I have two systems

System 1 : Linux Server (I want to configure DNS here)
IP: 192.168.0.1

System 2 : Windows 98 system ( IP 192.168.0.2)

After configuring the DNS , I want to configure Sendmail, Apache etc... I think we need to set up DNS for properly configuring DNS?? Please note that I m a newbie and trying to create a demo DNS server on my LINUX 7.2 system for learning and practice purpose. Please guide me the way you can. You can assume any scenario suitable for me considering the number of systems (2) I have so that I can learn "How to configure DNS on Linux 7.2.

Pleaseeeeeeee help...

Many thanks to all ....

You don't need DNS server to configure other services (well... a mail server may need it). Before you start configuring it you need to have think about your domain (in local network you can use any name you wish). When you know the domain you need to:
1) Write /etc/named.conf. If you're using bind from RPM, the file should exist, you only need to review it. If it looks OK, leave it as it is. (Note something like
options {
directory "/var/named";
}
It describes the directory where other configuration files should be).
2) Check if you have /var/named/root.hints and named.conf.
Edit named.conf, to add a simple domain add to it:
zone "yourdomainhere" {
type master;
notify no;
file "pz/yourdomainhere";
}
Then look into pz directory. There may be example files. If they are, copy one of them as "yourdomainhere" and try to modify the IPs. If in trouble, please post again.

step to get you started for DNS:

-register domain name and point your domain to your server.
-on your server, edit /etc/named.conf just like step 2 from Mara
-now "yourdomain" file is on the /var/named directory, you can add A, MX record in there just like this sample:
$TTL 86400
@ IN SOA ns.yourdomain.com. root.yourdomain.com (
3 ; serial
28800 ; refresh
7200 ; retry
604800 ; expire
86400 ; ttl
)


@ IN NS ns

@ IN MX 10 mail.yourdomain.com.

www IN A 192.168.1.1
mail IN A 192.168.1.1
@ IN A 192.168.1.1

After you finish, don't forgot to restart your named. Hope that help!

Thank you all for helping me setting up the DNS.....I have finally configured it and now in the process of settting up Sendmail....

Special thanks to "Mara" and "importboy03"

Cheers!!

Dibs

Q: And if I want a domain that will be accessible on the Internet? How to proceed?
Thank you very much.

You need to buy one (yourname.org, yourname.net, yourname.com etc) or use free domain registration (longer names).

well this thread has helped me out alot!
it works,
so what do i do to get my other machine running bind9
to act as the slave exactly?

You need to set it up. Most tutorials/guides you can find are written aboyut master nameservers. Setting a slave one is very similar. Start from http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/DNS-HOWTO.html (mostly about master servers, but you'll learn how to make a slave one, too).

i got it going right after sending the last post.
this is cool stuff.

thanks

Ok, question.

Once you've got two DNS servers set up on your localnetwork, a master and a slave, is it possible to have your domain point to both servers if you are using only one IP address?

No, you need one IP address for one DNS server. So you need two IPs from your provider (non-local ones) to have them both visible from outside.

Sorry if any of this sounds dumb, I'm just trying to make this work. Can I set up a secondary DNS server at lets say my cousins house or a friend's house?

If your cousin or friend has an IP different that yours (non-local one), yes.