named.hosts(SFF)

Format

$INCLUDE named.soa

host	[ttl]	class	A		address

[host	[ttl]	class	A		address]
[alias	[ttl]	class	CNAME		host]
[host	[ttl]	class	HINFO		hardware	OS]
[host	[ttl]	class	WKS		address		protocol   services]
[name	[ttl]	class	PTR		host]
[host	[ttl]	class	TXT		string]
[host	[ttl]	class	MX		preference	mail_exchanger]
[owner [ttl]	class	RP		mail_exchanger	txt_host]


[host	[ttl]	class	AFSDB		subtype		mail_exchanger]
[$ORIGIN domain]
[$INCLUDE filename]

Description

This is created manually on the primary server.

Required records

SOA

specifies the Start Of Authority record for each zone over which it has authority. See named.soa(SFF) for a description of this record.

NS

specifies the Name Server record for each name server in the zone. For example:

;{name}   {ttl}       class    NS    nameserver
                      IN       NS    namesrvr.company.com

In this example, namesrvr.company.com is the name of a name server in the current zone. Each name server must have an NS record.

NOTE: These two records, SOA and NS, comprise the file named.soa. Instead of listing these two records, you can substitute the directive $INCLUDE named.soa.

A

specifies the Address record for each host in the zone. For example:

;{name}    {ttl}       class    A     address
host1                  IN       A     128.32.0.4

In this example, host1 is the host name, and 128.32.0.4 is its IP address. There should be one A record for each address of each machine.

Optional directives

$INCLUDE

includes information from another file.

$ORIGIN

changes the domain origin. It resets the current origin for relative domain names. For example:

$ORIGIN company.com

This example appends company.com to every address in the file until another $ORIGIN.

Optional records

AFSDB

The DCE or AFS Server record specifies the hosts that provide a style of distributed service advertised under this domain name. For example:

;name     {ttl}  class  AFSDB  subtype  mail_exchanger
host.name        IN     AFSDB  1        namesrvr2.company.com.

This is an experimental record. Subtype 1 indicates that the named host is an AFS (R) database server for the AFS cell of the given domain name. Subtype 2 indicates that the named host provides intra-cell name service for the DCE (R) cell named by the given domain name.

CNAME

The Canonical Name record defines an alias for a host. For example:

;alias     {ttl}    class    CNAME     canonical_name
nickname            IN       CNAME     host1

In this example, nickname is an alias for host1.

HINFO

The Host Information record lists the hardware and operating system running on a host. For example:

;{name}    {ttl}      class    HINFO     hardware     OS
host1                 IN       HINFO     VAX-11/780   UNIX

In this example, host1 is a VAX-11/780 running UNIX.

MX

The Mail Exchanger record specifies a list of hosts which are configured to receive mail sent to this domain. For example:

;{name}   {ttl}  class  MX  preference  mail_exchanger
host.name        IN     MX  0           namesrvr2.company.com.

In this example, nameserver2.company.com is a mail gateway that knows how to deliver mail to host.name. Every host which receives mail should have an MX record. The preference is the order that a mailer should follow when there is more than one way to deliver mail to a host (lower numbers have higher precedence).

PTR

The Domain Name Pointer record defines a special name that points to some other location in the domain. This is generally used to set up reverse pointers for IN-ADDR.ARPA. For example:

;{name}    {ttl}       class    PTR     hostname
7.0                    IN       PTR     host1.company.com.

In this example, 7.0 is the pointer to host1.company.com., and is the unique octets of its IP address in reverse order. The trailing dot on host1.company.com. prevents DNS from appending the current $ORIGIN. This is generally used in named.rev and is required by gethostbyaddr(SLIB).

RP

The Responsible Person record identifies the name or group name of the responsible person for a host. For example:

;owner    {ttl}  class  RP  mail_exchanger    txt_host
ownername        IN     RP  host1.company.com host1.company.com

In this example, ownername is the name or group name of the responsible person. mail_exchanger is the owner's mailbox (specified in MX). txt_host is the address of relevant TXT records.

TXT

The Text record contains free-form textual data and is generally used to store administrative data. For example:

;name    {ttl}       class    TXT    string
host.name            IN       TXT    "text"

WKS

The Well-Known Services record describes the well-known services supported by a particular protocol at a specified address. The list of services and port numbers come from the list of services specified in /etc/services. The services are grouped by protocol, with one WKS record per protocol per host (if the list of services crosses to a new line, enclose them in parentheses). For example:

;{name} {ttl} class WKS address       protocol services
              IN    WKS 128.32.0.10   UDP      (echo tftp
                                               domain)

In this example, echo, tftp, and domain are the well-known services for UDP on the machine with address 128.32.0.10.

Files

See also

Standards conformance