Testing a new master server...

[Bruce Johnson]

I’m in the process of migrating our master DNS server from an ancient system (it’s running RHEL4.0) to a modern system. This kind of fell in my lap; I’m familiar with adding host assignments and such but managing the server itself in the past is pretty much relegated  to ’service named reload’ and finding the newly introduced typo in the hosts or zone file if it fails...

It's a mildly complicated setup with a bunch of zones (including a big one that is dynamically updated) and more pressingly I will need to coordinate with upstream network management that sends DNS and dhcp requests from our VLAN's to the specific switch port it is on when we do the cutover, then change the IP address on the new server so that it repsonds as the old master, so if I can be sure it’ll work I’ll have fewer main campus network mnanagers annoyed with me and many fewer end users with torches and pitchforks at my door for breaking everything...  

I've made some changes to the configuration (mostly removing zones and address assignments that are no longer valid) and I'd like to bring it up for testing so I know it’s working before we do the cutover to production.

If I comment out the the allow-transfer directive so it does not divert requests to our ‘real' secondary servers and the allow-update for the dynamically updated zone, I think I should be able to bring it up in a master server role (on a different IP address) without it interfering with our real one, as the only clients that would actually talk to it would be ones that specify that IP address for resolution.

Am I missing something or overcomplicating things?

-- 
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs