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BIND Administration with Webmin

/ May 11, 2018 — Name Resolution and DNS

We will use Webmin to automate updates of forward and reverse zones. Webmin will automatically update both, as well as restart your services and increment your serial number. Webmin is much more than just a DNS tool. It can be used to administer many services. Since Webmin is Open Source, released under the BSD license, we can be assured of future updates. Webmin is the first tool we’ve seen that works well with BIND 9. For more info on Webmin, go to http://www.webmin.com/.

After we get the source from webmin.com, we extract it in /usr/local/src and run setup.sh. So easy:

[root@srv-3 /root]# cd /usr/local/src
[root@srv-3 src]# ls
apache_1.3.19  apache_1.3.19.tar.gz  bind-9.1.2  bind-9.1.2.tar.gz  webmin-0.85.tar.gz
[root@srv-3 src]# tar -xzf webmin*.gz
[root@srv-3 src]# ls
apache_1.3.19         bind-9.1.2         webmin-0.85
apache_1.3.19.tar.gz  bind-9.1.2.tar.gz  webmin-0.85.tar.gz
[root@srv-3 src]# cd web*
[root@srv-3 webmin-0.85]# ./setup.sh
***********************************************************************
*            Welcome to the Webmin setup script, version 0.85         *
***********************************************************************
Webmin is a web-based interface that allows Unix-like operating
systems and common Unix services to be easily administered.
Installing Webmin in /usr/local/src/webmin-0.85 ...
***********************************************************************
Webmin uses separate directories for configuration files and log files.
Unless you want to run multiple versions of Webmin at the same time
you can just accept the defaults.
Config file directory [/etc/webmin]:
Log file directory [/var/webmin]:
***********************************************************************
Webmin is written entirely in Perl. Please enter the full path to the
Perl 5 interpreter on your system.
Full path to perl (default /usr/bin/perl):
Testing Perl ...
Perl seems to be installed ok
***********************************************************************
For Webmin to work properly, it needs to know which operating system
type and version you are running. Please select your system type by
entering the number next to it from the list below
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Sun Solaris                          2) Caldera OpenLinux eServer
3) Caldera OpenLinux                    4) Redhat Linux
5) Slackware Linux                      6) Debian Linux
7) SuSE Linux                           8) Corel Linux
9) TurboLinux                          10) Cobalt Linux
11) Mandrake Linux                      12) Delix DLD Linux
13) Conectiva Linux                     14) MkLinux
15) LinuxPPC                            16) XLinux
17) LinuxPL                             18) Linux From Scratch
19) Trustix                             20) Cendio LBS Linux
21) Ute Linux                           22) FreeBSD
23) OpenBSD                             24) BSDI
25) HP/UX                               26) SGI Irix
27) DEC/Compaq OSF/1                    28) IBM AIX
29) SCO UnixWare                        30) SCO OpenServer
31) Mac OS Server X
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating system:4
Please choose which version of Redhat Linux you are running, by entering
the number next to it from the list below
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Redhat Linux 4.0                     2) Redhat Linux 4.1
3) Redhat Linux 4.2                     4) Redhat Linux 5.0
5) Redhat Linux 5.1                     6) Redhat Linux 5.2
7) Redhat Linux 6.0                     8) Redhat Linux 6.1
9) Redhat Linux 6.2                    10) Redhat Linux 7.0
11) Redhat Linux 7.1
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version: 11
Operating system name:    Redhat Linux
Operating system version: 7.1
***********************************************************************
Webmin uses its own password protected web server to provide access
to the administration programs. The setup script needs to know :
- What port to run the web server on. There must not be another
web server already using this port.
- The login name required to access the web server.
- The password required to access the web server.
- The hostname of this system that the web server should use.
- If the webserver should use SSL (if your system supports it).
- Whether to start webmin at boot time.
Web server port (default 10000):
Login name (default admin):
Login password:
Password again:
Web server hostname (default srv-3.signalq.com):
The Perl SSLeay library is not installed. SSL not available.
Start Webmin at boot time (y/n): y
***********************************************************************
Creating web server config files..
..done
Creating access control file..
..done
Inserting path to perl into scripts..
..done
Creating start and stop scripts..
..done
Copying config files..
..done
Configuring Webmin to start at boot time..
Created init script /etc/rc.d/init.d/webmin
..done
Creating uninstall script /etc/webmin/uninstall.sh ..
..done
Changing ownership and permissions ..
..done
Attempting to start Webmin mini web server..
Starting Webmin server in /usr/local/src/webmin-0.85
..done
***********************************************************************
Webmin has been installed and started successfully. Use your web
browser to go to
http://srv-3.signalq.com:10000/
and login with the name and password you entered previously.
[root@srv-3 webmin-0.85]#

OK. Let’s log on.

Here is what the main screen looks like.

Let’s go into the servers area.

Click on BIND DNS Server. You should get the option to reconfigure the module. Click on the reconfigure link and change appropriately.

Our config is like this.

Now, when you click on the BIND DNS Server icon from the servers screen, you should see this.

We want to add an another DNS entry by clicking on the Master zone (signalq.com). Now, let’s click on the A (address records) icon.

We add srv-48 and the address and push create.

Let’s verify the reverse lookups by clicking on the 10.50.100 icon on the BIND DNS Server main page.

Lookin’ good. Finally let’s test our config with forward and reverse lookups from the command line:

[root@srv-3 named]# ping srv-48
PING srv-48.signalq.com (10.50.100.54) from 10.50.100.52 : 56(84) bytes of data.
[root@srv-3 named]# dig -x 10.50.100.54
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 48933
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;54.100.50.10.in-addr.arpa.     IN      PTR
;; ANSWER SECTION:
54.100.50.10.in-addr.arpa. 86400 IN     PTR     srv-48.signalq.com.
;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
100.50.10.in-addr.arpa. 86400   IN      NS      srv-3.signalq.com.
;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
srv-3.signalq.com.      86400   IN      A       10.50.100.52
;; Query time: 37 msec
;; SERVER: 10.50.100.52#53(10.50.100.52)
;; WHEN: Wed May 23 15:53:29 2001
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 111
[root@srv-3 named]#

Rock! We heart webmin.

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