[CentOS] Setting up bind - location for includes

Fri Feb 15 17:31:09 UTC 2013
Jay Leafey <jay.leafey at mindless.com>

On 02/15/2013 10:44 AM, Robert Moskowitz wrote:
> I am setting up bind this time around (just rebuilt my test machine via
> Kickstart) without chroot.
>
> I have a fair number of includes for named.conf; I have two views and
> other odds and ends.  My thoughts are to make a directory; /etc/named.d
> to put all these includes into instead of 'dirtying' up /etc.  This way
> the only files I replace/add to /etc are named.conf and rndc.key (I
> would like to work the latter around to also be in named.d, but this
> impacts rndc itself).
>
> Thoughts on this?  Anyone else have a well segmented named.conf file?
>

That's my line of thinking too.  I normally have a pretty skeletal 
named.conf file, with all the heavy-lifting going on in files included 
from directory /etc/named.d.  It seems to me that a more modular 
approach minimizes the impact of fat-fingering and generally makes it 
easier to change out chunks of configuration as needed. 
(named-checkconf is your friend!)

Just for reference, at my place of employment I'm running a "hidden 
master" server and two separate sets of slaves for internal and external 
access for about 60 separate forward and reverse zones.  The named.conf 
file basically consists of a single "options" stanza followed by a 
series of include statements.  The includes themselves have other files 
that they include, the tier depth is about four levels deep at most.

So far (knock on head) this has worked out fine for the last 8 years or 
so.  Before that I was attempting to use a monolithic named.conf file 
and found it an absolute bear to maintain.  Smaller pieces means smaller 
problems, once you've got the overall framework.

Just my $.02!
-- 
Jay Leafey - jay.leafey at mindless.com
Memphis, TN