Howto: Setup a DNS server with bind9 on Debian/Ubuntu

After I needed a DNS server DNS server, I decided the best idea would probably be to write this howto myself…. So, here it is:

Step 1. Install bind9:

apt-get install bind9

Step 2: Configure the main Bind files. Usually, if you install Bind from the source code, you will have to edit the file
named.conf. However, Debian provides you with a pre-configured Bind, so we will edit another file:

vim /etc/bind/named.conf.local

This is where we will insert our zones. By the way, a zone is a domain name that is referenced in the DNS server
Insert this in the named.conf.local file:

#Replace debian-tutorials.com with your own domain name.
zone “debian-tutorials.com” {
type master;
file “/etc/bind/zones/debian-tutorials.com.db”;
};

# Replace 2.4.168.192 with your network address in reverse notation – in this example my network address is 192.168.4.2
zone “2.4.168.192.in-addr.arpa” {
type master;
file “/etc/bind/zones/rev.2.4.168.192.in-addr.arpa”;
};

Step 3. Now let’s edit the options file:

vim /etc/bind/named.conf.options

We need to modify the forwarder. This is the DNS server to which your own DNS will forward the requests he cannot process.

# Replace the address below with the address of your provider’s DNS server

forwarders {
192.168.4.3;
};

Step 4.Now we will add the zone definition files:

mkdir -p /etc/bind/zones
vim /etc/bind/zones/debian-tutorials.com.db

The zone definition file is where we will put all the addresses that our DNS server will know.
You can take the following example:

debian-tutorials.com. IN SOA ns1.debian-tutorials.com. admin.debian-tutorials.com. (
#Do NOT modify the following lines!
2006081401
28800
3600
604800
38400
)

#Edit the following line as necessary:
debian-tutorials.com. IN NS ns1.debian-tutorials.com.
debian-tutorials.com. IN MX 10 mta.debian-tutorials.com.

#Replace the IP address with the right IP addresses.
www IN A 192.168.5.2
mta IN A 192.168.5.3
ns1 IN A 192.168.5.1

Step 5. Now create the reverse DNS zone file:

vim /etc/bind/zones/rev.2.4.168.192.in-addr.arpa

Copy/paste the following text and modify as needed:

@ IN SOA ns1.debian-tutorials.com. admin.debian-tutorials.com. (
2006081401;
28800;
604800;
604800;
86400
)

IN NS ns1.debian-tutorials.com.
1 IN PTR debian-tutorials.com

Step 6. Restart bind9:

/etc/init.d/bind9 restart

Enjoy this. And don’t forget to comment if something it’s wrong or you want to improve it.