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 options statement
of the rndc 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 key_id Use the key key_id from the configuration file. The key_id argument must be known by named with the same algorithm and
secret string 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. The configuration file contains shared secrets that 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
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 |SUNWbind |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Interface Stability |External |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
SEE ALSO
named(1M), rndc-confgen(1M), rndc.conf(4), attributes(5)
BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual
SunOS 5.11 24 Dec 2008 rndc(1M)