---
title: "How to run BIND 9 on Mac OS X"
slug: "aa-00312"
description: "Instructions for running BIND 9 on Mac OS X"
updated: 2018-10-10T14:29:53Z
published: 2018-10-10T14:29:53Z
stale: true
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.isc.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How do I run BIND 9 on Apple Mac OS X?

If you run Tiger (Mac OS 10.4) or later then this is all you need to do:

`% sudo rndc-confgen  > /etc/rndc.conf`

Copy the key statement from /etc/rndc.conf into /etc/rndc.key, e.g.:

`key "rndc-key" { algorithm hmac-md5; secret "uvceheVuqf17ZwIcTydddw==";};`

Then start the relevant service:

`% sudo service org.isc.named start`

This is persistent upon a reboot, so you will have to do it only once.

Alternatively you can just generate /etc/rndc.key by running:

`% sudo rndc-confgen -a`

Then start the relevant service:

`% sudo service org.isc.named start`

**named** will look for /etc/rndc.key when it starts if it doesn't have a controls section or the existing controls are missing keys sub-clauses. This is persistent upon a reboot, so you will have to do it only once.