The Local Zone

To understand the names of the devices on my own network, I need to add a local zone. First, I add the line listen-on port 53 {any;}; to /etc/bind/named.conf.options, and reference to the zone files in /etc/bind/named.conf.local. I then need to create the zone files with the names and IP addresses of all the devices on the home network (Listing 7), as well as the associated reverse zone file (Listing 8). The dots in lines like homenet.de. are important. If the dot is missing at the end, the system appends the domain name (homenet.de), and then the name no longer matches.

If you are interested in more details of the Bind configuration, the content of the files presented here, and the importance of each entry, I recommend the DNS & BIND Cookbook [3]. If you want to completely invest yourself in the functionality of the domain name service, I also recommend DNS & BIND [4].

Address List

The home network now has a central time server and a name server. However, I have to make sure the computers on the network match the IP addresses assigned to them in the zone file. I first need to configure the DHCP server. Only one DHCP server can be active in any subnet, so I need to shut down the DHCP service on the DSL router. To do this, I must consult the user manual for my DSL router.

First, I need to install the DHCP service on the Rasp Pi using apt-get. The fact that automatic startup doesn't initially work, is okay. I only need to change the /etc/dhcp/dhpd.conf file (Listing 9). After starting the DHCP service with sudo /etc/init.d/isc-dhcp-server, the DHCP server should work. Now, when I start up a network device, I can see from the /var/log/syslog file how an IP address is assigned to the device (Listing 10).

Other Options

You can also configure your Rasp Pi as a file, print, or download server. You'll spend a lot less money (and power) than with a big server system, and if anything goes wrong, you can just start over. That's the beauty of Raspberry Pi.