Help setting up domain name on home webserver

Hello there

I am kind of Newbie of whats going on-so i appologize for complicated explaining
I am going to run a webserver in my computer , so for the task i choused Apache Server for windows and i got already a domain name MywebbyEX.com(for example)
I also have a static IP

So my questions are:
How can i bind the domain name with my current server runned at home?

What tools , applications do i need?

I read already about BIND but i am still not understanding quiete well. how do they work.?


I registared my domain name with godaddy.com -so in their control panel they got an option to modify the DNS s -but i dont know what to put for Nameserver 1(NS1) and nameserver 2(NS2)- in order to bind the domain name with my home server, and should it be done from there or the DNS thingy (BIND) can do it for me?
Do i have to register my Nameserver some how in order to be reconized by godaddy.com or i dont even need to use godaddy.com for that task?

Does the name server must be Registared with upper-level nameservers and how can i do it?. My Domain name registrant doest have that option as much as i know

It was simple to set up my hosted webspace with my other domain-
I have another Domain name -hosted on a payed webserver with some guys-and basicly what they asked me to do was just to change the DNS name servers in godaddy.com wiht some ns1.myhost.com and ns2.myhost.com (something like that) after 48 hours my domain name was responding to the webserver. So i am curious how can i setup something like that on a home computer?

So in simple words - I Want other people(people from the internet, not Network guys from the LAN) by typing the domain name(www.mywebbyEX.com for example) to access my server runned at home. Can it be done?

I am kind of Newbie of whats going on-so i appologize for the complicated explaining.

Any help will be much apprecietaed

Thank U in advance

Okey i just advanced my self abit lol
Heh i checked carefully the godaddy.com site and i found where i can add new nameservers-so i added two new name servers called
ns1.webby301.com
ns2.webby301.com
so currently they are pending now-i dont what would be the final result,would they be created or not its up to the registrar(godaddy.com)

Okey in that case when i got the nameservers what do i have to do next?

Setup DNS server and something else or what?

Thanks again

Cheers up

To host everything yourself you need the following:

1) A HTTP server (if you host your own website)
You already have one - apache. httpd.conf is the only file you need to mess with in configuring your server. If you are the intuitive type, reading the comments in that file is all that is required to get a basic working website going. Otherwise, read the documentation. Unless you mess with virtual hosts (hosting multiple websites) DNS and apache have very little to do with each other.

2) A domain
You already have this as well. And you are familiar with adding name servers for your domain. The name server list you give the registrar is the ONLY thing they'll know about your domain. Everything else (website IP's, mail server IP's, etc etc) is determined by the person hosting the domain. When somebody looks up your domain, they'll first ask the core DNS servers to get the dns server list you gave the registrar. They'll then query those hosting servers directly for any information they're looking for about your domain.

3) A DNS server (if you host your own domain)
BIND, djbdns, and Microsoft DNS Server are all popular choices. I myself use BIND. BIND is fairly tricky to get started, but I can give you all the help you need in getting it setup. All DNS servers organize your information in "zones". A zone typically contains all information relating to a domain and its subdomains. Each zone contains an SOA (Start of Authority) record which describes some information about your zone.

-- More about BIND

Within the BIND installation folder you have 2 subdirectories "bin" and "etc". The "bin" folder contains all the executeables that came with the BIND package. The "etc" folder contains all the text files that has to do with configuring your server and zones. You may start and stop this program in the services list under administrative tools in the control panel. There is nothing graphical about this program - strictly configuration file based like apache 1.3.x. Keep in mind that "rndc.exe" is the program that may manage your BIND server. It can be used to load new zones or reparse the configuration files without having to restart the server. In the link below I have all my files that are in my "etc" folder including some extra zones which I have formatted for other people.

http://serialcoders.sytes.net/BIND/

All the files ending with ".zone" are zone files (also called master files). rndc.key is required for rndc.exe to manage the named.exe server. named.conf is the main configuration file and it specifies what zones you have, where they are located, as well as a few other server function specific configuration options.

--

If you have anything more specific to ask about configuring your dns server (BIND or otherwise) feel free to ask.

Thank u very much SilentRage for your extremly helpful info.

I will first setup my Webserver correctly then i will do the dns server too-and then if somethin inst working good. i will ask again.

I just need soem more explanation- so when i register the nameserver with my domain name registrar-what do they do-they register it with the ROOT nameservers?

So if its like this when i type my domain name in the browser-it will send and request to the name server-and the name server will respond with the IP where the server is located? Is it like this- but once the IP is rached why do i need to setup the DNS server?

Oki that all for now
Thanks again )

Okey i installed the web server corectly!! now its time to do the DNS thingy -but i am not sure how-i am currently working on win98 but i have another boot OS WIN XP-so as much as i know BIND works on WIN2000/XP and all other OS as LINUx and UNIX . So i just wanna know before i go to win xp what are the Files that i have to config after using BIND? And also i got a second computer with Freebsd on it-Would BIND Work stable on it-and is there any diffrent configoration other then the usual steps?

Thats for now

Thanks again

Bye

"I just need soem more explanation- so when i register the nameserver with my domain name registrar-what do they do-they register it with the ROOT nameservers?"

Yes

"So if its like this when i type my domain name in the browser-it will send and request to the name server-and the name server will respond with the IP where the server is located?"

Yes, this is a common if funny phenomenon with smalltime hosts. In order for a user to connect to your website with your domain, they'll first get YOUR IP to connect to your DNS server, then your DNS server will tell them to connect to YOUR IP again to connect to your webserver. :-)

"Is it like this- but once the IP is rached why do i need to setup the DNS server?"

Cause usually the dns server and web server aren't located at the same IP address. Without a dns server, a smart individual who knows the DNS system, can reach your website with your domain. But a program attempting to resolve the domain itself, will never find you.

"Okey i installed the web server corectly!! now its time to do the DNS thingy -but i am not sure how-i am currently working on win98 but i have another boot OS WIN XP-so as much as i know BIND works on WIN2000/XP and all other OS as LINUx and UNIX"

I STRONGLY suggest that you install both apache and BIND on a windows 2k/XP or linux/unix system. Windows 98 is very insecure and underpowered. But I think both runs on 98 just fine yes.

"So i just wanna know before i go to win xp what are the Files that i have to config after using BIND?"

For all windows systems, what I have told you under "More about BIND" in my previous post is all you need to know. If you have a more specific question about a file, I will answer.

"And also i got a second computer with Freebsd on it-Would BIND Work stable on it"

Yes

"and [on unix] is there any diffrent configoration other then the usual steps?"

The configuration will be largely the same. The only difference is that /bin and /etc folders will contain a folder each with your BIND executeables and config files respectively. Also, rndc may be called ndc in the unix install. I'm not sure if rndc.key is still required. Also, you'll have to make sure that the "named" process has the permissions to access the configuration files.

Okey i guess i messed up very bad on the BIND configoration heres what i did
first i runned the installation BIND 9.2.2 ON xp - i installed it in c:/dns/
2. i did this rndc-confgen.exe thingy to create the KEY (rndc.key) ( i am moved it afterwords in c:/dns/etc -after this i runned something i dont remember what was it and it created me this : rndc.conf after this i created the named.conf and the .zone files BY HAND from the examples u gave us also i added the file called 1.0.0.127.IN-ADDR.ARPA.zone which i am not sure was i suppouse to add it

so what i got in my c:/dns/etc is

1.0.0.127.IN-ADDR.ARPA.zone
named.conf
paranoiccreations.com.zone
rndc.conf
rndc.key
root.hint (directly copied from yours, i didnt know do i had to modfied it!!)

so basicly when i run the BIND service from ISC BIND by clicking start a get the error (ERROR 1067 : the proccess terminated unexpectedly) probably that was caused by misconfigoration of the files

So here is my situation i got 3 computer behind a router i got a static IP which is 24.85.168.215 so i am using the second computer with given internal Ip 192.168.2.3 , on that computer i have the DNS server (BIND) installed and Webserver(Apache) working flowesly for the outside world(access it by an IP afcourse), so i setup my name servers from my registrar to
ns1.paranoiccrations.com (24.85.168.215)
ns2.paranoiccrations.com (24.85.168.215)
So the registrar registered them for with the big guys whoever they are ,so the nameservers are registered. i did the DNS thingys 3 days ago-so they should be intact

my domain name is paranoiccreations.com and i would like to use it with WWW and without the www

(note: my server is not up all the time! if u try to test something)

[B]I attached my config files from the folder /etc/ to the post/B]

ANy Help ,advise, hints, moddifications are welcome.
Thank U in a big advance

Try deleting rndc.conf from the etc folder and attempt to start the process. There are a couple of ways to do the rndc key configuration, and I chose the least messy way by accepting all defaults and just sticking the rndc.key into the etc directory to be used by both named.exe and rndc.exe.

If it still won't start, I need some debug information. Enter the following command at the commandline:

C:\dns\bin>named.exe -f

It should give you some error information. Let me know what that error is (if you can't figure out how to fix the problem yourself). I'll be able to give a closer look at your config files later when I am at home.

Okey so when i typed named -f nothing happend -then i tryed to type named -g then he said named.conf was found in ETC -so i put my old named.conf file in ETc-then i started named -g again then it sayz root.hint wasnt found in the etc folder-so i puted the root.hint that i found on your website into the etc folder-then when i started named - g agaiin it said "dns_master_load: root.hint:79: isc_lex_gettoken() failded :expected end of input
dns_master_load: root.hint:79: unexpected end of input
could not configure root hints from root.hint: unexpected end of input
loading configuration: unexpted end of input
exiting <due to fatal error> "

thats what it sayz i assume the root.hint is messed up or something else.

i cant go on further then that-i get the same error and it stops in there. Please help

i tryed just experementaly to start BINd service with empty Etc folder too see what would happned- i got the same error -It was just a try-can u tell me what does the BInd service execute exactly when it started(JUST CURRIOUS)

Okey believe it or not i just experienced the most bizzare problem ever ever went on my way-the whole problem with the root.hint was i ddint copy it corretly ,the missed part was- guess what-SIMPLE BLANK SPACE LINE(ENTER -cartridge return- return- call it whatever u want) after the line "; End of File" (in the end of root.hint -so my file had 79lines and the original is 80 lines-thats why named -g was showing me the errors and thats why the BIND service didnt start-now everything works, the BIND service starts with no errors and in named -g gets me no errors-the only thing now is that the server doest work as it supouse too-but that i 100% assume is just wrong configoration )) so if some one can help me with the config files that i attached in my previous post i will very very much appreciated ;0)))

WARNING!!! IF You COPY SOmething - DO IT 100% exact same copy as the original(the working one) hehe )-just a simple line make my life hell for several hours loool

Thanks again ))


EDITED BY MEEE WHEEE
Okey there is some additional debuging info after starting named -g (i was too lazy to type it in my previous msg(above) so i appologize for my lazienest

so here is what i get in named -g after typing it

c:\dns\bin>named -g
starting BIND 9.2.2 -g
using 1 CPU
loading configuration from ' c:\dns\etc\named.conf'
set maxomum stack size to 0: not implemented
set maxomum data size to 0: not implemented
set maxomum core size to 0: not implemented
set maxomum open size to 0: not implemented
listening on IPv4 interface Loopback Interface 1, 127.0.0.01#53
listening on IPv4 interface TCP/IP Interface 2, 192.168.2.3#53
command channel listeing on 127.0.0.1#953
ignoring config file logging statement due to -g option
dns_master_load: 1.0.0.127-ADDR.ARPA.zone:1:unknown RR type 'Courier'
zone 1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa/IN: loading master file 1.0.0.127.IN-ADDR.ARPA.zone: unknown class/type
dns_master_load: paranoiccreations.com.zone:4: ignoring out-of-zone data(paranoiccreations.com)
dns_master_load: paranoiccreations.com.zone:17: ignoring out-of-zone data(ns1.paranoiccreations.com)
dns_master_load: paranoiccreations.com.zone:18: ignoring out-of-zone data(ns2.paranoiccreations.com)
dns_master_load: paranoiccreations.com.zone:29: ignoring out-of-zone data(www.paranoiccreations.com)
dns_master_load: paranoiccreations.com.zone:21: ignoring out-of-zone data(mail.paranoiccreations.com)
zone example.com/IN: could not find NS and/or SOA records
zone example.com/IN: has 0 SOA records
zone example.com/IN: has no NS records
running

WHeeeeeee done lool-okey one addition to this DO i have to have example.com Zone?- Cuz i dont have that one-the ZIp contain all of my files in ETC folder(ZIP at last post) just to figure what i have and what i dont

thanks again

Okey after several tryes messing around with the paranoiccreations.com.zone i finaly got few errors out
here is my config (also attached cuz this one seems to be fuzzed)

$TTL 3600
$ORIGIN paranoiccreations.com

@ IN SOA ns1 paranoiccreations.com (
10 ; Serial
10800 ; Refresh after 3 hours
3600 ; retry after 1 hour
604800 ; expire after 1 week
86400 ) ; Minimum TTL of one day

IN A 24.85.168.215
IN NS ns1
IN NS ns2
IN MX 10 mail

localhost IN A 127.0.01
ns1 IN A 24.85.168.215
ns2 IN A 24.85.168.215

and here is what i get after typing named -g

c:\dns\bin>named -g
starting BIND 9.2.2 -g
using 1 CPU
loading configuration from ' c:\dns\etc\named.conf'
set maxomum stack size to 0: not implemented
set maxomum data size to 0: not implemented
set maxomum core size to 0: not implemented
set maxomum open size to 0: not implemented
listening on IPv4 interface Loopback Interface 1, 127.0.0.01#53
listening on IPv4 interface TCP/IP Interface 2, 192.168.2.3#53
command channel listeing on 127.0.0.1#953
ignoring config file logging statement due to -g option
dns_master_load: 1.0.0.127-ADDR.ARPA.zone:1:unknown RR type 'Courier'
zone 1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa/IN: loading master file 1.0.0.127.IN-ADDR.ARPA.zone: unknown class/type
dns_master_load: paranoiccreations.com.zone:14: paranoiccreations.com.example.com :not at tope of zone (curious where the hack paranoiccreations.com.example.com came from )
zone example.com/IN: loading master file paranoiccreations.com.zone not at top of zone
running

and also i just checked with chechdns.net too see there if something is progressing and u can judge by yourself whats going on here

thats it for now- i will wait for your modifications
thanks

You broke many things. :-)

Yes, root.hint is meant to be copied as-is.

You broke the IN-ADDR arpa zone by using wordpad or word to edit it with and saved in the wrong format. Open the file in notepad and you'll see the mess you made.

named.conf you still say "example.com" is the name of the zone where the "file" points to "paranoiccreations.com.zone"

and finally your zone config:

$ORIGIN paranoiccreations.com

You have removed the trailing period. This is EVIL!

@ IN SOA ns1 paranoiccreations.com (

replace "paranoiccreations.com" with @ or add a trailing period.

localhost IN A 127.0.01

127.0.01 is not a valid IP address

IN MX 10 mail

The mail host does not have an IP address.

hehehe it worked i am such a dumb fool hehehe those trailing dots ehhh what a little thing and what a big problem it makes-heh now everything works u can check it at http://paranoiccreations.com currently i have thousends of funny pictures go see them they are SuperB hehe(But please dont be evil and dont download em all cuz i have limits from my ISP just 2 gb upload per month (((-heheh afcourse i am making 20 gb but keep it secrcret indead "" and also dont do silly things )) thaanks

Okey I got few questions more- how can i access the site by www.paranoiccreations.com cuz for now i can access it only without the www and respectivly i get this error([code=DNS_HOST_NOT_FOUND] The host name was not found during the DNS lookup) - where do i have to add the stuff -is it a DNS config or it has to do something with the webserver?

Okey forget what i said up there-it seems this thing doest work-i am using OPera currently to browse pages- so when i type http://paranoiccreations.com i get to my webserver with my stuff in there-but when i type the same address in Internet exploler i get nothing( The page cannot be displayed) Why is that?

and also i checked with checkdns.net and i got this here

Verifying if NS are alive

DNS server ns2.paranoiccreations.com[24.85.168.215] is alive and authoritative for domain paranoiccreations.com