How to setup a LAN DNS server using Bind9 under Debian and Ubuntu Linux

This is a step by step tutorial on how to install and configure DNS server for your LAN using bind9. The DNS server will provide caching and name resolution as well as reverse name resolution for your local network. In this tutorial, we will use the domain "debian.lan" and this will be the domain of your local network. The domain "debian.lan is not accessible from the internet; its private ip address is "192.168.100.1".

Installing bind9 and dns utilities

I assume that you already have a working Debian or Ubuntu installation. Lets install the bind9 package and dns utilities from Debian repository.

Configure your Linux system

Add this information to your /etc/hostname

Edit your /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1       localhost.localdomain   localhost
192.168.100.1   main.debian.lan main
# The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts
::1     ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
fe00::0 ip6-localnet
ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix
ff02::1 ip6-allnodes
ff02::2 ip6-allrouters
ff02::3 ip6-allhosts

Edit your /etc/resolv.conf

and add this information.

search debian.local
nameserver 192.168.100.1
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

This is where Linux looks to find out how it should perform DNS lookups.

Lets create a zone

The zone files (or database files) are the heart of your BIND system. This is where all the information is stored on what hostname goes with what ip address.
Before we create a zone file, lets edit first the local configuration file /etc/bind/named.conf.local.

and the zone file data.

//
// Do any local configuration here
//

// Consider adding the 1918 zones here, if they are not used in your
// organization
//include "/etc/bind/zones.rfc1918";

zone "debian.lan" {
        type master;
        file "db.debian.lan";
};

zone "100.168.192.in-addr.arpa" {
        type master;
        file "db.192.168.100";
};

Lets start creating a zone file in /var/cache/bind/ directory. Create a file called db.debian.lan

And add the following entry

$TTL 604800
@ IN SOA main.debian.lan. admin.debian.lan. (
                2008080101      ;serial
                04800           ;refresh
                86400           ;retry        
                2419200         ;expire
                604800          ;negative cache TTL
                )
@       IN      NS      main.debian.lan.
@       IN      A       192.168.100.1
@       IN      MX      10      main.debian.lan.
main    IN      A       192.168.100.1
www     IN      CNAME   main
ubuntu  IN      A       192.168.100.2

Lets create the reverse DNS zone file called db.192.168.100

and the the following entry.

$TTL 604800
@ IN SOA main.debian.lan. admin.debian.lan. (
                2008080101      ;serial
                604800          ;refresh
                86400           ;retry
                2419200         ;expire
                604800          ;negative cache TTL
                )
@       IN      NS      main.debian.lan.
@       IN      A       192.168.100.1
1       IN      PTR     main.debian.lan.
2       IN      PTR     ubuntu.debian.lan.

The zone files are created, you can check your zone file configurations using these utilities:

Lets edit the file /etc/bind/named.conf.options

forwarders {
                202.78.97.41;
                202.78.97.3;
        };

Uncomment the line forwarders and add your ISP's DNS server.

Lets restart our DNS server, and test using the tool dig.

You should see the following message

; <<>> DiG 9.3.4 <<>> debian.lan
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 54950
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;debian.lan.                    IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
debian.lan.             64800   IN      A       192.168.100.1

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
debian.lan.             64800   IN      NS      main.debian.lan.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
main.debian.lan.        64800   IN      A       192.168.100.1

;; Query time: 1 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.100.1#53(192.168.100.1)
;; WHEN: Tue Aug  5 09:33:40 2008
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 79

Test your reverse DNS

If you see this message, you have successfully installed the DNS server.

; <<>> DiG 9.3.4 <<>> -x debian.lan
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 42510
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;lan.debian.in-addr.arpa.       IN      PTR

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
in-addr.arpa.		10800	IN	SOA	A.ROOT-SERVERS.NET. dns-ops.ARIN.NET. 2008080416 1800 900 691200 10800

;; Query time: 952 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.100.1#53(192.168.100.1)
;; WHEN: Tue Aug  5 09:34:25 2008
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 108

You can also check your DNS configuration using nslookup and host command.

All computers in the LAN are going to use 192.168.100.1 as a nameserver, this can be set manually by setting statically:

then put this information.

nameserver 192.168.100.1

Have fun!
Sources:
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/network-administrator/ch-bind.html
http://www.aboutdebian.com/dns.htm