Isn't "make install" supposed to generate a default named.conf?
  • 05 Oct 2018
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Isn't "make install" supposed to generate a default named.conf?

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Article Summary

Short Answer: No.

Long Answer: There really isn't a default configuration which fits any site perfectly. There are lots of decisions that need to be made and there is no consensus on what the defaults should be. For example:

  • FreeBSD uses /etc/namedb as the location where the configuration files for named are stored; others use /var/named.
  • What addresses should you listen on? For a laptop on the move a lot, you may only want to listen on the loop back interfaces.
  • Who do you offer recursive service to?
  • Is there a firewall to consider? If so, is it stateless or stateful?
  • Are you directly on the Internet? Are you on a private network? Are you on a NAT'd network?

The answers to all these questions change how you configure even a caching name server.