rndc

RNDC(8)                                                                RNDC(8)

NAME

       rndc - name server control utility

SYNOPSIS

       rndc [-b source-address] [-c config-file] [-k key-file] [-s server]
            [-p port] [-V] [-y key_id] {command}

DESCRIPTION

       rndc controls the operation of a name server. It supersedes the ndc
       utility that was provided in old BIND releases. If rndc is invoked with
       no command line options or arguments, it prints a short summary of the
       supported commands and the available options and their arguments.

       rndc communicates with the name server over a TCP connection, sending
       commands authenticated with digital signatures. In the current versions
       of rndc and named, the only supported authentication algorithm is
       HMAC-MD5, which uses a shared secret on each end of the connection.
       This provides TSIG-style authentication for the command request and the
       name server's response. All commands sent over the channel must be
       signed by a key_id known to the server.

       rndc reads a configuration file to determine how to contact the name
       server and decide what algorithm and key it should use.

OPTIONS

       -b source-address
              Use source-address as the source address for the connection to
              the server. Multiple instances are permitted to allow setting of
              both the IPv4 and IPv6 source addresses.

       -c config-file
              Use config-file as the configuration file instead of the
              default, /etc/rndc.conf.

       -k key-file
              Use key-file as the key file instead of the default,
              /etc/rndc.key. The key in /etc/rndc.key will be used to
              authenticate commands sent to the server if the config-file does
              not exist.

       -s server
              server is the name or address of the server which matches a
              server statement in the configuration file for rndc. If no
              server is supplied on the command line, the host named by the
              default-server clause in the options statement of the rndc
              configuration file will be used.

       -p port
              Send commands to TCP port port instead of BIND 9's default
              control channel port, 953.

       -V     Enable verbose logging.

       -y key_id
              Use the key key_id from the configuration file. key_id must be
              known by named with the same algorithm and secret string in
              order for control message validation to succeed. If no key_id is
              specified, rndc will first look for a key clause in the server
              statement of the server being used, or if no server statement is
              present for that host, then the default-key clause of the
              options statement. Note that the configuration file contains
              shared secrets which are used to send authenticated control
              commands to name servers. It should therefore not have general
              read or write access.

       For the complete set of commands supported by rndc, see the BIND 9
       Administrator Reference Manual or run rndc without arguments to see its
       help message.

LIMITATIONS

       rndc does not yet support all the commands of the BIND 8 ndc utility.

       There is currently no way to provide the shared secret for a key_id
       without using the configuration file.

       Several error messages could be clearer.

SEE ALSO

       rndc.conf(5), rndc-confgen(8), named(8), named.conf(5), ndc(8), BIND 9
       Administrator Reference Manual.

AUTHOR

       Internet Systems Consortium

                                 June 30, 2000                         RNDC(8)