DNS and BIND: Configuring Multiple Domains

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DNS and BIND: Configuring Multiple Domains

Creating multiple domains allows users to configure separate groups of IP addresses. One use case for this scenario is grouping IPs for different environments such as prod, dev, qa, etc into different domains and zones with different zone rules. In this lab, students will learn to configure multiple domains for the same name server in the `/etc/named.conf`. We will then create the associated zone flies and test the configuration using the `nslookup` command.

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Lab Info

Level

Intermediate

Last updated

Sep 06, 2025

Duration

30m

Challenge

Install the bind and bind-utils Packages with YUM
```
$ yum install bind bind-utils -y
```

Challenge

Configure Zones for localdomain.com and domain2.com in the /etc/named.conf File

vim /etc/named.conf

zone "localdomain.com" {
        type master;
        file "fwd.localdomain.com.db";
        allow-update { none; };
};

zone "1.0.10.in-addr.arpa" {
        type master;
        file "1.0.10.db";
        allow-update { none; };
};

zone "domain2.com" {
        type master;
        file "fwd.domain2.com.db";
        allow-update { none; };
};

Challenge

Check the named.conf File for Syntax Errors
```
named-checkconf
```

Challenge

Create the Forward and Reverse Zone Files in /var/named

$ cd /var/named
$ touch fwd.localdomain.com.db 1.0.10.db fwd.domain2.com.db
$ ls -al
$ chown named:named *.db

Challenge

Populate the Forward Zone File for localdomain.com with TTL, SOA, NS, and A, and CNAME Records

$ vim /var/named/fwd.localdomain.com.db


$TTL 86400
@       IN      SOA	ns.localdomain.com.     root.localdomain.com.      (
                               10030   ;Serial
                               3600    ;Refresh
                               1800    ;Retry
                               604800  ;Expiry
                               86400   ;Minimum TTL
)
; Name Server
@       IN      NS	ns.localdomain.com.
;A Record Definitions
ns	IN	A	10.0.1.201
; Canonical Name/Alias
dns     IN      CNAME   ns.localdomain.com.

Challenge

Run the named-checkzone Command to Check the Forward Zone File for localdomain.com for Syntax Errors
```
$ named-checkzone localdomain.com fwd.localdomain.com.db
```

Challenge

Populate the Forward Zone File for domain2.com with the TTL, SOA, NS, A, and CNAME Records

$ vim fwd.domain2.com.db

 $TTL 86400
@       IN      SOA     ns.localdomain.com.     root.localdomain.com.      (
                                10030   ;Serial
                                3600    ;Refresh
                                1800    ;Retry
                                604800  ;Expiry
                                86400   ;Minimum TTL
)
; Name Server
@       IN      NS      ns.localdomain.com.
;A Record Definitions
server1 IN      A       10.0.1.220
server2 IN      A       10.0.1.221
; Canonical Name/Alias
prod     IN      CNAME   server1.domain2.com.

Challenge

Check the Forward Zone for domain2.com for Syntax Errors
```
$ named-checkzone domain2.com fwd.domain2.com.db
```

Challenge

Populate the Reverse File for Both Zones with the TTL, SOA, NS, and PTR Records

$ vim 1.0.10.db

$TTL 86400
@       IN      SOA     ns.localdomain.com.     root.localdomain.com.      (
                               10030   ;Serial
                               3600    ;Refresh
                               1800    ;Retry
                               604800  ;Expiry
                               86400   ;Minimum TTL
)
; Name Server
@       IN      NS      ns.localdomain.com.
;PTR Records
201     IN      PTR     ns.localdomain.com.
220     IN      PTR     server1.domain2.com.
221     IN      PTR     server2.domain2.com.

Challenge

Start the named Service
```
systemctl start named
```

Challenge

Use the nslookup Command to Verify the Records That Were Configured Resolve

$ nslookup ns.localdomain.com localhost
$ nslookup server1.domain2.com localhost
$ nslookup server2.domain2.com localhost
$ nslookup 10.0.1.220 localhost

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