rndc — name server control utility
rndc [-c ] [config-file-k ] [key-file-s ] [server-p ] [port-V] [-y ] {command}key_id
rndc controls the operation of a name server. It supersedes the ndc utility that was provided in old BIND releases. If rndc is invoked with no command line options or arguments, it prints a short summary of the supported commands and the available options and their arguments.
rndc communicates with the name server over a TCP connection, sending commands authenticated with digital signatures. In the current versions of rndc and named named the only supported authentication algorithm is HMAC-MD5, which uses a shared secret on each end of the connection. This provides TSIG-style authentication for the command request and the name server's response. All commands sent over the channel must be signed by a key_id known to the server.
rndc reads a configuration file to determine how to contact the name server and decide what algorithm and key it should use.
config-file
Use config-file
as the configuration file instead of the default,
/etc/rndc.conf.
key-file
Use key-file
as the key file instead of the default,
/etc/rndc.key. The key in
/etc/rndc.key will be used to authenticate
commands sent to the server if the config-file
does not exist.
server
server is
the name or address of the server which matches a
server statement in the configuration file for
rndc. If no server is supplied on the
command line, the host named by the default-server clause
in the option statement of the configuration file will be
used.
port
Send commands to TCP port
port instead
of BIND 9's default control channel port, 953.
Enable verbose logging.
keyid
Use the key keyid
from the configuration file.
keyid must be
known by named with the same algorithm and secret string
in order for control message validation to succeed.
If no keyid
is specified, rndc will first look
for a key clause in the server statement of the server
being used, or if no server statement is present for that
host, then the default-key clause of the options statement.
Note that the configuration file contains shared secrets
which are used to send authenticated control commands
to name servers. It should therefore not have general read
or write access.
For the complete set of commands supported by rndc, see the BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual or run rndc without arguments to see its help message.