.\" Copyright (C) 2004  Internet Systems Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")
.\" Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2003  Internet Software Consortium.
.\"
.\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
.\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
.\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
.\"
.\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND ISC DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH
.\" REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
.\" AND FITNESS.  IN NO EVENT SHALL ISC BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT,
.\" INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM
.\" LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE
.\" OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR
.\" PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
.\"
.\" $ISC: named.8,v 1.17.208.3 2004/06/03 05:35:47 marka Exp $
.\"
.TH "NAMED" "8" "June 30, 2000" "BIND9" ""
.SH NAME
named \- Internet domain name server
.SH SYNOPSIS
.sp
\fBnamed\fR [ \fB-4\fR ]  [ \fB-6\fR ]  [ \fB-c \fIconfig-file\fB\fR ]  [ \fB-d \fIdebug-level\fB\fR ]  [ \fB-f\fR ]  [ \fB-g\fR ]  [ \fB-i \fIpid_file\fB\fR ] [ \fB-n \fI#cpus\fB\fR ]  [ \fB-p \fIport\fB\fR ]  [ \fB-s\fR ]  [ \fB-t \fIdirectory\fB\fR ]  [ \fB-u \fIuser\fB\fR ]  [ \fB-v\fR ]  [ \fB-x \fIcache-file\fB\fR ]
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
\fBnamed\fR 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.
.PP
When invoked without arguments, \fBnamed\fR will
fork into two processes for privilege separation.
\fBchroot()\fR to \fI/var/named\fR,
read the default configuration file
\fI/var/named/etc/named.conf\fR, read any initial
data, and listen for queries. The privileged process
will communicate with the child and bind to privileged
ports on its behalf. See CAVEATS section below.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.TP
\fB-4\fR
Use IPv4 only even if the host machine is capable of IPv6.
\fB-4\fR and \fB-6\fR are mutually
exclusive.
.TP
\fB-6\fR
Use IPv6 only even if the host machine is capable of IPv4.
\fB-4\fR and \fB-6\fR are mutually
exclusive.
.TP
\fB-c \fIconfig-file\fB\fR
Use \fIconfig-file\fR as the
configuration file instead of the default,
\fI/var/named/etc/named.conf\fR. To
ensure that reloading the configuration file continues
to work after the server has changed its working
directory due to a possible
\fBdirectory\fR option in the configuration
file, \fIconfig-file\fR should be
an absolute pathname.
.TP
\fB-d \fIdebug-level\fB\fR
Set the daemon's debug level to \fIdebug-level\fR.
Debugging traces from \fBnamed\fR become
more verbose as the debug level increases.
.TP
\fB-f\fR
Run the server in the foreground (i.e. do not daemonize).
.TP
\fB-g\fR
Run the server in the foreground and force all logging
to \fIstderr\fR.
.TP
\fB-i \fIpid_file\fB\fR
Specifies the file that contains the process ID of \fBnamed\fR.
The default is \fI/var/run/named.pid\fR.
.TP
\fB-n \fI#cpus\fB\fR
Create \fI#cpus\fR worker threads
to take advantage of multiple CPUs. If not specified,
\fBnamed\fR 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.
.TP
\fB-p \fIport\fB\fR
Listen for queries on port \fIport\fR. If not
specified, the default is port 53.
.TP
\fB-s\fR
Write memory usage statistics to \fIstdout\fR on exit.
.sp
.RS
.B "Note:"
This option is mainly of interest to BIND 9 developers
and may be removed or changed in a future release.
.RE
.sp
.TP
\fB-t \fIdirectory\fB\fR
\fBchroot()\fR to \fIdirectory\fR after
processing the command line arguments, but before
reading the configuration file.
By default, \fBnamed\fR \fBchroot()\fR's to \fI/var/named\fR.
.sp
.RS
.B "Warning:"
This option should be used in conjunction with the
\fB-u\fR option, as chrooting a process
running as root doesn't enhance security on most
systems; the way \fBchroot()\fR is
defined allows a process with root privileges to
escape a chroot jail.
.RE
.sp
.TP
\fB-u \fIuser\fB\fR
\fBsetuid()\fR to \fIuser\fR after completing
privileged operations, such as creating sockets that
listen on privileged ports.
By default, \fBnamed\fR will run as user \fInamed\fR.
.sp
.TP
\fB-v\fR
Report the version number and exit.
.TP
\fB-x \fIcache-file\fB\fR
Load data from \fIcache-file\fR into the
cache of the default view.
.sp
.RS
.B "Warning:"
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.
.RE
.sp
.SH "SIGNALS"
.PP
In routine operation, signals should not be used to control
the nameserver; \fBrndc\fR should be used
instead.
.TP
\fBSIGHUP\fR
Force a reload of the server.
.TP
\fBSIGINT, SIGTERM\fR
Shut down the server.
.PP
The result of sending any other signals to the server is undefined.
.PP
.SH "CONFIGURATION"
.PP
The \fBnamed\fR configuration file is too complex
to describe in detail here. A complete description is
provided in the \fIBIND 9 Administrator Reference
Manual\fR.
.SH "FILES"
.TP
\fB\fI/var/named/etc/named.conf\fB\fR
The default configuration file.
.TP
\fB\fI/var/run/named.pid\fB\fR
The default process-id file.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.PP
\fIRFC 1033\fR,
\fIRFC 1034\fR,
\fIRFC 1035\fR,
\fBrndc\fR(8),
\fBlwresd\fR(8),
\fIBIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual\fR.
.SH "AUTHOR"
.PP
Internet Systems Consortium
.SH "CAVEATS"
\fBnamed\fR runs privilege separated for binding
the privileged ports after an interface or address
change. The privileged process will only allow
\fBnamed\fR to bind to default ports. Make sure
you use unprivileged (>1024) ports if you change
any of the default ports in \fBnamed's\fR
configuration or on the command-line.