newer release, Recipes Section 8.2 and Section 8.3 give helpful hints.

Finally, newer Windows operating systems use DNS for much more than mundane web browsing. Windows 2000 and XP computers use dynamic update to register their name-to-address and address-to-name mappings, and Domain Controllers use updates to add SRV records advertising the services they offer. While Microsoft made it easiest to serve these clients with the Microsoft DNS Server, BIND name servers are flexible enough to accommodate them, too. See Recipes Section 8.8 and Section 8.9 for details.

Upgrading from BIND 4 to BIND 8 or 9

Problem

You want to upgrade a name server from BIND 4 to BIND 8 or 9.

Solution

Convert the name server’s named.boot file into an equivalent named.conf file using named-bootconf.sh or manually, if you prefer. You can find ...