BIND 9's nsupdate dyndns update gives: "tsig verify failure (BADKEY)"

Question

I've scoured through so many HOWTO pages on DDNS to try and fix this... I'm at a loss.

WorkstationX = CentOS 6.2 x64 ServerX = Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x64

I don't understand why it's not working... I'm literally out of ideas. I have regenerated and reconfigured everything several times.

I've made sure:

• Running NTPD on both hosts, I have verified NTP is working
• TZ is correct for both nodes (Hardware is UTC)
• I've followed these guides:
  • http://linux.yyz.us/nsupdate/
  • http://agiletesting.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/dynamic-dns-updates-with-nsupdate-and.html
  • http://www.cheshirekow.com/wordpress/?p=457
  • http://www.erianna.com/nsupdate-dynamic-dns-updates-with-bind9
  • http://consultancy.edvoncken.net/index.php/HOWTO_Manage_Dynamic_DNS_with_nsupdate
  • http://blog.philippklaus.de/2013/01/updating-dns-entries-with-nsupdate-or-alternative-implementations-your-own-ddns/

Some of them have varying ways of generating the key, but the rest is the same... and still, when I try nsupdate - even on the server where dnssec-keygen was run (and where bind is), I get the same log entries:

Aug 14 11:20:38 vps named[31247]: 14-Aug-2013 11:20:38.032 security: error: client 127.0.0.1#29403: view public: request has invalid signature: TSIG domain2.com.au.: tsig verify failure (BADKEY)

from this nsupdate:

nsupdate -k Kdomain2.com.au.+157+35454.key
server localhost
zone domain2.com.au.
update add test.domain2.com.au. 86400 IN A 10.20.30.40
show
send

What I gather is the CORRECT generated method:

dnssec-keygen -a HMAC-MD5 -b 512 -n HOST domain2.com.au.

named.conf (IPs have been changed for privacy):

acl ipv4                { 0.0.0.0/0; };
acl ipv6                { 2000::/3; ::1; fe80::/10; fec0::/10; };
acl safehosts           { 127.0.0.0/8; 3.2.2.40; 44.44.14.12; };

include "/etc/bind/rndc.key";

controls {
        inet * port 953
        allow { safehosts; } keys { "rndc-key"; };
};

options
{
        auth-nxdomain           yes;
        empty-zones-enable      no;
        zone-statistics         yes;
        dnssec-enable           yes;
        listen-on               { any; };
        listen-on-v6            { any; };
        directory               "/etc/bind/db";
        managed-keys-directory  "/etc/bind/keys";
        memstatistics-file      "/etc/bind/data/bind.memstats";
        statistics-file         "/etc/bind/data/bind.qstats";
};

logging
{
## CUT ##
};

view "public"
{
    recursion           yes;
    allow-query-cache   { safehosts; };
    allow-recursion     { safehosts; };

zone "." IN {
    type            hint;
    file            "root.zone";
};

zone "0.0.127.in-addr.arpa" {
    type            master;
    allow-update    { none; };
    allow-transfer  { none; };
    file            "0.0.127.in-addr.arpa.zone";
};

zone "localhost" {
    type            master;
    allow-update    { none; };
    allow-transfer  { none; };
    file            "localhost.zone";
};

zone "3.2.2.in-addr.arpa" {
    type            master;
    allow-update    { none; };
    allow-transfer  { none; };
    file            "3.2.2.in-addr.arpa.zone";
};

zone "domain1.com.au" {
    type            master;
    notify          yes;
    allow-update    { key "rndc-key"; };
    allow-transfer  { key "rndc-key"; };
    file            "domain1.com.au.zone";
};

zone "domain2.com.au" {
    type            master;
    notify          yes;
    allow-update    { key "rndc-key"; };
    allow-transfer  { key "rndc-key"; };
    file            "doomain2.com.au.zone";
};
};

/etc/bind/rndc.key:

key "rndc-key" {
    algorithm hmac-md5;
    secret "vZwCYBx4OAOsBrbdlooUfBaQx+kwEi2eLDXdr+JMs4ykrwXKQTtDSg/jp7eHnw39IehVLMtuVECTqfOwhXBm0A==";
};

Kdomain1.com.au.+157+35454.private

Private-key-format: v1.3
Algorithm: 157 (HMAC_MD5)
Key: vZwCYBx4OAOsBrbdlooUfBaQx+kwEi2eLDXdr+JMs4ykrwXKQTtDSg/jp7eHnw39IehVLMtuVECTqfOwhXBm0A==
Bits: AAA=
Created: 20130814144733
Publish: 20130814144733
Activate: 20130814144733

Answer 1

nsupdate has some quirks and assumes some naming convention when called with -k. From the man page, I think your key name might somehow be called domain2.com.au.

Could you try the following?

nsupdate -y \
  'rndc-key:vZwCYBx4OAOsBrbdlooUfBaQx+kwEi2eLDXdr+JMs4ykrwXKQTtDSg/jp7eHnw39IehVLMtuVECTqfOwhXBm0A=='

Answer 2

You have to use the key name you created the key with as the name in the config. From what I can see, you have to use:

key "domain2.com.au" {
   [...]
}

From the BIND documentation:

to verify that incoming requests have been signed with a key matching this name, algorithm, and secret.

Answer 3

You have allow-update { key "rndc-key"; }; and not the key you've generated. You should have a key statement somewhere: key "ddns_key" { algorithm hmac-md5; secret "vZwCYBx4OAOsBrbdlooUfBaQx+kwEi2eLDXdr+JMs4ykrwXKQTtDSg/jp7eHnw39IehVLMtuVECTqfOwhXBm0A=="; };.You should then add the allow-update { key "ddns_key" };