dnssec-signzone Command

Purpose

DNSSEC zone signing tool.

Syntax

dnssec-signzone [-a] [-c class] [ -d directory ] [-e end-time] [ -f output-file] [-g] [-h] [ -k key] [-l domain] [ -i interval ] [-I input-format] [-j jitter] [-N soa-serial-format] [ -o origin ] [-O output-format] [ -p ] [-r randomdev] [-s start-time] [ -t ] [-v level] [-z] zonefile [key...]

Description

The dnssec-signzone command signs a zone. It generates NSEC and RRSIG records and produces a signed version of the zone. The presence or absence of a keyset file for each child zone determines the security status of delegations from the signed zone (that is, whether the child zones are secure or not).

Flags

Item Description
-a Verifies all generated signatures.
-c class Specifies the DNS class of the zone.
-d directory Looks for keyset files in the directory specified by the directory argument.
-k key Treats the specified key as a key-signing key ignoring any key flags. You can specify this option multiple times.
-l domain Generates a DLV set in addition to the key (DNSKEY) and DS sets. The domain is appended to the name of the records.
-g Generates DS records for child zones from keyset files. This flag removes existing DS records.
-s start-time Specifies the date and time when the generated RRSIG records become valid. This can be either an absolute or relative time. An absolute start time is indicated by a number in YYYYMMDDHHMMSS notation; 20000530144500 denotes 14:45:00 UTC on May 30th, 2000. A relative start time is indicated by +N, which is N seconds from the current time. If you do not specify the start-time argument, the command uses the current time minus 1 hour (to allow for clock skew).
-e end-time Specifies the date and time when the generated RRSIG records expire. As with the start-time argument, an absolute time is indicated in YYYYMMDDHHMMSS notation. A time relative to the start time is indicated with +N, which is N seconds from the start time. A time relative to the current time is indicated with now+N. If you do not specify the end-time argument, the command uses 30 days from the start time as a default.
-f output-file Specifies the name of the output file containing the signed zone. The default is to append .signed to the input file name.
-h Prints a short summary of the options and arguments of the dnssec-signzone command.
-i interval When a previously signed zone is passed as input, records may be resigned. The interval option specifies the cycle interval as an offset from the current time (in seconds). If an RRSIG record expires after the cycle interval, it is retained. Otherwise, it is considered to be expiring soon, and it will be replaced. The default cycle interval is one quarter of the difference between the signature end and start times. If you specify neither the end-time argument or the start-time argument, the dnssec-signzone command generates signatures that are valid for 30 days, with a cycle interval of 7.5 days. Therefore, if any existing RRSIG records are due to expire in less than 7.5 days, they are replaced.
-I input-format Specifies the format of the input zone file. Possible formats are "text" (default) and "raw".
-j jitter When signing a zone with a fixed signature lifetime, all RRSIG records issued at the time of signing expire simultaneously. If the zone is incrementally signed, for example, a previously signed zone is passed as input to the signer and all expired signatures must be regenerated at about the same time. The jitter argument specifies a jitter window that is used to randomize the signature expire time, thus spreading incremental signature regeneration over time. Signature lifetime jitter can also benefit validators and servers by spreading out cache expiration. For example, if large numbers of RRSIGs do not expire at the same time from all caches there will be less congestion than if all validators need to re-fetch at mostly the same time.
-n ncpus Specifies the number of threads to use. By default, the command starts one thread for each detected processor.
-N soa-serial-format Specifies the SOA serial number format of the signed zone. The soa-serial-format argument can be one of the following values:
keep
Does not modify the SOA serial number. This is the default value.
increment
Increases the SOA serial number using RFC 1982 arithmetic.
unixtime
Sets the SOA serial number to the number of seconds since epoch.
-o origin Specifies the zone origin. If not specified, the name of the zone file is assumed to be the origin.
-O output-format Specifies the format of the output file containing the signed zone. Possible formats are "text" (default) and "raw".
-p Uses pseudo-random data when signing the zone. This is faster, but less secure, than using real random data. This option can be useful when you sign large zones or when the entropy source is limited.
-r randomdev Specifies the source of randomness. If the operating system does not provide a /dev/random file or equivalent device, the default source of randomness is keyboard input. The randomdev argument specifies the name of a character device or file containing random data to be used instead of the default. The special value keyboard indicates that keyboard input must be used.
-t Prints statistics at completion.
-v level Sets the debugging level.
-z Ignores KSK flag on key when determining what to sign.

Parameters

Item Description
zonefile The file containing the zone to be signed.
key The keys used to sign the keyset. If no keys are specified, the defaults are all zone keys that have private key files in the current directory.

Examples

The following command signs the example.com zone with the DSA key generated by the dnssec-keygen command. The zone's keys must be in the zone. If there are keyset files associated with this zone or any child zones, they must be in the current directory, example.com. You can issue the following command:
dnssec-signzone -o example.com db.example.com Kexample.com.+003+26160

In this example, the dnssec-signzone command creates the db.example.com.signed file. This file must be referenced in a zone statement in a named.conf file.