The Sysadmin's Daily Grind: NicTool

Name Away!

Article from Issue 102/2009
Author(s):

For the longest time, Charly used vi to edit his nameserver's zone data, which isn't too elegant because a mere fat-finger will get you into DNS trouble. Fortunately, NicTool will help ease the pain – even in the midst of a move big enough to kick up a dust storm.

I wish the professional world could see the conditions under which these words are being written – our IT center is currently moving. My colleagues haven't been rifling through file cabinets like this since the crowning of Charlemagne, and they've become instant archaeologists making some valuable finds. One colleague – let's call him Qumran – has unearthed a document in Schwabacher typeface on SAN/NAS. An IBM printer that, without any accessories, can cut through rock is fascinating a bunch of mainframers. Just an hour ago, I fooled around with one of young Alexander Graham Bell's early cable modems. Next door, the shy apprentice IT networkers are sharing a '93 Slackware – an excellent year.

In contrast, NicTool [1], a comprehensive DNS management system written almost entirely in Perl, has been around only since 2000. The client components run as CGI on an Apache host. The management system takes its work assignments in two ways. First, there's a Perl API that, for example, feeds into a provisioning system. An Internet service provider can then easily integrate NicTool into its business processes: When a customer asks for web space, a simple command in the API can serve it a domain name in DNS.

The second possibility is in the accompanying web interface. I can use the web interface to manage multiple nameservers with their relevant zones (Figure 1). NicTool does plausibility and syntax checks for all zone modifications, which is a good way to avoid typo frustration. A hierarchical rule structure allows me to manage nameservers or delegate zones to someone else.

Daily SOAP

The client components forward all change requests per SOAP to the NicTool server, which sits on another Apache V host and runs the database. The server supports a variety of database systems; in my case, it's MySQL.

In order for the nameserver to get all the changes, I must export the data from NicTool. The software only provides the Tinydns format. Because I'm using BIND, I have to make some adjustments during the export, and a look at the NicTool forum [2] proves that I'm not alone in this respect. The forum includes a few scripts that have been of some help, and it also provided a Perl script that, after installation, nicely populated my NicTool database via a zone transfer – to my great relief. I was spared the chaos of yet another move.

The Author

Charly Kühnast is a Unix operating system administrator at the Data Center in Moers, Germany. His tasks include firewall and DMZ security and availability. He divides his leisure time into hot, wet, and eastern sectors, where he enjoys cooking, fresh water aquariums, and learning Japanese, respectively.

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Charly's Column: Nameserver Diagnostics

    Many administrators rely on Linux tools whose fate is already sealed, but external forces can help people let go of old habits.

  • Charly's Column

    What does Charly’s recent two-week vacation in Holland have in common with an SSH session? Nothing at all, at first sight. And therein lies a tale.

  • Charly's Column

    Worms, mail bombs, and users who send multiple megabyte Powerpoint files across the wire give Postfix administrators plenty of reasons to view their charges with a critical eye from time to time.

  • Charly's Column

    The latest trend is to hide spam in images. The admin’s response: an OCR tool that extracts the texts and feeds them to the spam filter.

  • Charly's Column

    When ports on a host start opening and closing like window shutters in a gale, it’s time for admins to pay attention.

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News