Using the z/OS UNIX nsupdate command

You can use the nsupdate command to create and execute DNS update operations on a host record as defined in RFC 2136 (for DNS 9) to a name server. This allows resource records to be added or removed from a zone without manually editing the zone file. A single update request can contain requests to add or remove more than one resource record.

Rules:
  • Do not manually edit zones that are under dynamic control by nsupdate or a DHCP server. Manual edits could conflict with dynamic updates and cause data to be lost.
  • Do not use the nsupdate command to update DNS zones that are managed by the automated domain name registration (ADNR) application. See information about updates to an ADNR-managed zone in the z/OS Communications Server: IP Configuration Guide for more details.

The nsupdate command can be used for both IPv4 and IPv6 connections.

The resource records for nsupdate using BIND 9 that are dynamically added or removed with nsupdate have to be in the same zone. Requests are sent to the zone's master server. This is identified by the MNAME field of the zone's SOA record.

Batch mode is supported when nsupdate subcommands are stacked in a file, and the name of the file is specified as the last argument on the command line:
nsupdate /tmp/update.zone
The file name must not immediately follow the -d option.
BIND 9 DNS uses the z/OS® application's search order to find TCPIP.DATA statements. See the z/OS Communications Server: IP Configuration Guide for details. It uses the following directives from the resolver configuration file:
  1. nameserver/nsinteraddr
  2. options ndots:n
  3. search domain/domainorigin