View source for BIND

{{Short description|DNS server software}}
{{About|DNS software||Bind (disambiguation){{!}}Bind}}

{{Infobox software
| name = BIND
| caption = Berkeley Internet Name Domain
| author = Douglas Terry,<br />Mark Painter,<br />David Riggle,<br />Songnian Zhou
| developer = [[Internet Systems Consortium]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1986|6|df=y}}
| latest release version = 9.18.42 ([[Long-term support|ESV]]) & 9.20.16 ([[Long-term support|ESV]])
| latest release date = {{Release date|2025|11|19|df=y}}
| latest preview version = 9.21.15
| latest preview date = {{Release date|2025|11|19|df=y}}
| operating system = [[Linux]], [[NetBSD]], [[FreeBSD]], [[OpenBSD]], [[macOS]]
| genre = [[DNS server]]
| license = [[Mozilla Public License]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/bind9/-/blob/main/LICENSE|title=LICENSE in main BIND 9 branch}}</ref>
}}

'''BIND''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|aɪ|n|d}}) is a suite of software for interacting with the [[Domain Name System]] (DNS). Its most prominent component, '''named''' (pronounced ''name-dee'': {{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|eɪ|m|d|iː}}, short for ''name [[Daemon (computing)|daemon]]''), performs both of the main DNS server roles, acting as an [[authoritative name server]] for [[DNS zone|DNS zones]] and as a recursive [[Resolver (DNS)|resolver]] in the network. As of 2015, it is the most widely used domain name server software,<ref>{{cite web
| url=https://www.isc.org/downloads/bind/
| title=BIND – The most widely used Name Server Software
| publisher=[[Internet Systems Consortium]]
| date=2015-09-08
| access-date=2015-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url=http://mydns.bboy.net/survey/
| title=DNS server survey
| first=Don |last=Moore
| date=2004-05-23
| access-date=2015-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url=https://labs.apnic.net/presentations/store/2015-10-04-dns-dual-stack.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616203221/http://labs.apnic.net/presentations/store/2015-10-04-dns-dual-stack.pdf |archive-date=2016-06-16 |url-status=live
| title=Happy Eyeballs for the DNS, (see slide 37)
| publisher=APNIC
| date=October 2015
| access-date=2018-07-10
| first=Geoff |last=Huston}}</ref> and is the [[De facto standard|''de facto'' standard]] on [[Unix-like]] operating systems.<ref>{{cite thesis
| title=Zero Configuration Name Services for IP Networks
| date=June 2001
| first=Paul E. |last=Huck Jr. |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |type=M.Eng |hdl=1721.1/86716}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url=https://www.academia.edu/30692992
| title=Local Area Network automatic Domain name System (LANDS)
| publisher=Nepal Engineering College
| date=Jan 2017
| access-date=2018-06-28
| first=Rohit G. |last=Bal}}</ref> Also contained in the suite are various administration tools such as [[nsupdate]] and [[dig (command)|dig]], and a DNS resolver interface library.

The software was originally designed at the [[University of California, Berkeley]] (UC Berkeley) in the early 1980s. The name originates as an acronym of ''Berkeley Internet Name Domain'',<ref name="Terry">{{cite tech report
| url=http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1984/5957.html
| title=The Berkeley Internet Name Domain Server
| first=Douglas B. |last=Terry
| first2=Mark |last2=Painter
| first3=David W. |last3=Riggle
| first4=Songnian |last4=Zhou
| date=May 1984
| publisher=EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley |id=UCB/CSD-84-182
| access-date=2015-09-17}}</ref> reflecting the application's use within UC Berkeley. The current version is BIND 9, first released in 2000 and still actively maintained by the [[Internet Systems Consortium]] (ISC) with new releases issued several times a year.

==Key features==
BIND 9 is intended to be fully compliant with the [https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/dnsop/documents/ IETF DNS standards and draft standards]. Important features of BIND 9 include: [[TSIG]], [[nsupdate]], [[IPv6]], RNDC (remote name daemon control), views, multiprocessor support, Response Rate Limiting (RRL), [[Domain Name System Security Extensions|DNSSEC]], and broad portability. RNDC enables remote configuration updates, using a [[shared secret]] to provide [[encryption]] for local and remote terminals during each session.

==Database support==
While earlier versions of BIND offered no mechanism to store and retrieve [[Zone file|zone data]] in anything other than flat text files, in 2007 BIND 9.4<ref>{{cite web
| url=https://lists.isc.org/pipermail/bind-announce/2007-February/000210.html
| title=BIND 9.4.0 is now available.
| first=Mark |last=Andrews
| date=2007-02-24
| access-date=2015-09-17}}</ref> [https://bind-dlz.sourceforge.net/ DLZ] provided a compile-time option for zone storage in a variety of database formats including [[LDAP]], [[Berkeley DB]], [[PostgreSQL]], [[MySQL]], and [[ODBC]].

BIND 10 planned to make the data store modular, so that a variety of databases may be connected.<ref name="bind10-design">{{cite web
| url=https://kea.isc.org/wiki/DesignOverview
| title=Kea: Design overview
| publisher=ISC
| access-date=2015-09-17
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120623/https://kea.isc.org/wiki/DesignOverview
| archive-date=4 March 2016
}}</ref>
In 2016 ISC added support for the 'dyndb' interface, contributed by RedHat, with BIND version 9.11.0.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kb.isc.org/docs/aa-01420|title = Dyndb compared to DLZ}}</ref>

==Security==
Security issues that are discovered in BIND 9 are patched and publicly disclosed in keeping with common principles of open source software. A complete list of security defects that have been discovered and disclosed in BIND9 is maintained by Internet Systems Consortium, the current authors of the software.<ref>{{cite web
| url=https://kb.isc.org/docs/aa-00913
| title=BIND 9 Security Vulnerability Matrix
| first=Brian
| last=Conry
| date=2015-11-12
| publisher=Internet Systems Consortium
| access-date=2024-02-24}}</ref>

The BIND 4 and BIND 8 releases both had serious security vulnerabilities. Use of these ancient versions, or any un-maintained, non-supported version is strongly discouraged.<ref>{{cite book |first1=P. |last1=Hudson |first2=A. |last2=Hudson |first3=B. |last3=Ball |first4=H. |last4=Duff |title=Red Hat Fedora 4 Unleashed |page=723 |publisher=Sams Publishing |date=2005 |isbn=0-672-32792-9}}</ref> BIND 9 was a [[Rewrite (programming)|complete rewrite]], in part to mitigate these ongoing security issues. The [https://www.isc.org/downloads/ downloads page on the ISC web site] clearly shows which versions are currently maintained and which are end of life.

==History==
BIND was originally written by four [[graduate student]]s at the [[Computer Systems Research Group]] (CSRG) at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], Douglas Terry, Mark Painter, David Riggle and Songnian Zhou, in the early 1980s as a result of a [[Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency|DARPA]] grant. The acronym ''BIND'' is for ''Berkeley Internet Name Domain'', from a technical paper published in 1984.<ref name="Terry"/> It was first released with [[Berkeley Software Distribution]] 4.3BSD.

Versions of BIND through 4.8.3 were maintained by the CSRG.<ref name="history">{{cite web
| url=https://www.isc.org/downloads/bind/history-of-bind/
| title=History of BIND
| author=ISC
| date=2016-10-31
| access-date=2017-08-10}}</ref>

[[Paul Vixie]] of [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] (DEC) took over BIND development in 1988, releasing versions 4.9 and 4.9.1. Vixie continued to work on BIND after leaving DEC. BIND Version 4.9.2 was sponsored by Vixie Enterprises. Vixie eventually founded the [[Internet Software Consortium]] (ISC), which became the entity responsible for BIND versions starting with 4.9.3.<ref name="history" />

BIND 8 was released by ISC in May 1997.<ref name="history" />

Version 9 was developed by [[Akamai Technologies|Nominum]], Inc. under an ISC outsourcing contract, and the first version was released 9 October 2000.<ref>{{cite web
| url=https://www.usenix.org/legacy/about/newsroom/press/archive/bind9.html
| title=BIND 9 Authored by Nominum Development Team Now Available on Internet Software Consortium Site
| date=2000-10-06
| access-date=2015-09-17}}</ref> It was written from scratch in part to address the architectural difficulties with [[Code audit|auditing]] the earlier BIND code bases, and also to support [[DNSSEC]] (DNS Security Extensions). The development of BIND 9 took place under a combination of commercial and military contracts. Most of the features of BIND 9 were funded by UNIX vendors who wanted to ensure that BIND stayed competitive with Microsoft's DNS offerings;{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} the [[DNSSEC]] features were funded by the US military, which regarded DNS security as important. BIND 9 was released in September 2000.<ref name="history" />

In 2009, ISC started an effort to develop a new version of the software suite, initially called BIND10. In addition to DNS service, the BIND10 suite also included [[IPv4]] and [[IPv6]] DHCP server components. In April 2014, with BIND10 release 1.2.0 the ISC concluded its involvement in the project and renamed it to ''Bundy'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Consortium |first=Internet Systems |date=2014-04-17 |title=ISC Concludes BIND 10 Development with Release 1.2 |url=https://www.isc.org/blogs/isc-concludes-bind-10-development-with-release-1-2-project-renamed-bundy/ |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=www.isc.org |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name="bundy-dns.de">{{cite web| url = http://bundy-dns.de| title = Bundy, authoritative DNS and DHCP server}}</ref> moving the source code repository to GitHub<ref>{{cite web| url = https://github.com/bundy-dns/bundy| title = bundy repo at GitHub| website = [[GitHub]]| date = 29 July 2022}}</ref> for further development by outside public efforts.<ref>{{cite web
| url=https://www.isc.org/downloads/platform/
| title=BIND 10 Release 1.2 available
| date=2014-04-17
| access-date=2015-09-17}}</ref> ISC discontinued its involvement in the project due to cost-cutting measures.<ref>{{cite web
| url=https://lwn.net/Articles/595347/
| title=ISC releases BIND 10 1.2, renames it, and turns it over to community
| date=2014-04-17
| publisher=[[Linux Weekly News]]
| access-date=2015-09-17}}</ref> The development of DHCP components was split off to become a new [[Kea (software)|Kea]] project.

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [[Comparison of DNS server software]]
* [[DNS management software]]
* [[Zone file]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
| title=DNS and BIND
| edition=5th
| first1=Cricket
| last1=Liu
| first2=Paul
| last2=Albitz
| date=May 2006
| url=http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596100575.do
| isbn=978-0-596-10057-5}}
* {{cite book
| title=BIND DNS Administration Reference: Name Server Operations and DNS Configuration using BIND 
| editor-first=Jeremy C. |editor-last=Reed
| date=January 2016
| edition=2nd
| url=http://www.reedmedia.net/books/bind-dns/
| isbn=978-1-937516-03-1}}

==External links==
* [https://www.isc.org/bind/ The official BIND site] at Internet Systems Consortium (ISC.org)
* [https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/bind9 The BIND Gitlab repo and issue tracker]
* [https://www.isc.org/bindhistory/ History of BIND]
* [https://www.isc.org/blogs/bind-release-strategy-updated/ BIND Release Strategy]
* {{cite web
| url=http://www.circleid.com/posts/cricket_liu_dns_and_bind_5th_edition/
| title=Cricket Liu Interviewed: DNS and BIND
| edition=5th
| date=2006-05-10}}
* [http://bundy-dns.de/ Bundy Project]
* [http://www.zonefile.org/ Create new BIND zonefile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112042014/http://www.zonefile.org/ |date=12 November 2020 }}
* [http://news.constellix.com/dns-coach-digs-deeper-into-geoip-infographic/ Geo-IP Info graphic]
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bind}}

[[Category:DNS software]]
[[Category:Free network-related software]]
[[Category:Software using the ISC license]]