DNS Esoterica

Selected as the logofor 3 November 1996.

And if you remember that...you *are* ancient.
To see what Scott had to say, click here.

This page is dedicated to all those individuals out there who maintain, troubleshoot or modify DNS files. Some know what they are about and carefully care for the bits of data, some forge ahead in unmindful innocence of the havoc they are about to wreak, and some just say "what the hell...that might do it!".

Thank you Pete Bowden. We will miss you.

As I looked at these files day after day, my ideas of beauty and humor became, well... rather warped in comparison to other people. I started a collection of items that struck my fancy for one reason or another. If you come across anything that you think deserves to be honored, send it along! lyn@netgeek.net

The Oops Collection

Whats in a name: Domain name choices can lead...anywhere! (discovered by Steve Wagner)

Helpful Hints: Sometimes DNS is an educational tool (donated by Steve Wagner and Pete Bowden)

Private Space: So you think Private Address space is the be all end all? (discovered by Martin Levy)

Time To Live: If a little is good, more surely is better....

The Mail WILL Go Through: no server outages will stop this one!

Zone: obviously vapor.com

Register this!

We are ready to be Primary!!

About that image


Whats in a name

Name:    ive.seen.rude.but.you.sir.are.vile.org
Address:  209.31.32.129
Aliases:  129.32.31.209.in-addr.arpa

The Collection


Helpful Hints


> quit
Server:  rns1.earthlink.net
Address:  207.217.126.81

Name:    type-exit-you-idiot.it.earthlink.net
Address:  206.149.249.11
Aliases:  quit.it.earthlink.net
> exit

 10:52pm ~/ARIN/CRC>nslookup quit
 Server:  nic1.concentric.net
 Address:  205.158.16.5
 
 Name:    use-exit-to-quit.or-is-your-brain.missing.to
 Address:  207.88.46.254
 Aliases:  quit.internex.net


The Collection


Private Space


       lion$ nslookup 192.168.1.1  
       Server:  nic1.concentric.net
       Address:  205.158.16.5
 
       Name:    read-rfc1918-for-details.iana.net
       Address:  192.168.1.1


The Collection


Time To Live
 HEADER:
        opcode = QUERY, id = 19, rcode = NXDOMAIN
        header flags:  response, auth. answer, want recursion, recursion avail.
        questions = 1,  answers = 0,  authority records = 1,  additional = 0
 
    QUESTIONS:
        7.24.158.???.in-addr.arpa, type = PTR, class = IN
    AUTHORITY RECORDS:
        24.158.205.IN-ADDR.ARPA
        type = SOA, class = IN, dlen = 51
        ttl = 86400000 (1000 days)
        origin = gozer.foobar.com
        mail addr = postmaster.gozer.foobar.com
        serial = 9506170
        refresh = 10800 (3 hours)
        retry   = 3600 (1 hour)
        expire  = 604800 (7 days)
        minimum ttl = 86400000 (1000 days)

The Collection


The Mail WILL Go Through!

@       IN SOA galaxy.internex.net. nic.internex.net. (
                199602150       ; Serial Number: YYYYMMDDx
                10800           ; Refresh every 3 hours
                3600            ; Retry every 60 minutes
                604800          ; Expire in 7 days
                86400 )         ; Default/Minimum TTL: 1 day
 
$ORIGIN com.
foobar                         IN A           199.2.10.82
foobar                         IN MX          10 uumail2.netcom.com.
foobar                         IN MX          20 uumail3.netcom.com.
foobar                         IN MX          30 uumail1.netcom.com.
foobar                         IN MX          50 uucp11.netcom.com.
foobar                         IN MX          50 uucp12.netcom.com.
foobar                         IN MX          50 uucp13.netcom.com.
foobar                         IN MX          70 uucp6.netcom.com.
foobar                         IN MX          70 uucp7.netcom.com.
foobar                         IN MX          70 uucp9.netcom.com.
foobar                         IN NS          nic1.internex.net.
foobar                         IN NS          nic2.internex.net.
 
$ORIGIN  foobar com.
soleil                           IN A           199.2.10.82
soleil                           IN MX          10 uumail2.netcom.com.
soleil                           IN MX          20 uumail3.netcom.com.
soleil                           IN MX          30 uumail1.netcom.com.
soleil                           IN MX          50 uucp11.netcom.com.
soleil                           IN MX          50 uucp12.netcom.com.
soleil                           IN MX          50 uucp13.netcom.com.
soleil                           IN MX          70 uucp6.netcom.com.
soleil                           IN MX          70 uucp7.netcom.com.
soleil                           IN MX          70 uucp9.netcom.com.

The Collection


Zone
;
;$Id: db.foobar.com,v 1.2 1996/02/29 03:41:49 wessorh Exp $
;
;WARNING:
;       If you edit this file your changes will be overwritten
;       on the next DNS rebuild! To make a permanent change to
;       this file update the Zone information in the ORACLE database
;       This file has been generated by named.build
;
;       contact rxxx@something.com for hacking instructions.
~
~
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"db.foobar.com" [Read only] 43 lines, 1772 characters
The Collection


Register this!

Domain Version Number: 2.0 ******** Only for registrations under ROOT, COM, ORG, NET, EDU, GOV ******** 0. (N)ew (M)odify (D)elete....: N 1. Purpose/Description........: New Domain Name Reg (a & acomputers.com) 2. Complete Domain Name.......: a & acomputers.com


We are ready to be Primary

> ls -d foobar.com

 foobar.com.                  SOA   gatekeeper.foobar.COM 
hostmaster.foobr.com. (199609093 3600 600 604800 3600)
 foobar.com.                  NS    gatekeeper.foobar.COM       
 foobar.com.                  NS    ftp.foobar.COM              
 foobar.com.                  MX    30   ftp.foobar.com
 foobar.com.                  MX    10   gatekeeper.foobar.COM
 foobar.com.                  MX    20   snm.foobar.COM
 oregon                         A     192.249.232.197
 oregon                         MX    10   snm.foobar.com
 nb_ncr                         A     192.249.232.1
 orderxpress                    CNAME www.foobar.com
 localhost                      CNAME gatekeeper.foobar.com
 hillsboro                      CNAME gatekeeper.foobar.com
 phub_cl_A                      A     192.153.3.2
 mailhost                       CNAME snm.foobar.com
 nhorse                         A     192.153.3.111
 seattle                        CNAME buzz_lightyear.foobar.com
 ether1                         A     192.159.218.2
 etcorp                         MX    10   snm.foobar.com
 gatekeeper                     A     205.158.31.130
 fect.net                       PTR   0.249.192.in-addr.arpa        
 fect.net                       A     255.255.255.0
 bastion.net                    PTR   0.158.205.in-addr.arpa        
 bastion.net                    A     255.255.255.240
 lgx                            CNAME gatekeeper.foobar.com
 phub_ncr                       A     192.249.232.2
 fremont                        CNAME gatekeeper.foobar.com
 lrouter1                       A     205.158.31.129
 marlboro                       A     38.248.178.200
 marlboro                       MX    10   snm.foobar.com
 buzz_lightyear                 A     192.153.2.31
 buzz_lightyear                 MX    10   snm.foobar.com
 www                            A     205.158.31.132
 snm                            A     192.159.218.11
 borg                           A     192.249.232.190
 ftpin                          A     192.159.218.12
 ftn                            CNAME gatekeeper.foobar.com
 ftp                            MX    10   ftp.foobar.com
 ftp                            MX    20   snm.foobar.com
 ftp                            A     205.158.31.131
 foobar.com.                  SOA   gatekeeper.foobar.COM 
hostmaster.foobr.com. (199609093 3600 600 604800 3600)


The Collection


About that image

I once worked at a fun place, with a bunch of other yahoos, where someone invented a DNS tool. It worked...sometimes I guess, but more often than not, that visual popped up and we were forced to agree to "no rows affected". Sometimes no rows (records) were affected, but most often the whole zone would be blow away and one would have to start all over. It made it real hard to hit that "OK" button. So much for labor saving tools.

The Collection


lyn@netgeek.net