Red Hat Summit Red Hat SummitSupportConsoleDevelopersStart a trialContact

19.4.2. Configuring /etc/rndc.conf

The key is the most important statement in /etc/rndc.conf. 
key "<key-name>" {
	algorithm hmac-md5;
	secret "<key-value>";
};
Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
The <key-name> and <key-value> should be exactly the same as their settings in /etc/named.conf.
To match the keys specified in the target server's /etc/named.conf, add the following lines to /etc/rndc.conf. 
options {
	default-server  localhost;
	default-key     "<key-name>";
};
Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap
This directive sets a global default key. However, the rndc configuration file can also specify different keys for different servers, as in the following example: 
server localhost {
	key  "<key-name>";
};
Copy to Clipboard Toggle word wrap

Important

Make sure that only the root user can read or write to the /etc/rndc.conf file.
For more information about the /etc/rndc.conf file, refer to the rndc.conf man page.
Back to top
Red Hat logoGithubredditYoutubeTwitter

Learn

Try, buy, & sell

Communities

About Red Hat Documentation

We help Red Hat users innovate and achieve their goals with our products and services with content they can trust. Explore our recent updates.

Making open source more inclusive

Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. For more details, see the Red Hat Blog.

About Red Hat

We deliver hardened solutions that make it easier for enterprises to work across platforms and environments, from the core datacenter to the network edge.

Theme

© 2025 Red Hat