DNS maps hostnames to IP addresses and
vice versa. Configuring DNS can be somewhat difficult. However, you
can easily configure your Linux system as a caching name
server
. A caching name server remembers mappings it has
recently fetched and can supply them to clients. Accessing a local or
nearby caching name server is much faster than accessing a remote
name server.
The Linux program that performs name
resolution is the Berkeley Internet Name Daemon (BIND). BIND is
sometimes referred to as named
(
pronounced name dee)
, an
abbreviation for name daemon
. So, the same
facility is variously referred to as DNS, BIND, or
named
. Some Linux/Unix systems are configured to
use a name server other than BIND; however, BIND is the most popular
name server on the Internet.
To install BIND and configure it
as a caching name server, use GnoRPM to install the
bind
and caching-nameserver
packages.
To start the named
service, issue the command:
service named start
To verify whether the service is running, issue the following command:
service named status
The command should report the process ID of the
named
server.
To use the named
server, you must specify its IP
address in the resolver configuration. To do so, launch the network
configuration tool by choosing Programs → System → Network
Configuration from the GNOME menu or System → Network
Configuration from the KDE menu.
Make a record of the existing specification and then specify 127.0.0.1 as the IP address of the primary name server. Test your name server by pinging an Internet host:
ping www.apu.edu
A series of replies confirms that the name server is working. Press Ctrl-C to halt the pinging.