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Howto setup DNS on OSX server?

I am looking for a description how to setup an internal DNS on our new OSX server.
We have a network with 4 Mac Users, 1 Timecapsule and an 1 OSX Leopard server running on a mac mini.

The highspeed internet connection is running through a router. Our ISP has given us no static IP address.

OSX server should be setup as a mail server and ical server.
We would also like to use VPN, when we are on the road.

Right now we use dyndns.org to connect to our network from outside.

The DNS GUI in Leopard Server for me is very complicated. I do not know how to setup zones etc. I would love to have a professional have it fixed, but there are no OSX Server Pros around where I live. So I have to do it my self starting with the DNS.

Who can walk me throught the configuration process?
Thanks in advance
Tim

jar3817

I'm pretty sure OSX uses ISC Bind for it's DNS server software. If that is the case, you can probably just edit the /etc/named.conf file. This might help:

http://www.zytrax.com/books/dns/ch6/

Tim_Beck

ASKER

I do not know if OSX server uses BIND as well as I do not understand the /etc/named.conf.
Can someone give me assistance for the DNS settings in Server-Admin?

Right now there are no Zones activated.
In settings there is only one entry: "localnets"

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grahambowman

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Tim_Beck

ASKER

Thanks for the great description. I think I now understand much better how the DNS in OSX works. Internet and Router resolve fine. But I cannot access the server via the IP address or via the finder.

I added a few more entries related to our exchange serve we had earlier.
The following settings have been added to DNS settings.

domain.lan ---> primary zone
OURServer alias serv.domain.lan
serv.domain.lan computer 192.168.1.50
router.domain.lan computer 192.168.1.2

1.168.192.in-addr.arpa. ---> reverse lookup zone
192.168.1.2 revers lookup router.domain.lan
192.168.1.50 revers lookup serv.domain,lan

The Router resolves fine. I can access it via the IP address or via router.domain.lan
The OSX Server has the fixed IP address 192.168.1.50. If I type serv.domain.lan I get redirected to the router instead of the server. And when I try to type in the IP 192.168.1.50 nothing happens.

If I would like to run EMail on the Server, do I have to add anything with localhost or 127.0.0.1 to the DNS list?

Thanks for the help so far.

Tim_Beck

ASKER

After the quick-guide how to setup a DNS server. I understood the working habit of the OSX Server DNS. The rest was figured easily once the DNS was configured correctly. THX.

grahambowman

if you ping 192.168.1.50 do you get a response?

Tim_Beck

ASKER

It is all working now. The server was there, it could just not be found via Finder and Safari, beacuse of AFP and web were not enabled in Server-Admin.

So thanks for all commetns and help.
Tim