DNS service won't start

Question

Level 1

72 points

DNS service won't start

I can't get DNS service to run - I switch it on and it quickly pops back to off. Sometimes so quickly, I have to refresh the page to see the switch back at "Off".

The logs aren't too helpful, just this:

6/11/16 1:26:03.705 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.xpc.launchd.domain.system) Could not import service from caller: caller = smd.266, service = org.isc.named, error = 119: Service is disabled

6/11/16 1:26:03.801 AM configd[78]: preference: NAT64 disabled

6/11/16 1:26:13.000 AM syslogd[70]: ASL Sender Statistics

The server OS has been upgraded several times .. the DNS worked at one point in the past, but stopped a while ago. Only recently has it become important enough for me to actively seek a solution.

Running OS X El Capitan 10.11.5

Server version 5.1.5

Hardware:

Model Name: Mac mini

Model Identifier: Macmini5,1

Processor Name: Intel Core i5

Processor Speed: 2.3 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 2

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 3 MB

Memory: 8 GB

Any suggestions?

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), Server, 8GB RAM

Posted on Jun 10, 2016 10:27 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 11, 2016 6:29 AM in response to Brian Leahy

So you can try running:

named-checkconf /Library/Server/named/named.conf

However, I suspect you have a bad entry on your zone files. If you tried to create an apex record or manually entered one incorrectly, this can cause DNS to fail to start. If this is the case, how many records do you have in your DNS? If you only have a few and you know all the values, try deleting all the records in Server.app. Once they are deleted, create your SOA and first entry (which would likely be the FQDN of your server and its IP address. With just the one record in place, try starting the service.

Reid

Apple Consultants Network

Author - "El Capitan Server – Foundation Services"

Author - "El Capitan Server – Control & Collaboration"

Author - "El Capitan Server – Advanced Services"

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Answer 2

Brian Leahy Author

Level 1

72 points

Jun 11, 2016 12:44 PM in response to Strontium90

Thanks for the suggestions. FYI for what it's worth, the Host Name for the machine is server3.tekrep.private.

So in DNS I created a primary zone record named tekrep.private, zone data valid for 24 hours, no zone transfers.

Then I added a machine record for zone tekrep.private and named it server3. I provided the server's local IP address, nothing under "text".

After i clicked OK on that, I saw the following:

tekrep.private Primary Zone

server3.tekrep.private A Record

server3.tekrep.private NS Record

0.168.192.in-addr.arpa Reverse Zone

192.168.0.12 PTR Record

server3.tekrep.private NS Record

The two NS's, the PTR and the Reverse Zone seemed to appear out of nowhere.

And DNS still won't start.

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