Bind 9.2.0 client

[Cara Tock]

I am currently using Bind 9.2.0 on a server running HP-UX 11.0. I need to give my Network Admins the ability to update the DNS tables. We are currently using Microsoft DNS server and they are used to working with that interface. Is there any kind of client frontend I can use for them to be able to make updates? I currently just use vi to update the appropriate files.
Thanks,
Damon

[Steven E. Protter]

sam

That is a front end that will work.

Long run, its better they learn what a DNS record really looks like and us vi.

SEP

[Cara Tock]

I am sorry, that did not come out right. I am moving DNS to bind on HP-UX from Windows NT 4.0.

[Steven E. Protter]

I understood the question.

There is a feature in the Microsoft DNS server that will let you export the database to a text file.

This file is a basis for the zone files you need to maintain the DNS records.

As far as I know in HP-UX you can use SAM to maintain these files or you can use vi and edit them directly.

I recommend vi. Linuxconf has a nice GUI for maintaining these records if you want to use Linux instead of HP-UX.

HP-UX in my opinion is better.

The Microsoft GUI was always a pain when I used it at client sites and any time I had good cause to sneak in a Linux server, I migrated DNS functionality there.

SEP

[A. Clay Stephenson]

While I think vi is good for the soul, one possible compromise would be to have them use dtpad. They would need an 'X' display but dtpad is a bit more intuitive than vi. However, there are times when only a terminal is available so vi (or emacs) is really the best choice. What you might do is wrap vi in a script that first makes a backup copy so that these PC guys can't do irrepairable harm.

[Cara Tock]

I guess I will have to teach them vi and give them access to the unix box. This sounds like a new script for me to write. I wanted to see if I could find something that looks more like Microsoft for them.

[Todd Whitcher]

Hi Damon,

I posted this reply once but I believe there was a forums server issue, if this is a double post I apologize.


If you want your admins to just be able to update your zones you can consider using
nsupdate ( man 1 nsupdate ) which is available with BIND 9.2.

There is a basic document in the ITRC Knowledge base w/ some examples available, the man page gives more detail. Docid is KBQA00000361.

You would want to set up some security on your BIND server for your zones using the allow-update statement along with setting up some TSIG keys.

For Security Key generation you should download the HP Strong Random number Generator here. This will also help w/ applications like Secure Shell.

http://www.software.hp.com/cgi-bin/swdepot_parser.cgi/cgi/displayProductInfo.pl?productNumber=KRNG11I

If you don't have the O'Reilly DNS/BIND book yet you should grab a copy. There is a BIND cookbook by O'Reilly that provides more examples etc. which is probably worth picking up.

http://www.oreillynet.com/search/index.ncsp?sp-q=bind&sp-k=all

Hope this helps,

Todd

[Todd Whitcher]

Damon,

Here is a list of other tools for BIND you may find interesting.

http://www.dns.net/dnsrd/tools.html


Todd