NDC vs. kill -HUP

[Michael Kohne]

At 01:44 AM 8/18/00 +0100, Jim Reid wrote:
>>>>>> "Mark" == Cinense, Mark <macinen at sandia.gov> writes:
>
>    Mark> Can anyone tell me the pros' and cons' of ndc versus using
>    Mark> kill -HUP.  thanks....
>
>Using signals to "control" the name server is crude and old-fashioned.
>The interface provided by ndc is far more flexible: like allowing
>incremental zone reloads or re-reading the config file without loading
>every zone on the server. Another benefit of ndc is that it can allow
>the name server to be controlled by a different UID from the one that
>runs named. All that takes is suitable access permissions on the
>control socket used by the server and ndc. Another problem with the
>signals interface is that some signals have different effects on
>different versions of BIND.
>
>FWIW, BIND9 has rndc which is able to control a remote name server.
>
>Using signals to get the name server to do things is as obsolete and
>as as BIND4.

I'm sorry, I just had to respond to Jim on this one. 
Yes, signals are a little broad, and I guess you could say they are
'crude', but in reality, it's just not very fine grained. If you run 
nameservers that only have one or two zones (as I do) what is the 
benefit of more fine grained control? I edit my named configs perhaps
once quarterly - why should I bother with something like ndc, which 
adds complexity (and therefore risk) to my systems, and gives me 
almost nothing in return?

I guess what really triggered this message is that you called
signals 'old-fashined'. I'm sorry, but I want my systems to run,
not be fashionable. And I don't like being called old-fashioned 
just because I don't grab every new and (for me) inappropriate 
tool that comes along. 

If Mark has more than a few zones or changes them daily, then 
ndc is probably valuable. Otherwise, why bother? It's just one more
thing that might develop into a security hole. 

Sorry if I'm offended anyone, but for some reason this really 
ticked me off. 


Michael Kohne
mhkohne at discordia.org
"Evolution is God's version of Domino Rally"