named/bind problems....

Thu Jan 20 00:09:35 UTC 2011

okay,

lets start from the beginning here...

1) Do you have your own IP address and IP address block that you are hosting DMS for or is it local only?

2) from talking with you last night I want to make sure you are aware of two things...

	A) resolv.conf is used for name resolution on EVERY system it tells ALL  of the software to get name services from. We fixed this last night for one of your systems by pointing it at a name server that works (the one you had did not work)
	B) named provides name services (as well as forwarding to other dns services)  and can be pointed to by resolv.conf on you local systems -  if it is not working AND your local resolv.conf files are pointing there your name resolution will not work.
        C) you can get internet name services working temporarily by using some of the servers I have you 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 in all of your resolv.conf files - you don't need named to work for this. You can also use /etc/hosts for your couple of local name/address translations as a work around until you get named working again.

3) dig is your friend for debugging named - you can use dig @local-dns-address lookup-name to debug your named while still using external name servers in your resolv.conf and local naming in /etc/hosts until you ACTUALLY are sure your local named is working.

4) The only thing you really really need a local named for is if you have a real IP block that you are responsible for providing name services on the internet for - rarely the case and even if you do you can temporarily jamb the names you care about in another 
DNS server somewhere out there like zoneedit or free dns temporarily.

Get your stuff working then debug your named.

RB
On Jan 19, 2011, at 6:55 PM, Gary Kline wrote:

> On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 06:11:23PM -0500, Robert Boyer wrote:
>> Sorry to see you are still having issues. I thought you were set when we fixed your resolv last night.
>> 
>> Okay - let's start from scratch here....
>> 
>> Are you sure you need a named? Are you actually serving dns for your own IP addresses or are you using it as a caching server. Getting a new named working/installed is not an issue. Config files are usually and issue. If you can explain your network topology and what you are trying to make work I can probably point you in the right direction.
>> 
> 
> 
> 	Last night I was on the right track; then suddenly things broke and I
> 	have no idea w hy.  From the modem/router, the wire goes thru my 
> 	firewallll that runs pfSense.  Then output from the firewall plugs
> 	into my switch.  
> 
> 	My DNS/Mail/web server is a seperate box that plugs into the
> 	hub/switch as well.      [i think; it is hard for me to get down 
> 	and crawl around under the desk.]  The server has been running named
> 	since April, '01.  I read DNS AND BIND to get things going; then in
> 	late '07 serious network troubles and help from someone in the Dallas
> 	Ft-Worth area reconfigured my network.    This fellow mostly edited
> 	the /etc/namedb/named.conf and related files.  I also host a friend's
> 	site, gratis.      He is a builder; we have been friends for nearly
> 	twenty years.   His site is a vvery small part of the picture; I 
> 	mention it only to emphasize that my setup is not entirely trivial.
> 
> 	Would it help to shar or tarball up my namedb files?
> 
> 	FWIW, I am logged into ethic on    a console.  Usually I work in X11
> 	and have xset r off set to prevent key bounces.
> 
> 
>> 
>> We did get your local resolution issue solved didn't we?
> 
> 
> 	Ithink in KVM'ing from tao to  ethic and back, the   configuration we 
> 	set up last night  broke.   At least, in watching portupgrade draw in
> 	more and more files [on ethic], when I KVM back to my desktop, the
> 	mutt settings get lost....
> 
> 	-gary
> 
>> 
>> RB
>> 
>> On Jan 19, 2011, at 6:03 PM, Gary Kline wrote:
>> 
>>> Yesterday noon my time I rebooted my server.  Things seemed to be slow.
>>> Several streams were hanging or stopping, and because ethic.thought.org had
>>> been up for 61 days I figured it wouldn't hurt to reinitialize stuff.
>>> 
>>> Well, nutshell, disaster.  For hours it wasn't clear whether the server would
>>> survive, but eventually i got a portupgrade -avOPk going and now I am close to
>>> having every port rebuilt.  
>>> 
>>> Now host kuow.org gives the the IP address of the U/Washington.  Etc. last
>>> night for unknown reasons even this failed.  I remembered that late last fall
>>> I  was warned the "bind9" was nearing its end/life.   I okayed the portupgrade
>>> to remove bind9 and install whatever its follow up would be.  
>>> 
>>> Since then, my kill9named script[s] and my restartnamed script[s] have failed.
>>> Can anyone save me from hours of tracking down whatever I have to to put
>>> things right?   
>>> 
>>> Everything I get in trouble with this bind stuff it occurs how significant an
>>> achievement it is to have a
>>> service that automagically maps quad/dotted-decimals to actual words.
>>> 
>>> Sorry if this sounds disjoint; it is past time for a lollipop and a blanket
>>> and a *nap*
>>> 
>>> gary
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> Gary Kline  kline at thought.org  http://www.thought.org  Public Service Unix
>>>   The 7.97a release of Jottings: http://jottings.thought.org/index.php
>>>                          http://journey.thought.org
>>>                                    ethic 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> freebsd-questions at freebsd.org mailing list
>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
>>> To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe at freebsd.org"
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Gary Kline  kline at thought.org  http://www.thought.org  Public Service Unix
>    The 7.97a release of Jottings: http://jottings.thought.org/index.php
>                           http://journey.thought.org
>                                     ethic 