DNS authoritative SOA problem

Question

I have set up my Bind DNS Server on debian Linux. The localhost is the DNS server. On the local network everything works fine. I can ping the various zones which have been created. I have a static IP address which I have registerd my domain name, DNS4you.co.za. When I ping DNS4you.co.za, it pings fine. Now I want to use my own DNS server to registar domains with our South African registrar. When I submit the form, the Registrar reports that No Records found in your nameserver for the domain you wish to register. Could someone help me here please?

My second POST: I was perhaps not too clear. Firstly I had already registered dsn4u.co.za using a private company’s two nameservers. In other words, dsn4u.co.za points this company’s servers. This company in turn points to my fixed IP address. Thus when you ping dsn4u.co.za it now actually point right down to my router. My router in turn now points to the localhost which is running the Bind DNS. Now what I intend to do is add domains in my DNS server, eg: cakes.co.za, bread.co.za, fish.co.za. Once they are added, I will now submit to Uniforum (South African Registrar) my two nameservers as the Primary and Secondary for the respective domains (cakes.co.za, bread.co.za, fish.co.za.) I assume that I will have to create something like: ns1. dsn4u.co.za and ns2.dsn4u.co.za
The end result is that I can host my own DNS server as well as my own multi homed webserver on the same premises. My problem is that how do I create these two nameservers? I believe that you should have two separate IP addresses, but they did inform me that you could do it with two IP addresses on the same network. And what records does the Registrar require. I hope that I have explained myself

My third post Hi Zeyne Thank you once again. Your question "Do you need your DNS server dns4u to be authoritative ( the one, which will point a domain into an IP) for the zone cakes.co.za? " Yes, this is exactly what I wish to accomplish, dns4u to be authoritative for cakes.co.za or any other domain I wish to register Cna anyone please help me here. I am stuck

Answer 1

Problem

Registrar requires your server to actually have the zone you're trying to be authoritative for set up beforehand.

Assumption

You are trying to register dns4you.co.za at Uniforum (the only registrar for the co.za TLD), and have your own DNS server be the primary (and possibly secondary as well?) nameserver for this zone.

Solution

An example of the zone file for bind:

$TTL 86400
@       IN SOA          ns1.dns4you.co.za. dnsadmin.dns4you.co.za. (

                2009120501      ; Serial number
                864000          ; Refresh after 10 days (secs)
                36000           ; Retry after 100 mins
                3600000         ; Expire after 42 days
                864000 )        ; Minimum TTL 10 days


                        IN       NS      ns1.dns4you.co.za.
                        IN       NS      ns2.dns4you.co.za.

                        IN       MX      0 mail

                        IN       A       xx.xx.xx.xxx

ns1                     IN       A       xx.xx.xx.xxx
ns2                     IN       A       xx.xx.xx.xxx

mail                    IN       A       xx.xx.xx.xxx

www                     IN       A       xx.xx.xx.xxx
ftp                     IN       CNAME   www.dns4you.co.za.

Notes

• ns1 and ns2 are the hostnames for the IPs of the servers you're using as SOA for your dns4you.co.za zone
• all the xx.xx.xx.xxx should obviously be replaced with the actual IPs
• the dnsadmin address in the SOA line should preferably be an actual email address
• Uniforum AFAIR requires a minimum of two nameservers, with unique IPs

UPDATE

Currently dns4u.co.za is pointing to ns1.ffg.biz and ns2.ffg.biz - neither of these nameservers return anything but SOA and NS records for the zone. Given what you've said is your intention, you'll need to update those records with ffg.biz so that you have two A records returned as well, for ns1 and ns2.dns4u.co.za.

Once that is functional, you'll need to configure your bind(/s) to be authoritative for whichever zones you wish to host. For this, the above zone file example still suits, though you would need to modify per zone you'd like to be authoritative for. The bare minimum you'd require in each zone file (e.g. /var/cache/bind/master/za.co.cakes):

$TTL 86400
@       IN SOA          ns1.dns4u.co.za. dnsadmin.dns4u.co.za. (

                2009120601      ; Serial number
                864000          ; Refresh after 10 days (secs)
                36000           ; Retry after 100 mins
                3600000         ; Expire after 42 days
                864000 )        ; Minimum TTL 10 days


                        IN       NS      ns1.dns4u.co.za.
                        IN       NS      ns2.dns4u.co.za.

Remember per zone you'd also have to include the definition into bind's configs something along the lines of:

zone "cakes.co.za" {
   type master;
   file "/var/cache/bind/master/za.co.cakes";
};

Uniforum only requires a primary and secondary nameserver hostname and IP, which will be queried during the registration process to ensure they return correct and identical information. I believe they require two separate IPs - the network is irrelevant, so if you wish to host on the same machine, with a single bind, it is possible. The beauty of a setup like that is you aren't required to set up a slave, as long as bind is listening on both IPs given to Uniforum.

Of course, most DNS admins would give you the same advice: don't do it. Don't use the same machine, don't even use the same network if the machines share the same uplink, etc. Ultimately it is your call to make based on the risks and the actual configuration of your network.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

The intent is to have two MACHINES serving the zones, not just two IP addresses.

A DNS zone works perfectly well with one DNS server. Two adds reliability by adding redundancy, and perhaps makes things faster if they are geographically and routing-map diverse. Three makes it even better.

You're seemingly wanting to know how to set up DNS in a rather generic way.

The basic steps:

1. Set up your name server and give it a long-term name. It can be inside the domain you are trying to register, but it's always better to have those be diverse as well.
2. Register your zone(s) giving the hostname AND IP address of those DNS servers.
3. If you really need to have names registered for your DNS servers before you can register zones using them, well... perhaps you can use a temporary name and change it later.