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OS/2 Shareware BBS: 35 Internet
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README!.1ST
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2002-04-04
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Overview
========
The zoneditor is used for creating BIND zone files. It also maintains
the BIND named.conf file adding and deleting domains edited using the
programme. The programme can also produce a config file for the
secondary server.
WARNING:
If you already have a working BIND setup, be sure to back-up your
existing named.conf file before using this programme, as the file
will be overwritten without warning.
If you have any zone files you don't want the programme to "mess
with", just make sure they don't have the same extension as the one
you choose in the ZoneEdit.cfg file.
If you don't have BIND installed, I have included sample config files
you can use. If you want to use your existing setup see "Adapting an
existing configuration" below. Apart from those files, all you need is
that .exe and .cmd files somewhere in your path.
Installation
============
To install the programme simply copy the .exe and .cfg file to a
directory of your choise. If you want to use the sample BIND config
files, unzip the etc.zip file in your %ETC% directory
(normally C:\MPTN\ETC\). The only thing you have to change is the
"listen-on" line in named.tpl, where you have to change 11.11.11.11
to whatever address your DNS server has. The programme can create
conf files for the secondary server as well. See "Secondary server"
below.
Then the ZoneEdit.cfg file has to be changed to suit your
configuration. I will explain the meaning of the different lines
below.
The following lines contain the names of the default nameservers to
be used in your zone files. The primary server is the system you
are running ZoneEdit on. The ip-address in line two should be set to
the address used in your named.tpl.
Default primary nameserver = ns1.domain.com
ip-address of primary nameserver = 11.11.11.11
Default secondary nameserver = ns2.domain.com
The originhost line should be set to the same as line one.
Default originhost = ns1.domain.com
Zonecontact is the e-mail address that should be used to report
errors in your DNS setup. Normally hostmaster@domain is used.
Default zone contact = hostmaster@domain.com
The next values are the default refresh and expiry etc. values
Default refresh = 1d
Default retry = 1h
Default expire = 4w
Default ttl = 1d
Default negative ttl = 1h
The next to lines contain the mail servers you normally want to
use.
Default mx1 = mail.domain.com
Default mx2 = mx2.domain.com
The next line can be used if you often need a certain name for
cname records. I use the mail server address, as I normally
create a mail.domain cname record in all domains.
Default cname = mail.domain.com
The next to lines contain standard values to be used as adresses
in a and ptr records.
Default ptr ip-address = 1
Default ip-address = 11.11.11.1
The next line is the path to your namedb directory
namedb path = c:\mptn\etc\namedb\
The next line contains the extension used for the zone files
created/edited by the programme. I use .zone for those files and
.mzone for the "don't mess with" zones.
Filespec for zone-files = *.zone
The next lines can be used to upload config files to the secondary
server after there have been changes made. If you fill-out the
following lines, the programme will upload the file named.conf.sec
to the specified server whenever the configuration has been changed
(domains added/deleted).
FTP-server for sec. conf. file = ftp.domain.com
FTP username = username
FTP password = password
Use
===
To create a domain, I do the following:
1. Click the "Create zone" button
2. Type-in a domain name and click the "Create" button.
3. Add the records using the "Add record" buttons.
I normally add these records:
╧ an "A" record for the webserver (eg. example.com 11.11.11.12)
╧ a "CNAME" record for the webserver (eg. www.example.com
example.com)
╧ a "CNAME" record for the mailserver (eg. mail.example.com
mail.domain.com) - if you have done like me, the mail server
will be in the drop-down list in the CNAME dialogue.
╧ two "MX" records for the domain - to do that simply click the
"MX" button, and then click the "Save" button in the MX
dialogue - the default values from the cfg files are
automatically filled in.
4. After that I simply click "Save".
When you click "Exit" the programme will ask if you want to
restart the name server. If you select "Yes" the command "ndc2
restart" will be executed.
If you are creating the main domain file, you will of course have
to add "A" records for the mail servers and the name server itself.
Remember that "CNAME" records can only point to "A" records. If you
add a "CNAME" record that points to a name that's itself a "CNAME",
BIND will reject the zone.
Also remember that "MX" records "should" only point to an "A"
record. What I do is this: I add the mail servers to the main
domain(s) using "A" records, and then I use one of those names for
all the "MX" records, even if there is a "CNAME" mail server is
defined in the domain. I just add the mail server "CNAME" records,
so that the users can use mail.example.com as their mail-server.
Adapting an existing configuration
==================================
To use an existing configuration you should first backup your
named.conf and zone files.
If you don't want the programme to touch your existing files,
simply choose a different file-extension in the config file.
Next you should rename your named.conf to named.tpl. The programme
will then simply include your existing conf file when writing the
new named.conf. The domains created using ZoneEdit will be added
at the bottom of the named.conf file.
If you choose to let the programme edit your existing files you
should beware that the "zone file de-cryption engine" is not
perfect (yet), so the files may end up in a FUBAR state after being
edited (don't say you haven't been warned). I haven't had problems
with the files that have been created by the programme in the first
place though.
Secondary server
================
If you want the programme to create a named.conf file for the
secondary server as well, simply copy the named.conf file of the
secondary server to the primary server (where ZoneEdit is used).
The file should be called named.tpl.sec, and the file created is
called named.conf.sec.
If you don't copy/create a named.tpl.sec file the named.conf.sec
file will simply contain the domains created by ZoneEdit. That file
can then be merged into the secondary servers conf file manually.
If you specify the ftp server part at the bottom of the cfg file,
the named.conf.sec will be transfered whenever it's changed.
Bugs
====
As mentioned the ability to read and "de-crypt" zone files from
other sources is not yet perfect, so remember to make a backup!
Not all types of records are supported. Currently only SOA, A,
PTR, MX, CNAME and NS records are supported.
While editing a zone file, you can only delete one record at a
time - otherwise the programme does strange things. If that
happens, simply click the "Cancel" button, and your zone file
will survive unharmed.
I currently host about 30 domains on my name-server, and all the
zone files have been written and maintained using ZoneEdit, so I
would say that it does work...
Please send bug reports and complaints to mcs@post5.tele.dk
Mikkel C. Simonsen