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Chapter 2 DNS Service 21
Managing DNS Service
Mac OS X Server provides a simple interface for starting and stopping DNS service as
well as viewing logs and status. Basic DNS settings can be configured with Server
Admin. More advanced features require configuring BIND from the command-line, and
are not covered here.
Starting and Stopping DNS Service
Use this procedure to start or stop DNS service. Remember to restart the DNS service
whenever you make changes to the DNS service in Server Admin.
To start or stop DNS service:
1 In Server Admin, choose DNS from the Computers & Services list.
2 Make sure you have at least one Zone and its reverse lookup zone created and fully
configured.
3 Click Start Service or Stop Service.
The service may take a moment to start (or stop).
Enabling or Disabling Zone Transfers
In the Domain Name System, zone data is replicated among authoritative DNS servers
by means of the “zone transfer.” Secondary DNS servers (“slaves”) use zone transfers to
acquire their data from primary DNS servers (“masters”). Zone transfers must be
enabled to use secondary DNS servers.
To enable or disable zone transfer:
1 In Server Admin, choose DNS in the Computer & Services list.
2 Click Settings.
3 Select the General tab.
4 Select or deselect Allow Zone Transfers as needed.
Enabling or Disabling Recursion
Recursion is a process to fully resolve domain names into IP addresses. Users’
applications depend on the DNS server to perform this function. Other DNS servers
that query yours don’t have to perform the recursion.
To prevent malicious users from altering the master zone’s records (“cache poisoning”),
or allowing unauthorized use of the server for DNS service, you can disable recursion.
However, if you stop it, your own users won’t be able to use your DNS service to look
up any names outside of your zones.
You should only disable recursion if no clients are using this DNS server for name
resolution and no servers are using it for forwarding.
LL2351.Book Page 21 Monday, September 8, 2003 2:47 PM