NAME

       named-checkconf - named configuration file syntax checking tool

SYNOPSIS

       named-checkconf [-chjlvz] [-p [-x ]] [-t directory] {filename}

DESCRIPTION

       named-checkconf  checks the syntax, but not the semantics, of a named configuration file. The file, along
       with all files included by it, is parsed and  checked  for  syntax  errors.  If  no  file  is  specified,
       /etc/bind/named.conf is read by default.

       Note:  files  that  named  reads  in  separate  parser  contexts, such as rndc.key and bind.keys, are not
       automatically read by named-checkconf. Configuration errors in these files may cause  named  to  fail  to
       run,  even  if  named-checkconf  was  successful.   However,  named-checkconf  can  be run on these files
       explicitly.

OPTIONS

       -h     This option prints the usage summary and exits.

       -j     When loading a zonefile, this option instructs named to read the journal if it exists.

       -l     This option lists all the configured zones. Each line of output  contains  the  zone  name,  class
              (e.g. IN), view, and type (e.g. primary or secondary).

       -c     This  option  specifies  that only the "core" configuration should be checked. This suppresses the
              loading of plugin modules, and causes all parameters to plugin statements to be ignored.

       -i     This option ignores warnings on deprecated options.

       -p     This option prints out the named.conf and included files in  canonical  form  if  no  errors  were
              detected. See also the -x option.

       -t directory
              This  option  instructs  named  to  chroot  to  directory,  so  that  include  directives  in  the
              configuration file are processed as if run by a similarly chrooted named.

       -v     This option prints the version of the named-checkconf program and exits.

       -x     When printing the configuration files in canonical form, this option obscures  shared  secrets  by
              replacing  them  with  strings  of  question marks (?). This allows the contents of named.conf and
              related files to be shared - for example, when  submitting  bug  reports  -  without  compromising
              private data. This option cannot be used without -p.

       -z     This option performs a test load of all zones of type primary found in named.conf.

       filename
              This  indicates the name of the configuration file to be checked. If not specified, it defaults to
              /etc/bind/named.conf.

RETURN VALUES

       named-checkconf returns an exit status of 1 if errors were detected and 0 otherwise.

SEE ALSO

       named(8), named-checkzone(8), BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.

AUTHOR

       Internet Systems Consortium

COPYRIGHT

       2025, Internet Systems Consortium