Debian makes a fantastic server. It is stable and very rarely goes down so today I will show you how to turn it into a DNS server. For this tutorial I will be using Debian Wheezy as my base system.
On your server open up a terminal and install the bind9 package by typing:
sudo apt-get install bind9
There are four configuration files we will need to configure so lets take the first. In your terminal type:
sudo nano /etc/bind/named.conf.local
and replace nano with your favourite text editor.
Within the file insert the following code:
————————————————————————————————————————
# This is the zone definition. replace example.com with your domain name
zone “comtech.com” {
type master;
file “/etc/bind/zones/comtech.com.db”;
};
# This is the zone definition for reverse DNS. replace 0.0.10 with your network address in reverse notation – e.g my network address is 0.0.10
zone “0.0.10.in-addr.arpa” {
type master;
file “/etc/bind/zones/rev.0.0.10.in-addr.arpa”;
};
———————————————————————————————————————
Instead if using comtech.com choose your own DNS domain (this is not the same as an active directory domain but rather a name for your DNS zone).
WORD OF WARNING
Make sure the ” marks above are vertical and not curved. If they are curved you will get errors when you come to restart the bind 9 package (trust me I have done that a couple of times!!)
Now we need to configure the next file. In your terminal type:
sudo nano /etc/bind/named.conf.options
You will need to adjust the forwarders with the address of your ISP’s DNS servers (the example below shows BT’s DNS servers). Modify the file accordingly.
———————————————————————————————————————
forwarders {
62.6.40.178;
62.6.40.162;
};
———————————————————————————————————————
Next up is the zones file so in your terminal type:
sudo mkdir /etc/bind/zones
Now we need to configure it by typing:
sudo nano /etc/bind/zones/comtech.com.db (replace comtech.com with your DNS domain).
Add the following code to the file:
————————————————————————————————————————
// replace example.com with your domain name. do not forget the . after the domain name!
// Also, replace ns1 with the name of your DNS server
comtech.com. IN SOA HomeServer01.comtech.com.
// Do not modify the following lines!
2006081401
28800
3600
604800
38400
)
// Replace the following line as necessary:
// ns1 = DNS Server name
// mta = mail server name
// example.com = domain name
comtech.com. IN NS HomeServer01.comtech.com.
comtech.com. IN MX 10 mta.example.com.
// Replace the IP address with the right IP addresses.
www IN A 10.0.0.1
mta IN A 10.0.0.3
HomeServer01 IN A 10.0.0.1
———————————————————————————————————————
In the above code replace the following:
comtech.com with your DNS domain name,
10.0.0.1 with your static DNS server address,
HomeServer01.comtech.com with your computers hostname.dns-domain,
mta is your mail server (if you have one). If you do modify the IP address to show this.
Now we have to create the reverse DNS zone file so in your terminal type:
sudo nano /etc/bind/zones/rev.0.0.10.in-addr.arpa
and add the following code:
———————————————————————————————————————
//replace example.com with your domain name, ns1 with your DNS server name.
// The number before IN PTR example.com is the machine address of the DNS server
@ IN SOA HomeServer01.comtech.com admin.comtech.com. (
2006081401;
28800;
604800;
604800;
86400
)
IN NS HomeServer01.comtech.com.
1 IN PTR comtech.com
————————————————————————————————————————
With all the files configured we just have to restart bind so in your terminal type:
sudo service bind9 restart
Don’t forget to test your new configuration:
dig comtech.com
If you are unable to restart the bind9 service run the command named -g 53 which will give you a list of any configuration errors as this is usually the case.
About the Author
Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows, Mac and Linux based IT Support to small businesses in Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk.
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