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.TH "NAMED-RRCHECKER" "1" "2025-10-22" "9.20.15" "BIND 9"
.SH NAME
named-rrchecker \- syntax checker for individual DNS resource records
.SH SYNOPSIS
.sp
\fBnamed\-rrchecker\fP [\fB\-h\fP] [\fB\-o\fP origin] [\fB\-p\fP] [\fB\-u\fP] [\fB\-C\fP] [\fB\-T\fP] [\fB\-P\fP]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.sp
\fBnamed\-rrchecker\fP reads a single DNS resource record (RR) from standard
input and checks whether it is syntactically correct.
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B The input format is a minimal subset of the DNS zone file format. The entire input must be:
CLASS TYPE RDATA
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.IP \(bu 2
Input must not start with an owner (domain) name
.IP \(bu 2
The \fICLASS\fP field is mandatory (typically \fBIN\fP).
.IP \(bu 2
The \fITTL\fP field \fBmust not\fP be present.
.IP \(bu 2
RDATA format is specific to each RRTYPE.
.IP \(bu 2
Leading and trailing whitespace in each field is ignored.
.UNINDENT
.sp
Format details can be found in \fBRFC 1035 Section 5.1\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc1035\:.html#\:section-5.1> under \fB<rr>\fP
specification. \fBRFC 3597\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc3597\:.html> format is also accepted in any of the input fields.
See Examples\&.
.SH OPTIONS
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-o origin
This option specifies the origin to be used when interpreting names in the record:
it defaults to root (\fI\&.\fP). The specified origin is always taken as an absolute name.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-p
This option prints out the resulting record in canonical form. If there
is no canonical form defined, the record is printed in \fBRFC 3597\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc3597\:.html> unknown
record format.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-u
This option prints out the resulting record in \fBRFC 3597\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc3597\:.html> unknown record
format.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-C, \-T, \-P
These options do not read input. They print out known classes, standard types,
and private type mnemonics. Each item is printed on a separate line.
The resulting list of private types may be empty
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \-h
This option prints out the help menu.
.UNINDENT
.SH EXAMPLES
.sp
Pay close attention to the \fBecho\fP command line options \fI\-e\fP and \fI\-n\fP, as they affect whitespace in the input to \fBnamed\-rrchecker\fP\&.
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B echo \-n \(aqIN A 192.0.2.1\(aq | named\-rrchecker
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input is in \fBRFC 1035\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc1035\:.html> format with no newline at the end of the input.
.IP \(bu 2
Return code 0.
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \-e \(aq\en  \en IN\etA 192.0.2.1 \et  \en\en  \(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with leading and trailing whitespace.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        A       192.0.2.1\fP
.IP \(bu 2
Leading and trailing whitespace is not part of the output.
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.SS Relative names and origin
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN CNAME target\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with a relative name as the CNAME target.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        CNAME   target.\fP
.IP \(bu 2
Relative name \fItarget\fP from the input is converted to an absolute name using the default origin \fB\&.\fP (root).
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN CNAME target\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p \-o origin.test
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with a relative name as the CNAME target.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        CNAME   target.origin.test.\fP
.IP \(bu 2
Relative name \fItarget\fP from the input is converted to an absolute name using the specified origin \fBorigin.test\fP
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN CNAME target.\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p \-o origin.test
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with an absolute name as the CNAME target.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        CNAME   target.\fP
.IP \(bu 2
The specified origin has no influence if \fItarget\fP from the input is already absolute.
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.SS Special characters
.sp
Special characters allowed in zone files by \fBRFC 1035 Section 5.1\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc1035\:.html#\:section-5.1> are accepted.
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN CNAME t\e097r\eget\e.\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p \-o origin.test
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with backslash escapes.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        CNAME   target\e..origin.test.\fP
.IP \(bu 2
\fB\e097\fP denotes an ASCII value in decimal, which, in this example, is the character \fBa\fP\&.
.IP \(bu 2
\fB\eg\fP is converted to a plain \fBg\fP because the \fBg\fP character does not have a special meaning and so the \fB\e\fP prefix does nothing in this case.
.IP \(bu 2
\fB\e.\fP denotes a literal ASCII dot (here as a part of the CNAME target name). Special meaning of \fB\&.\fP as the DNS label separator was disabled by the preceding \fB\e\fP prefix.
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN CNAME @\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p \-o origin.test
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with \fB@\fP used as a reference to the specified origin.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        CNAME   origin.test.\fP
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN CNAME \e@\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p \-o origin.test
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with a literal \fB@\fP character (escaped).
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        CNAME   \e@.origin.test.\fP
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN CNAME prefix.@\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p \-o origin.test
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with \fB@\fP used as a reference to the specifed origin.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        CNAME   prefix.\e@.origin.test.\fP
.IP \(bu 2
\fB@\fP has special meaning only if it is free\-standing.
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN A 192.0.2.1; comment\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with a trailing comment. Note the lack of whitespace before the start of the comment.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        A       192.0.2.1\fP
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.sp
For multi\-line examples see the next section.
.SS Multi\-token records
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B echo \-e \(aqIN TXT two words \en\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid TXT RR with two unquoted words and trailing whitespace.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        TXT     \(dqtwo\(dq \(dqwords\(dq\fP
.IP \(bu 2
Two unquoted words in the input are treated as two \fI<character\-string>\fPs per \fBRFC 1035 Section 3.3.14\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc1035\:.html#\:section-3\:.3\:.14>\&.
.IP \(bu 2
Trailing whitespace is omitted from the last \fI<character\-string>\fP\&.
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \-e \(aqIN TXT \(dqtwo words\(dq \en\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid TXT RR with one \fIcharacter\-string\fP and trailing whitespace.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        TXT     \(dqtwo words\(dq\fP
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \-e \(aqIN TXT \(dqproblematic newline\en\(dq\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Invalid input \- the closing \fB\(dq\fP is not detected before the end of the line.
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN TXT \(dqwith newline\e010\(dq\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with an escaped newline character inside \fIcharacter\-string\fP\&.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        TXT     \(dqwith newline\e010\(dq\fP
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \-e \(aqIN TXT ( two\enwords )\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid multi\-line input with line continuation allowed inside optional parentheses in the RDATA field.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        TXT     \(dqtwo\(dq \(dqwords\(dq\fP
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \-e \(aqIN TXT ( two\enwords ; misplaced comment )\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Invalid input \- comments, starting with \(dq;\(dq, are ignored by the parser, so the closing parenthesis should be before the semicolon.
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \-e \(aqIN TXT ( two\enwords ; a working comment\en )\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input \- the comment is terminated with a newline.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        TXT     \(dqtwo\(dq \(dqwords\(dq\fP
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN HTTPS 1 . alpn=\(dqh2,h3\(dq\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid HTTPS record
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        HTTPS   1 . alpn=\(dqh2,h3\(dq\fP
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \-e \(aqIN HTTPS ( 1 \en . \en alpn=\(dqdot\(dq)port=853\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid HTTPS record with individual sub\-fields split across multiple lines
using \fBRFC 1035 Section 5.1\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc1035\:.html#\:section-5.1> parentheses syntax to group data that crosses
a line boundary.
.IP \(bu 2
Note the missing whitespace between the closing parenthesis and adjacent tokens.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        HTTPS   1 . alpn=\(dqdot\(dq port=853\fP
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.SS Unknown type handling
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN A 192.0.2.1\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-u
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input in \fBRFC 1035\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc1035\:.html> format.
.IP \(bu 2
Output in \fBRFC 3957\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc3957\:.html> format: \fBCLASS1      TYPE1   \e# 4 C0000201\fP
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqCLASS1 TYPE1 \e# 4 C0000201\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input in \fBRFC 3597\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc3597\:.html> format.
.IP \(bu 2
Output in \fBRFC 1035\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc1035\:.html> format: \fBIN  A       192.0.2.1\fP
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN A \e# 4 C0000201\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with class and type in \fBRFC 1035\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc1035\:.html> format and rdata in \fBRFC 3597\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc3597\:.html> format.
.IP \(bu 2
Output in \fBRFC 1035\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc1035\:.html> format: \fBIN  A       192.0.2.1\fP
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN HTTPS 1 . key3=\e001\e000\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Valid input with \fBRFC 9460\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc9460\:.html> syntax for an unknown \fIkey3\fP field. Syntax \fB\e001\e000\fP produces two octets with values 1 and 0, respectively.
.IP \(bu 2
Output: \fBIN        HTTPS   1 . port=256\fP
.IP \(bu 2
\fIkey3\fP matches the standardized key name \fIport\fP\&.
.IP \(bu 2
Octets 1 and 0 were decoded as integer values in big\-endian encoding.
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN HTTPS 1 . key3=\e001\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Invalid input \- the length of the value for \fIkey3\fP (i.e. port) does not match the known standard format for that parameter in the SVCB RRTYPE.
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN HTTPS 1 . port=\e001\e000\(aq | named\-rrchecker \-p
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Invalid input \- the key \fIport\fP, when specified using its standard mnemonic name, \fBmust\fP use standard key\-specific syntax.
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.SS Meta values
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B echo \(aqIN AXFR\(aq | named\-rrchecker
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Invalid input \- AXFR is a meta type, not a genuine RRTYPE.
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqANY A 192.0.2.1\(aq | named\-rrchecker
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Invalid input \- ANY is meta class, not a true class.
.UNINDENT
.TP
.B echo \(aqA 192.0.2.1\(aq | named\-rrchecker
.INDENT 7.0
.IP \(bu 2
Invalid input \- the class field is missing, so the parser would try and fail to interpret the RRTYPE A as the class.
.UNINDENT
.UNINDENT
.SH RETURN CODES
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B 0
The whole input was parsed as one syntactically valid resource record.
.TP
.B 1
The input is not a syntactically valid resource record, or the given type is not
supported, or either/both class and type are meta\-values, which should not appear in zone files.
.UNINDENT
.SH SEE ALSO
.sp
\fBRFC 1034\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc1034\:.html>, \fBRFC 1035\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc1035\:.html>, \fBRFC 3957\fP \%<https://\:datatracker\:.ietf\:.org/\:doc/\:html/\:rfc3957\:.html>, \fBnamed(8)\fP \%<#\:std-iscman-named>\&.
.SH Author
Internet Systems Consortium
.SH Copyright
2025, Internet Systems Consortium
.\" End of generated man page.