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<refentry>
  <refentryinfo>
    <date>June 30, 2000</date>
  </refentryinfo>

  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle><application>named</application></refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
    <refmiscinfo>BIND9</refmiscinfo>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname><application>named</application></refname>
    <refpurpose>Internet domain name server</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>named</command>
      <arg><option>-c <replaceable class="parameter">config-file</replaceable></option></arg>
      <arg><option>-d <replaceable class="parameter">debug-level</replaceable></option></arg>
      <arg><option>-f</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-g</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-n <replaceable class="parameter">#cpus</replaceable></option></arg>
      <arg><option>-p <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></option></arg>
      <arg><option>-s</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-t <replaceable class="parameter">directory</replaceable></option></arg>
      <arg><option>-u <replaceable class="parameter">user</replaceable></option></arg>
      <arg><option>-v</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-x <replaceable class="parameter">cache-file</replaceable></option></arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsect1>
    <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
    <para>
	<command>named</command> 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.
    </para>
    <para>
	When invoked without arguments, <command>named</command> will
	read the default configuration file
	<filename>/etc/named.conf</filename>, read any initial
	data, and listen for queries.
    </para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>OPTIONS</title>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
	<term>-c <replaceable class="parameter">config-file</replaceable></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		Use <replaceable
		class="parameter">config-file</replaceable> as the
		configuration file instead of the default,
		<filename>/etc/named.conf</filename>.  To
		ensure that reloading the configuration file continues
		to work after the server has changed its working
		directory due to to a possible
		<option>directory</option> option in the configuration
		file, <replaceable
		class="parameter">config-file</replaceable> should be
		an absolute pathname.
          </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>-d <replaceable class="parameter">debug-level</replaceable></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		Set the daemon's debug level to <replaceable
		class="parameter">debug-level</replaceable>.
		Debugging traces from <command>named</command> become
		more verbose as the debug level increases.
          </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>-f</term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		Run the server in the foreground (i.e. do not daemonize).
          </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>-g</term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		Run the server in the foreground and force all logging
		to <filename>stderr</filename>.
          </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>-n <replaceable class="parameter">#cpus</replaceable></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		Create <replaceable
		class="parameter">#cpus</replaceable> worker threads
		to take advantage of multiple CPUs.  If not specified,
		<command>named</command> 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.
          </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>-p <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		Listen for queries on port <replaceable
		class="parameter">port</replaceable>.  If not
		specified, the default is port 53.
          </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>-s</term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		Write memory usage statistics to <filename>stdout</filename> on exit.
          </para>
	  <note>
	    <para>
		This option is mainly of interest to BIND 9 developers
		and may be removed or changed in a future release.
	    </para>
	  </note>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>-t <replaceable class="parameter">directory</replaceable></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		<function>chroot()</function> to <replaceable
		class="parameter">directory</replaceable> after
		processing the command line arguments, but before
		reading the configuration file.
          </para>
	  <warning>
	    <para>
		This option should be used in conjunction with the
		<option>-u</option> option, as chrooting a process
		running as root doesn't enhance security on most
		systems; the way <function>chroot()</function> is
		defined allows a process with root privileges to
		escape a chroot jail.
	    </para>
	  </warning>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>-u <replaceable class="parameter">user</replaceable></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		<function>setuid()</function> to <replaceable
		class="parameter">user</replaceable> after completing
		privileged operations, such as creating sockets that
		listen on privileged ports.
          </para>
	  <note>
	    <para>
		On Linux, <command>named</command> uses the kernel's
		capability mechanism to drop all root privileges
		except the ability to <function>bind()</function> to a
		privileged port and set process resource limits.
		Unfortunately, this means that the <option>-u</option>
		option only works when <command>named</command> 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 <function>setuid()</function>.
	    </para>
	  </note>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>-v</term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		Report the version number and exit.
          </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>-x <replaceable class="parameter">cache-file</replaceable></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		Load data from <replaceable
		class="parameter">cache-file</replaceable> into the
		cache of the default view.
          </para>
	  <warning>
	    <para>
		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.
	    </para>
	  </warning>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>SIGNALS</title>
    <para>
	In routine operation, signals should not be used to control
	the nameserver; <command>rndc</command> should be used
	instead.
    </para>

    <variablelist>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>SIGHUP</term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		Force a reload of the server.
          </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term>SIGINT, SIGTERM</term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		Shut down the server.
          </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

    <para>
	The result of sending any other signals to the server is undefined.
    </para>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>CONFIGURATION</title>
    <para>
	The <command>named</command> configuration file is too complex
	to describe in detail here.  A complete description is
	provided in the <citetitle>BIND 9 Administrator Reference
	Manual</citetitle>.
    </para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>FILES</title>

    <variablelist>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><filename>/etc/named.conf</filename></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		The default configuration file.
          </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
	<term><filename>/var/run/named.pid</filename></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
		The default process-id file.
          </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>SEE ALSO</title>
    <para>
	<citetitle>RFC 1033</citetitle>,
	<citetitle>RFC 1034</citetitle>,
	<citetitle>RFC 1035</citetitle>,
	<citerefentry>
	  <refentrytitle>rndc</refentrytitle>
	  <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
        </citerefentry>,
	<citerefentry>
	  <refentrytitle>lwresd</refentrytitle>
	  <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
        </citerefentry>,
	<citetitle>BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual</citetitle>.
    </para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>AUTHOR</title>
    <para>
	<corpauthor>Internet Software Consortium</corpauthor>
    </para>
  </refsect1>

</refentry>


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