RNDC(8) 							       BIND9								   RNDC(8)

NAME

       rndc - name server control utility

SYNOPSIS

       rndc [-b source-address] [-c config-file] [-k key-file] [-s server] [-p port] [-V] [-y key_id] {command}

DESCRIPTION

       rndc controls the operation of a name server. It supersedes the ndc utility that was provided in old BIND releases. If rndc is invoked with
       no command line options or arguments, it prints a short summary of the supported commands and the available options and their arguments.

       rndc communicates with the name server over a TCP connection, sending commands authenticated with digital signatures. In the current
       versions of rndc and named, the only supported authentication algorithm is HMAC-MD5, which uses a shared secret on each end of the
       connection. This provides TSIG-style authentication for the command request and the name server's response. All commands sent over the
       channel must be signed by a key_id known to the server.

       rndc reads a configuration file to determine how to contact the name server and decide what algorithm and key it should use.

OPTIONS

       -b source-address
	   Use source-address as the source address for the connection to the server. Multiple instances are permitted to allow setting of both
	   the IPv4 and IPv6 source addresses.

       -c config-file
	   Use config-file as the configuration file instead of the default, /etc/rndc.conf.

       -k key-file
	   Use key-file as the key file instead of the default, /etc/rndc.key. The key in /etc/rndc.key will be used to authenticate commands sent
	   to the server if the config-file does not exist.

       -s server
	   server is the name or address of the server which matches a server statement in the configuration file for rndc. If no server is
	   supplied on the command line, the host named by the default-server clause in the options statement of the rndc configuration file will
	   be used.

       -p port
	   Send commands to TCP port port instead of BIND 9's default control channel port, 953.

       -V
	   Enable verbose logging.

       -y key_id
	   Use the key key_id from the configuration file.  key_id must be known by named with the same algorithm and secret string in order for
	   control message validation to succeed. If no key_id is specified, rndc will first look for a key clause in the server statement of the
	   server being used, or if no server statement is present for that host, then the default-key clause of the options statement. Note that
	   the configuration file contains shared secrets which are used to send authenticated control commands to name servers. It should
	   therefore not have general read or write access.

       For the complete set of commands supported by rndc, see the BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual or run rndc without arguments to see its
       help message.

LIMITATIONS

       rndc does not yet support all the commands of the BIND 8 ndc utility.

       There is currently no way to provide the shared secret for a key_id without using the configuration file.

       Several error messages could be clearer.

SEE ALSO

       rndc.conf(5), rndc-confgen(8), named(8), named.conf(5), ndc(8), BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.

AUTHOR

       Internet Systems Consortium

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2004, 2005, 2007 Internet Systems Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")
       Copyright (C) 2000, 2001 Internet Software Consortium.

BIND9								   June 30, 2000							   RNDC(8)