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Labs

DNS: Working with RNDC Keys

BIND uses a shared secret key authentication method to grant privileges to hosts. It is important to know how to generate this key for administration purposes. In this hands-on lab, we will learn to configure the RNDC key and configuration file, and link it to the `named` service. To accomplish this, we will install the BIND package and recreate the RNDC key and configuration. We will then copy the new configuration to the `named.conf` file. To complete this lab, you will have to show that a new configuration has been created and that DNS queries are being cached on `localhost`.

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Labs

Path Info

Level
Clock icon Intermediate
Duration
Clock icon 15m
Published
Clock icon May 01, 2020

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Table of Contents

  1. Challenge

    Log in to the lab server with the `cloud_user` and issue `sudo -i` to gain root access.

    $ ssh cloud_user@**.**.**.** . (your lab server IP)
    Password:
    
    $ sudo -i
    [sudo] password for cloud_user: 
    # 
    # id
    uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root) context=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023
    
  2. Challenge

    Install the `bind` and `bind-utils` packages. Start and enable the `named` service.

    1. Install bind and bind-utils:
    # yum install -y bind bind-utils
    
    1. Start and enable the named service:
    # systemctl start named
    # systemctl enable named
    
  3. Challenge

    Recreate the RNDC key and configuration file.

    1. Remove the rndc.key file.
    # rm /etc/rndc.key
    
    1. Stop the named service.
    # systemctl stop named
    
    1. Generate an rndc key and configuration file.
    # rndc-confgen -r /dev/urandom > /etc/rndc.conf
    
  4. Challenge

    Link the RNDC configuration to the `named` configuration.

    1. Open the /etc/rndc.conf file with vim:
    # vim /etc/rndc.conf
    
    1. Copy the section "Copy to the named.conf file"

    2. Open the /etc/named.conf file for editing with vim.

    # vim /etc/named.conf
    
    1. Paste the copied section into /etc/named.conf just before the include statements and delete the # signs at the beginning of the lines.
  5. Challenge

    Start the `named` service.

    # systemctl start named
    
  6. Challenge

    Test the configuration to ensure records are being cached on the localhost.

    # nslookup www.google.com 127.0.0.1
    

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