References

Common Record Types

This section covers some of the most common DNS record types.

  • A record: This record maps an IP Address to a hostname.

    www      IN    A      192.168.1.12
    
  • CNAME record: Used to create an alias to an existing A record. You cannot create a CNAME record pointing to another CNAME record.

    web     IN    CNAME  www
    
  • MX record: Used to define where email should be sent to. Must point to an A record, not a CNAME.

            IN    MX  1   mail.example.com.
    mail    IN    A       192.168.1.13
    
  • NS record: Used to define which servers serve copies of a zone. It must point to an A record, not a CNAME. This is where Primary and Secondary servers are defined.

            IN    NS     ns.example.com.
    	IN    NS     ns2.example.com.
    ns      IN    A      192.168.1.10
    ns2	IN    A	     192.168.1.11
    

More Information

The DNS HOWTO explains more advanced options for configuring BIND9.

For in depth coverage of DNS and BIND9 see Bind9.net.

DNS and BIND is a popular book now in it's fifth edition.

A great place to ask for BIND9 assistance, and get involved with the Ubuntu Server community, is the #ubuntu-server IRC channel on freenode.