An IT Minute

Linux BIND DNS Update

Note: A bug has been uncovered in most Linux DNS servers and it is now suggested that Linix systems administrators patch all systems with the fix you see below.

Best practices encourage you to keep the DNS service BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) updated with the latest version on your Linux Server.

To Update BIND

1. SSH to your server.
2. Type su - and press Enter to gain root access.
3. Type cp /etc/sysconfig/named /etc/sysconfig/named.bak
4. Type yum clean all.
5. Type yum update bind.

The system will then proceed to update all the needed packages for you automatically.

If you have never made any changes to your yum.conf file you can use the following procedure to make this update:

1. SSH to your server.
2. Type su - and press Enter to gain root access.
3. Type echo "exclude=bind-chroot caching-nameserver" >> /etc/yum.conf

Once this is complete you can run the yum update statements at the top of the article. If you receive an error similar to the following:
Error: Missing Dependency: bind = 31:9.4.2-3.fc7 is needed by package caching-nameserver

or
Error: Missing Dependency: bind = 31:9.4.2-3.fc7 is needed by package bind-chroot

You may need to remove bind-chroot and/or caching-nameserver from your server prior to upgrading. To do this you can do the following:

1. SSH to your server.
2. Type su - and press Enter to gain root access.
3. Type yum -y remove bind-chroot caching-nameserver.

The removal of these packages can cause adverse effects on your server. You may need to restore the version of /etc/sysconfig/named that you backed up by using the following command:
cp /etc/sysconfig/named.bak /etc/sysconfig/named

NOTE:This will install the most up to date version of BIND on your server. As the server administrator it will be your responsibility to determine whether or not a version update will cause any conflicts on your server. It is your responsibility to troubleshoot any issues that arise from performing this update.

credit: This procedure was provided to me by Godaddy.com for the patching of 1 of my several servers hosted there.

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