Linux System Administration

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Chapter 2: Setting Up a Linux Multifunction Server

Now restart the logging process with this command:

# /etc/init.d/sysklogd restart

You will see the following message:

Restarting system log daemon: syslogd.

Finally, start BIND:

# /etc/init.d/bind9 start

Check /var/log/syslog for any errors. You can page through the file using:

# less /var/log/syslog

You will be reassured that BIND succeeded in starting if you see:

Starting domain name service: named.

Now, let’s check to see whether named is functioning without any trouble. Execute

this command, and you should see the results that follow:

server1:/home/admin# rndc status

number of zones: 6

debug level: 0

xfers running: 0

xfers deferred: 0

soa queries in progress: 0

query logging is OFF

server is up and running

server1:/home/admin#

If DNS is not working correctly, you’ll instead see something like this:

server1:~# rndc status

rndc: neither /etc/bind/rndc.conf nor /etc/bind/rndc.key was found

server1:~#

Fortunately, our DNS system is working correctly.

For the moment, we have not set up our primary zone files or configured DNS for

the system for anything other than a caching server, which populates its cache each

time someone requests a web page. We’ll show you how to configure primary and

secondary DNS severs in Chapter 3.

Although many people fail to stress its importance, mastering DNS is crucial because

so many other services depend on it. You’ll find