Reverse DNS issue

d0pe · 02-08-2007, 11:10 AM

I'm having trouble with setting up reverse DNS. I have added the following lines to /etc/named.conf

zone "196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa" {
type master;
file "pz/db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa";
};

and in the file I created /var/named/db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa :

$ORIGIN 196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa.
@ IN SOA d0pe.net. root.d0pe.net. (
2007010001 ; serial, todays date + todays serial #
8H ; refresh, seconds
2H ; retry, seconds
4W ; expire, seconds
1D ) ; minimum, seconds
NS YOUR.NAME.SERVER1.
NS YOUR.NAME.SERVER2.

196 IN PTR d0pe.net.

Now when I try and start named, I get the following error:

Starting named:
Error in named configuration:
zone localdomain/IN: loaded serial 42
zone localhost/IN: loaded serial 42
zone 0.0.127.in-addr.arpa/IN: loaded serial 1997022700
zone 0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.ip6.arpa/IN: loaded serial 1997022700
zone 255.in-addr.arpa/IN: loaded serial 42
zone 0.in-addr.arpa/IN: loaded serial 42
zone 196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa/IN: loading master file db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa: file not found
_default/196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa/IN: file not found
[FAILED]

Any help would be greatly appreciated. The server is running Fedora Core 4. I am very new to linux and am using this VPS to learn about it.

bathory · 02-08-2007, 12:26 PM

Quote:

zone 196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa/IN: loading master file db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa: file not found

As you see from the above, bind cannot find the zone file.
Note that the localion of this file is: /some/directory/pz/db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa, where "/some/directory" is the path defined by the

Code:

"directory "/some/directory";

line in your named.conf.
Check that the whole path to that file is correct and that is readable by the user running named:

Code:

ls -l /path/to/zonefiles/pz/db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa

d0pe · 02-08-2007, 12:52 PM

ok I have changed /etc/named.conf to read:

Quote:

zone "196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa" {
type master;
file "db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa";
};

(removed the dir /pz to see if it would make a difference)

also in named.conf the directory setting is:

Quote:

directory "/var/named";

and to show that the file is actually there:

Quote:

[root@smoke named]# ls -l /var/named/db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 283 Feb 8 10:58 /var/named/db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa

but I still get this error when starting named:

Quote:

zone 196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa/IN: loading master file db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa: file not found
_default/196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa/IN: file not found
[FAILED]

by the way, I am running named under root. Is this a bad idea?
thanks for your help, it is very appreciated!

bathory · 02-08-2007, 01:20 PM

Since your other zone files are loading correctly you must make sure that the file db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa is in the same directory and has the same permissions.
You can also check your config for errors, running:

Code:

named-checkconf -z
named-checkzone 196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa /var/named/db.196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa

Quote:

by the way, I am running named under root. Is this a bad idea?

If you mean that you are running named as user root, then it is a bad idea. You should create a user named to run named, or use the nobody user. You can also run named chrooted as described in this howto.

JimBass · 02-08-2007, 03:25 PM

By the way, there is one major problem with what you are trying to do, and that is you are not who gets asked for the PTR for those IP addresses. Look ->

Code:

jim@jimsworktop:~/installs$ dig -x 64.18.144.196

; <<>> DiG 9.3.4 <<>> -x 64.18.144.196
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 12229
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;196.144.18.64.in-addr.arpa.    IN      PTR

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
144.18.64.in-addr.arpa. 1800    IN      SOA     ns1.justedge.net. noc.justedge.net. 2002042467 28800 14400 3600000 86400

;; Query time: 102 msec
;; SERVER: 207.69.188.186#53(207.69.188.186)
;; WHEN: Thu Feb  8 16:13:15 2007
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 100


jim@jimsworktop:~/installs$ whois 64.18.144.196

OrgName:    JustEdge Networks Inc.
OrgID:      JUSTE
Address:    71 Ackerman Ave #161
City:       Clifton
StateProv:  NJ
PostalCode: 07011
Country:    US

ReferralServer: rwhois://rwhois.justedge.net:4321

NetRange:   64.18.128.0 - 64.18.159.255
CIDR:       64.18.128.0/19
NetName:    JE-BLK-2
NetHandle:  NET-64-18-128-0-1
Parent:     NET-64-0-0-0-0
NetType:    Direct Allocation
NameServer: NS1.JUSTEDGE.NET
NameServer: NS2.JUSTEDGE.NET
Comment:
RegDate:    2004-08-24
Updated:    2005-04-05

RNOCHandle: JUSTE-ARIN
RNOCName:   JustEdge
RNOCPhone:  +1-866-458-7833
RNOCEmail:  info@justedge.net

OrgTechHandle: JUSTE-ARIN
OrgTechName:   JustEdge
OrgTechPhone:  +1-866-458-7833
OrgTechEmail:  info@justedge.net

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2007-02-07 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.


Found a referral to rwhois.justedge.net:4321.

Timeout.

The particularly important part of that output is this -

Code:

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
144.18.64.in-addr.arpa. 86400   IN      SOA     ns1.justedge.net. noc.justedge.net. 2002042467 28800 14400 3600000 86400

That tells us that ns1.justedge.net is the server to be asked for any PTR in the 64.18.144.0 -> 64.18.144.255 range. Your address falls in that range, so nobody is asking your machine for the PTR you are trying to create. You need to get justedge to create you a PTR, or try and get them to delegate that to you. Most ISPs will delegate down, but only if you have an entire class C, which would be every address from 64.18.144.0 -> 64.18.144.255.

It doesn't hurt to clear up your problem, but it is pointless. I'd just rip the in.address.arpa zones out of your named.conf.

Peace,
JimBass