Does Bind9 update entries like Windows DNS server?

Question

Does bind9 keep track of DNS entried for each new node that is added to the local network like Windows Server? Or will I have to add a forward and reverse entry manually for each node?

Answer 1

As far as "keeping track" - it does not, but neither does Windows DNS.

In an all-Windows domain environment, the default behavior of clients is to submit occasional updates to the DNS server with their current address; the clients are updating the server's records, instead of the server tracking the clients. (Alternatively, the Windows DHCP service is also capable of sending updates to the DNS server on clients getting DHCP addresses.) This is enabled by the "Dynamic Updates" setting on your DNS zone; allowing secure updates only is the default for new zones.

BIND is perfectly capable of accepting DNS updates in the same way (see the allow-update configuration option), but you'll need to keep in mind a couple of caveats:

1. It needs to be configured on both the clients (to send updates) and the DNS server (to accept updates)
2. The authentication aspect is handled transparently/automagically in a Windows domain; you'll need to handle that separately for an implementation BIND.