June 30, 2000
named 8 BIND9
2004 2005 2006 Internet Systems Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")
2000 2001 2003 Internet Software Consortium.
named Internet domain name server
`named` `-4` `-6` `-c config-file` `-d debug-level` `-f` `-g` `-n #cpus` `-p port` `-s` `-t directory` `-u user` `-v` `-x cache-file`

## DESCRIPTION

`named` is a Domain Name System (DNS) server, part of the BIND 9 distribution from ISC. For more information on the DNS, see RFCs 1033, 1034, and 1035.

When invoked without arguments, `named` will read the default configuration file `/etc/named.conf`, read any initial data, and listen for queries.

## OPTIONS

-4

  Use IPv4 only even if the host machine is capable of IPv6. `-4` and `-6` are mutually exclusive.

-6

  Use IPv6 only even if the host machine is capable of IPv4. `-4` and `-6` are mutually exclusive.

-c config-file

  Use config-file as the configuration file instead of the default, `/etc/named.conf`. To ensure that reloading the configuration file continues to work after the server has changed its working directory due to to a possible `directory` option in the configuration file, config-file should be an absolute pathname.

-d debug-level

  Set the daemon's debug level to debug-level. Debugging traces from `named` become more verbose as the debug level increases.

-f

  Run the server in the foreground (i.e. do not daemonize).

-g

  Run the server in the foreground and force all logging to `stderr`.

-n #cpus

  Create #cpus worker threads to take advantage of multiple CPUs. If not specified, `named` will try to determine the number of CPUs present and create one thread per CPU. If it is unable to determine the number of CPUs, a single worker thread will be created.

-p port

  Listen for queries on port port. If not specified, the default is port 53.

-s

  Write memory usage statistics to `stdout` on exit.

  This option is mainly of interest to BIND 9 developers and may be removed or changed in a future release.

-t directory

  `chroot()` to directory after processing the command line arguments, but before reading the configuration file.

  This option should be used in conjunction with the `-u` option, as chrooting a process running as root doesn't enhance security on most systems; the way `chroot()` is defined allows a process with root privileges to escape a chroot jail.

-u user

  `setuid()` to user after completing privileged operations, such as creating sockets that listen on privileged ports.

  On Linux, `named` uses the kernel's capability mechanism to drop all root privileges except the ability to `bind()` to a privileged port and set process resource limits. Unfortunately, this means that the `-u` option only works when `named` is run on kernel 2.2.18 or later, or kernel 2.3.99-pre3 or later, since previous kernels did not allow privileges to be retained after `setuid()`.

-v

  Report the version number and exit.

-x cache-file

  Load data from cache-file into the cache of the default view.

  This option must not be used. It is only of interest to BIND 9 developers and may be removed or changed in a future release.

## SIGNALS

In routine operation, signals should not be used to control the nameserver; `rndc` should be used instead.

SIGHUP

  Force a reload of the server.

SIGINT, SIGTERM

  Shut down the server.

The result of sending any other signals to the server is undefined.

## CONFIGURATION

The `named` configuration file is too complex to describe in detail here. A complete description is provided in the BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.

## FILES

`/etc/named.conf`

  The default configuration file.

`/var/run/named.pid`

  The default process-id file.

## SEE ALSO

RFC 1033, RFC 1034, RFC 1035, rndc 8 , lwresd 8 , named.conf 5 , BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.

## AUTHOR

Internet Systems Consortium