Setting up a secondary DNS server also known as slave server, can offer redundancy and load balancing, while also helping with network resilience. The process can slightly differ depending upon the choice of your DNS software and the operating system. Here is a simple breakdown of the process for BIND on Ubuntu:
1. Install BIND:
Open terminal and type the following command. `sudo apt-get update` `sudo apt-get install bind9 bind9utils bind9-doc`1. Configure BIND as Slave server:
Following is an example configuration for a slave setup. Edit the BIND configuration file using: `sudo nano /etc/bind/named.conf.local` Then add a zone configuration that points to your primary DNS server (replace the ‘example.com’ and ‘IP_of_your_primary_server’ with your domain and the IP of your primary server respectively): \`\`\` zone “example.com” { type slave; file “/var/cache/bind/db.example.com”; masters { IP_of_your_primary_server; }; }; \`\`\`1. Get zone information from Master server:
For BIND to automatically receive the updated zone file whenever changes occur, add this in the master server’s zone configuration file (replace ‘IP_of_your_secondary_server’ with the IP of this slave server.): \`\`\` allow-transfer { IP_of_your_secondary_server; }; also-notify { IP_of_your_secondary_server; }; \`\`\`1. Test the Configuration:
Now test your configuration using: `sudo named-checkconf`1. Restart BIND:
Lastly, if everything has been setup correctly, restart BIND for the changes to take effect: `sudo systemctl restart bind9`Remember to always secure your DNS servers properly and keep them updated to prevent any attacks.
Note: Setting DNS servers require familiarity with Linux and its command line, consider hiring a system administrator if you’re unfamiliar with these processes.
