rndc(1M)						  System Administration Commands						  rndc(1M)

NAME

       rndc - name server control utility

SYNOPSIS

       rndc [-V] [-c config-file] [-k key-file] [-s server] [-p port] [-y key_id] command

DESCRIPTION

       The  rndc  utility  controls  the operation of a name server. It supersedes the ndc utility that was provided in previous 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.

       The  rndc utility communicates with the name server over a TCP connection, sending commands authenticated with digital signatures. The only
       supported authentication algorithm in the current versions of rndc and named(1M) is HMAC-MD5, which uses a shared secret on each end of the
       connection.  This  algorithm  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.

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

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       -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 is used to	authenticate  com-
		       mands sent to the server if the config-file does not exist.

       -s server       The  server  argument  is  the  name or address of the server that 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 option statement	of
		       the configuration file is used.

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

       -V	       Enable verbose logging.

       -y keyid        Use the key keyid from the configuration file. The keyid argument must be known by named with the same algorithm and secret
		       string for control message validation to succeed. If no keyid 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. The configuration file contains shared secrets that are used to send authenticated  control  com-
		       mands 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

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

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

       Several error messages could be clearer.

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       |Availability		     |SUNWbind9 		   |
       |Interface Stability	     |External			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       named(1M), named.conf(4), rndc.conf(4), attributes(5)

       BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual

NOTES

       Source for BIND9 is available in the SUNWbind9S package.

SunOS 5.10							    15 Dec 2004 							  rndc(1M)