Table of Contents

1. Challenge

   Getting Started in the Lab Environment

   Here are the initial instructions and explanation of the lab environment. Read this while your environment is busy creating itself from nothing. Yes, this violates physics; we know. How fun!

2. Challenge

   Creating and Populating Basic BIND DNS Configuration Files

   You will start by diving into the basic configuration of the BIND DNS server using Ansible through the static definition of BIND configuration files. You will use a basic Jinja2 template to accomplish this task.

3. Challenge

   Use Jinja2 Templates to Deploy BIND DNS Zone Database

   You'll deepen your understanding of Jinja2 templates by dynamically defining the BIND DNS zone database. You'll use Ansible to deploy these templates to your managed host, and will also add domain and DNS record variables to your inventory file.

4. Challenge

   Confirm DNS Functionality from Ansible Controller

   Now that your BIND DNS server is up and running, it's crucial to confirm its functionality. You'll run DNS queries using dig and nslookup commands from the terminal of the Ansible controller to ensure your DNS servers are resolving queries as expected.

5. Challenge

   Control Ansible Execution with Conditional Statements

   You'll refine your Ansible playbook to make it more efficient. You'll add conditional statements to ensure that the BIND DNS server and the rndc reload command are only executed when necessary–specifically, when there are changes to the named.conf or zone database files.

6. Challenge

   The Last Challenge

   Welcome to the final challenge! This is your last chance to experiment in the environment. Clicking Finish Lab will end this little world that flittered into existence just for you.