Creating a DNS Root Name Server for an
Off-Internet Site ("Fake Root")

This document describes how to create a DNS root name server, sometimes known as a "fake root." Read this if the following conditions apply:

• You want to create a DNS root name server for use with load balancing.
• Your site is not on the Internet (may be behind a firewall, for example).
• You use MultiNet for VMS (any version).

Follow these steps:

1. Create a MULTINET:DOMAIN-NAME-SERVICE.ROOT file similar to the following:

   DNS Authoritative data
   DNS DOMAIN-NAME-SERVICE.ROOT file
   ;
   ;  Authoritative data for a fake root zone
   ;
   ;  This example constructs a fake root name server
   ;  to use DNS when a site is NOT on the Internet.
   ;
   ;  A. Create an SOA record for the root zone listing 
   ;     XXX.YOUR.COM as the name of the primary name server 
   ;     for the root zone and another domain (such as 
   ;     Fnord in the example) on this machine to act 
   ;     as the primary contact.
   ;
   .     IN    SOA   XXX.YOUR.COM.  Fnord.XXX.YOUR.COM. (
                     1994040142  ; Serial
                         7200    ; refresh every 2 hours
                         7200    ; retry every 2 hours
                        12096000 ; expire in twenty weeks
                        604800 ) ; minimum ttl
   ;
   ;
   ;  B. Put NS records in the root zone listing the 
   ;     primary (XXX.YOUR.COM) and any other secondaries 
   ;     (YYY.YOUR.COM) for the root zone:
   ;
   ;
   .               IN      NS      XXX.TGV.COM.
   .               IN      NS      YYY.TGV.COM.
   ;
   ;     NOTE: BIND requires at least two root name servers.
   ;
   ;  C. Delegate authority for the zones UNDER the 
   ;     root zone to other name servers. In this example, we 
   ;     delegate authority for YOUR.COM and the inverse-query 
   ;     address database, 0.0.192.IN-ADDR.ARPA
   ;     to the same set of name servers:
   ;
   ;
   YOUR.COM.                   IN      NS      XXX.YOUR.COM.
   YOUR.COM.                   IN      NS      YYY.YOUR.COM.
   0.0.192.IN-ADDR.ARPA.       IN      NS      XXX.YOUR.COM.
   0.0.192.IN-ADDR.ARPA.       IN      NS      YYY.YOUR.COM.
   ;
   ;
   ;  D. To finish, add "glue A" (host address)
   ;     records to connect the world together. Each machine 
   ;     that is listed by name above must have a copy of 
   ;     its A records here:
   ;
   ;
   XXX.YOUR.COM.    IN      A       192.0.0.1
   YYY.YOUR.COM.    IN      A       192.0.0.2
   ;
   
               

2. Edit the NAMED.CONF file to remove the hint zone statement  and replace it with a line like:

   zone "." in {
     type master ;
     file "MULTINET:DOMAIN-NAME-SERVICE.ROOT";
   };
   
   
               

   Note: Use of secondary name servers with a root name server is not recommended.

   The MULTINET:DOMAIN-NAME-SERVICE.CACHE file contains the addresses of the Internet root DNS servers. By eliminating the reference to the MULTINET:DOMAIN-NAME-SERVICE.CACHE file, you prevent access to the Internet root name servers.

3. Edit the MULTINET:DOMAIN-NAME-SERVICE.CACHE files on all other machines in your network that are running name servers (even if they are not running MultiNet), so that each machine uses this database. List the addresses of the two machines that are primary for the dot (.) statement.