named-checkconf - Man Page

named configuration file syntax checking tool

Synopsis

named-checkconf [-achjklnvz] [-pe [-x ]] [-b] [-t directory] {filename}

Description

named-checkconf checks the syntax, but not the semantics, of a named <#std-iscman-named> configuration file. The file, along with all files included by it, is parsed and checked for syntax errors. If no file is specified, /etc/named.conf is read by default.

Note: files that named <#std-iscman-named> reads in separate parser contexts, such as rndc.conf or rndc.key, are not automatically read by named-checkconf​.  Configuration errors in these files may cause named <#std-iscman-named> to fail to run, even if named-checkconf was successful.  However, named-checkconf can be run on these files explicitly.

Options

-a

Don't check the dnssec-policy's DNSSEC key algorithms against those supported by the crypto provider.  This is useful when checking a named.conf intended to be run on another machine with possibly a different set of supported DNSSEC key algorithms.

-b

This option prints the built-in server confguration for named <#std-iscman-named>​. See -e for more details.

Note that default settings may change between releases, so this information is only reliable if named-checkconf and named are from the same release.

When -b is in use, the other switches are ignored.

-e

This option prints the effective server configuration that would result from named.conf <#std-iscman-named.conf> and its included files, if no errors were detected, in canonical form.

The effective configuration is the result of loading a configuration file and applying it on top of the default settings for named​. All configurable settings are included.

Note that default settings may change between releases, so the effective configuration generated by named-checkconf is only expected to be correct for the same version of named, built with the same compile-time options.

See also the -b, -x and -p options.

-h

This option prints the usage summary and exits.

-j

When loading a zonefile, this option instructs named <#std-iscman-named> to read the journal if it exists.

-k

Check the dnssec-policy's DNSSEC keys against the key files in the key-directory​.  This is useful when checking a named.conf to ensure a DNSSEC policy matches the existing keys.

-l

This option lists all the configured zones. Each line of output contains the zone name, class (e.g. IN), view, and type (e.g. primary or secondary).

-c

This option specifies that only the "core" configuration should be checked. This suppresses the loading of plugin modules, and causes all parameters to plugin statements to be ignored.

-i

This option ignores warnings on deprecated options.

-n

Do not print errors when encountering options that are disabled in this build. This allows checking of configuration files for other builds, in which those options are enabled.

-p

This option prints the contents of named.conf <#std-iscman-named.conf> and all included files in canonical form, if no errors were detected. See also the -x and -e options.

-t directory

This option instructs named <#std-iscman-named> to chroot to directory, so that include directives in the configuration file are processed as if run by a similarly chrooted named <#std-iscman-named>​.

-v

This option prints the version of the named-checkconf program and exits.

-x

When printing the configuration files in canonical form, this option obscures shared secrets by replacing them with strings of question marks (?). This allows the contents of named.conf <#std-iscman-named.conf> and related files to be shared - for example, when submitting bug reports - without compromising private data. This option cannot be used without -p​.

-z

This option performs a test load of all zones of type primary found in named.conf <#std-iscman-named.conf>​.

filename

This indicates the name of the configuration file to be checked. If not specified, it defaults to /etc/named.conf​.

Return Values

named-checkconf returns an exit status of 1 if errors were detected and 0 otherwise.

See Also

named(8) <#std-iscman-named>, named-checkzone(8) <#std-iscman-named-checkzone>, BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.

Author

Internet Systems Consortium

Info

2026-05-08 9.21.22 BIND 9