Provided by: bind9utils_9.10.3.dfsg.P4-8ubuntu1.19_amd64 
NAME
rndc - name server control utility
SYNOPSIS
rndc [-b source-address] [-c config-file] [-k key-file] [-s server] [-p port] [-q] [-V] [-y key_id]
{command}
DESCRIPTION
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, the only supported authentication algorithms are
HMAC-MD5 (for compatibility), HMAC-SHA1, HMAC-SHA224, HMAC-SHA256 (default), HMAC-SHA384 and HMAC-SHA512.
They use 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.
OPTIONS
-b source-address
Use source-address as the source address for the connection to the server. Multiple instances are
permitted to allow setting of both the IPv4 and IPv6 source addresses.
-c config-file
Use config-file as the configuration file instead of the default, /etc/rndc.conf.
-k 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.
-s 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 options statement of the rndc configuration file will be used.
-p port
Send commands to TCP port port instead of BIND 9's default control channel port, 953.
-q
Quiet mode: Message text returned by the server will not be printed except when there is an error.
-V
Enable verbose logging.
-y key_id
Use the key key_id from the configuration file. key_id must be known by named with the same
algorithm and secret string in order for control message validation to succeed. If no key_id 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.
COMMANDS
A list of commands supported by rndc can be seen by running rndc without arguments.
Currently supported commands are:
addzone zone [class [view]] configuration
Add a zone while the server is running. This command requires the allow-new-zones option to be set to
yes. The configuration string specified on the command line is the zone configuration text that would
ordinarily be placed in named.conf.
The configuration is saved in a file called hash.nzf, where hash is a cryptographic hash generated
from the name of the view. When named is restarted, the file will be loaded into the view
configuration, so that zones that were added can persist after a restart.
This sample addzone command would add the zone example.com to the default view:
$rndc addzone example.com '{ type master; file "example.com.db"; };'
(Note the brackets and semi-colon around the zone configuration text.)
See also rndc delzone and rndc modzone.
delzone [-clean] zone [class [view]]
Delete a zone while the server is running. Only zones that were originally added via rndc addzone can
be deleted in this manner.
If the -clean is specified, the zone's master file (and journal file, if any) will be deleted along
with the zone. Without the -clean option, zone files must be cleaned up by hand. (If the zone is of
type "slave" or "stub", the files needing to be cleaned up will be reported in the output of the rndc
delzone command.)
See also rndc addzone and rndc modzone.
dumpdb [-all|-cache|-zone|-adb|-bad] [view ...]
Dump the server's caches (default) and/or zones to the dump file for the specified views. If no view
is specified, all views are dumped. (See the dump-file option in the BIND 9 Administrator Reference
Manual.)
flush
Flushes the server's cache.
flushname name [view]
Flushes the given name from the server's DNS cache and, if applicable, from the server's nameserver
address database or bad-server cache.
flushtree name [view]
Flushes the given name, and all of its subdomains, from the server's DNS cache, the address database,
and the bad server cache.
freeze [zone [class [view]]]
Suspend updates to a dynamic zone. If no zone is specified, then all zones are suspended. This allows
manual edits to be made to a zone normally updated by dynamic update. It also causes changes in the
journal file to be synced into the master file. All dynamic update attempts will be refused while the
zone is frozen.
See also rndc thaw.
halt [-p]
Stop the server immediately. Recent changes made through dynamic update or IXFR are not saved to the
master files, but will be rolled forward from the journal files when the server is restarted. If -p
is specified named's process id is returned. This allows an external process to determine when named
had completed halting.
See also rndc stop.
loadkeys zone [class [view]]
Fetch all DNSSEC keys for the given zone from the key directory. If they are within their publication
period, merge them into the zone's DNSKEY RRset. Unlike rndc sign, however, the zone is not
immediately re-signed by the new keys, but is allowed to incrementally re-sign over time.
This command requires that the auto-dnssec zone option be set to maintain, and also requires the zone
to be configured to allow dynamic DNS. (See "Dynamic Update Policies" in the Administrator Reference
Manual for more details.)
See also rndc loadkeys.
notify zone [class [view]]
Resend NOTIFY messages for the zone.
notrace
Sets the server's debugging level to 0.
See also rndc trace.
querylog [on|off]
Enable or disable query logging. (For backward compatibility, this command can also be used without
an argument to toggle query logging on and off.)
Query logging can also be enabled by explicitly directing the queries category to a channel in the
logging section of named.conf or by specifying querylog yes; in the options section of named.conf.
reconfig
Reload the configuration file and load new zones, but do not reload existing zone files even if they
have changed. This is faster than a full reload when there is a large number of zones because it
avoids the need to examine the modification times of the zones files.
recursing
Dump the list of queries named is currently recursing on, and the list of domains to which iterative
queries are currently being sent. (The second list includes the number of fetches currently active
for the given domain, and how many have been passed or dropped because of the fetches-per-zone
option.)
refresh zone [class [view]]
Schedule zone maintenance for the given zone.
reload
Reload configuration file and zones.
reload zone [class [view]]
Reload the given zone.
retransfer zone [class [view]]
Retransfer the given slave zone from the master server.
If the zone is configured to use inline-signing, the signed version of the zone is discarded; after
the retransfer of the unsigned version is complete, the signed version will be regenerated with all
new signatures.
scan
Scan the list of available network interfaces for changes, without performing a full reconfig or
waiting for the interface-interval timer.
secroots [view ...]
Dump the server's security roots to the secroots file for the specified views. If no view is
specified, security roots for all views are dumped.
sign zone [class [view]]
Fetch all DNSSEC keys for the given zone from the key directory (see the key-directory option in the
BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual). If they are within their publication period, merge them into
the zone's DNSKEY RRset. If the DNSKEY RRset is changed, then the zone is automatically re-signed
with the new key set.
This command requires that the auto-dnssec zone option be set to allow or maintain, and also requires
the zone to be configured to allow dynamic DNS. (See "Dynamic Update Policies" in the Administrator
Reference Manual for more details.)
See also rndc loadkeys.
signing [( -list | -clear keyid/algorithm | -clear all | -nsec3param ( parameters | none ) ) ] zone
[class [view]]
List, edit, or remove the DNSSEC signing state records for the specified zone. The status of ongoing
DNSSEC operations (such as signing or generating NSEC3 chains) is stored in the zone in the form of
DNS resource records of type sig-signing-type. rndc signing -list converts these records into a
human-readable form, indicating which keys are currently signing or have finished signing the zone,
and which NSEC3 chains are being created or removed.
rndc signing -clear can remove a single key (specified in the same format that rndc signing -list
uses to display it), or all keys. In either case, only completed keys are removed; any record
indicating that a key has not yet finished signing the zone will be retained.
rndc signing -nsec3param sets the NSEC3 parameters for a zone. This is the only supported mechanism
for using NSEC3 with inline-signing zones. Parameters are specified in the same format as an
NSEC3PARAM resource record: hash algorithm, flags, iterations, and salt, in that order.
Currently, the only defined value for hash algorithm is 1, representing SHA-1. The flags may be set
to 0 or 1, depending on whether you wish to set the opt-out bit in the NSEC3 chain. iterations
defines the number of additional times to apply the algorithm when generating an NSEC3 hash. The salt
is a string of data expressed in hexadecimal, a hyphen (`-') if no salt is to be used, or the keyword
auto, which causes named to generate a random 64-bit salt.
So, for example, to create an NSEC3 chain using the SHA-1 hash algorithm, no opt-out flag, 10
iterations, and a salt value of "FFFF", use: rndc signing -nsec3param 1 0 10 FFFF zone. To set the
opt-out flag, 15 iterations, and no salt, use: rndc signing -nsec3param 1 1 15 - zone.
rndc signing -nsec3param none removes an existing NSEC3 chain and replaces it with NSEC.
stats
Write server statistics to the statistics file. (See the statistics-file option in the BIND 9
Administrator Reference Manual.)
status
Display status of the server. Note that the number of zones includes the internal bind/CH zone and
the default ./IN hint zone if there is not an explicit root zone configured.
stop [-p]
Stop the server, making sure any recent changes made through dynamic update or IXFR are first saved
to the master files of the updated zones. If -p is specified named's process id is returned. This
allows an external process to determine when named had completed stopping.
See also rndc halt.
sync [-clean] [zone [class [view]]]
Sync changes in the journal file for a dynamic zone to the master file. If the "-clean" option is
specified, the journal file is also removed. If no zone is specified, then all zones are synced.
thaw [zone [class [view]]]
Enable updates to a frozen dynamic zone. If no zone is specified, then all frozen zones are enabled.
This causes the server to reload the zone from disk, and re-enables dynamic updates after the load
has completed. After a zone is thawed, dynamic updates will no longer be refused. If the zone has
changed and the ixfr-from-differences option is in use, then the journal file will be updated to
reflect changes in the zone. Otherwise, if the zone has changed, any existing journal file will be
removed.
See also rndc freeze.
trace
Increment the servers debugging level by one.
trace level
Sets the server's debugging level to an explicit value.
See also rndc notrace.
tsig-delete keyname [view]
Delete a given TKEY-negotiated key from the server. (This does not apply to statically configured
TSIG keys.)
tsig-list
List the names of all TSIG keys currently configured for use by named in each view. The list both
statically configured keys and dynamic TKEY-negotiated keys.
validation ( on | off | check ) [view ...]
Enable, disable, or check the current status of DNSSEC validation. Note dnssec-enable also needs to
be set to yes or auto to be effective. It defaults to enabled.
zonestatus zone [class [view]]
Displays the current status of the given zone, including the master file name and any include files
from which it was loaded, when it was most recently loaded, the current serial number, the number of
nodes, whether the zone supports dynamic updates, whether the zone is DNSSEC signed, whether it uses
automatic DNSSEC key management or inline signing, and the scheduled refresh or expiry times for the
zone.
LIMITATIONS
There is currently no way to provide the shared secret for a key_id without using the configuration file.
Several error messages could be clearer.
SEE ALSO
rndc.conf(5), rndc-confgen(8), named(8), named.conf(5), ndc(8), BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.
AUTHOR
Internet Systems Consortium
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2007, 2013-2015 Internet Systems Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")
Copyright © 2000, 2001 Internet Software Consortium.
BIND9 August 15, 2014 RNDC(8)