RNDC(8)                                                       BIND9                                                      RNDC(8)



NAME
       rndc - name server control utility

SYNOPSIS
       rndc [-b source-address] [-c config-file] [-k key-file] [-s server] [-p port] [-V] [-y key_id] {command}

DESCRIPTION
       rndc controls the operation of a name server. It supersedes the ndc utility that was provided in old BIND releases. If
       rndc is invoked with no command line options or arguments, it prints a short summary of the supported commands and the
       available options and their arguments.

       rndc communicates with the name server over a TCP connection, sending commands authenticated with digital signatures. In
       the current versions of rndc and named, the only supported authentication algorithm is HMAC-MD5, which uses a shared
       secret on each end of the connection. This provides TSIG-style authentication for the command request and the name
       server's response. All commands sent over the channel must be signed by a key_id known to the server.

       rndc reads a configuration file to determine how to contact the name server and decide what algorithm and key it should
       use.

OPTIONS
       -b source-address
           Use source-address as the source address for the connection to the server. Multiple instances are permitted to allow
           setting of both the IPv4 and IPv6 source addresses.

       -c config-file
           Use config-file as the configuration file instead of the default, /etc/rndc.conf.

       -k key-file
           Use key-file as the key file instead of the default, /etc/rndc.key. The key in /etc/rndc.key will be used to
           authenticate commands sent to the server if the config-file does not exist.

       -s server
           server is the name or address of the server which matches a server statement in the configuration file for rndc. If
           no server is supplied on the command line, the host named by the default-server clause in the options statement of
           the rndc configuration file will be used.

       -p port
           Send commands to TCP port port instead of BIND 9's default control channel port, 953.

       -V
           Enable verbose logging.

       -y key_id
           Use the key key_id from the configuration file.  key_id must be known by named with the same algorithm and secret
           string in order for control message validation to succeed. If no key_id is specified, rndc will first look for a key
           clause in the server statement of the server being used, or if no server statement is present for that host, then the
           default-key clause of the options statement. Note that the configuration file contains shared secrets which are used
           to send authenticated control commands to name servers. It should therefore not have general read or write access.

       For the complete set of commands supported by rndc, see the BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual or run rndc without
       arguments to see its help message.

LIMITATIONS
       rndc does not yet support all the commands of the BIND 8 ndc utility.

       There is currently no way to provide the shared secret for a key_id without using the configuration file.

       Several error messages could be clearer.

SEE ALSO
       rndc.conf(5), rndc-confgen(8), named(8), named.conf(5), ndc(8), BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.

AUTHOR
       Internet Systems Consortium

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2004, 2005, 2007 Internet Systems Consortium, Inc. ("ISC")
       Copyright (C) 2000, 2001 Internet Software Consortium.



BIND9                                                     June 30, 2000                                                  RNDC(8)