Solved What is DNS frontend and DNS backend in Samba?

S

sdf

Hello everyone,

When installing Samba, there is a option that "Use Bind 9.11 as AD DC DNS server frontend". And when Setting up Samba as an Active Directory Domain Controller, also need to specify DNS backend.

What do they mean? What happens if choosing None?

Code: 
Realm [EXAMPLE.COM]:
Domain [EXAMPLE]:
Server Role (dc, member, standalone) [dc]:
DNS backend (SAMBA_INTERNAL, BIND9_FLATFILE, BIND9_DLZ, NONE) [SAMBA_INTERNAL]:

Thanks.
 
As part of running a domain controller, Samba needs to create various DNS entries, most importantly the ones that allow clients to find the server(s). The three main options basically mean the following:

Internal: Samba will run a basic DNS server itself and respond to requests on port 53
Flatfile: Samba will create a Bind formatted zone file, which you'll need to include in your Bind configuration. I'm not quite sure how updates are handled with this as the file will be intermittently updated by Samba, you may have to schedule a regular reload of the zone.
DLZ: Samba will dynamically submit DNS records/updates to Bind, although this requires the most effort to set up in the first place.

None will cause Samba to not run any DNS service or create any DNS records, meaning you almost certainly won't be able to actually get clients to connect to the domain without manually managing all the required records.


I'm wondering if the wording is incorrect in the package where it mentions "Use Bind 9.11 as AD DC DNS server frontend".
It seems to be referring to using Bind for AD DNS records, but this seems to refer to the same functionality that is called "DNS backend" in the config wizard.
 
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If there is a DNS server in the LAN, like NSD, can Samba not use it directly? And does the Realm of Samba have anything to do with the local domain name? In other words, it can use a different name than the local domain name?
 
If Samba needs to do DNS lookups (not sure if it does), it will just use the resolver specified on the host, like any other application.

When Samba needs to create new DNS records, you have to choose one of the available backends, which is to either let Samba run DNS, or via Bind.
 
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Thank you. Can Realm be the same as a local domain name?
For example, if there is a DNS server in the LAN and the domain name is "example.com", can the AD DNS domain be the same? Still have to be a subdomain, such as "ad.example.com"?
 
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