Table of Contents

About the Nrcmd Program

About the Nrcmd Program

You can use either Network Registrar's graphical user interface (GUI) or nrcmd command line interface (CLI) to configure and manage your DNS and DHCP servers. This chapter describes how to use the nrcmd command line interface.

It specifically describes:

• Invoking the nrcmd command
  
  
• Using the nrcmd command arguments
  
  
• Listing the nrcmd commands
  
  

Invoking the Nrcmd Command

You can use the nrcmd command in batch mode by executing scripts that use the commands or by using the interactive mode in which you enter commands at the nrcmd command prompt.

Note   The nrcmd command is located in \Program Files\Network Registrar\bin on Windows NT and in /opt/nwreg2/usrbin on Solaris.

The command syntax is as follows:

nrcmd <general options> <command> <specific options>

 

The general options are:

• -C clustername
  
  
• -N username
  
  
• -P password
  
  

These general options are not required. If you supply them, you must proceed them with -C, -N, or -P. If you do not supply them, Network Registrar gets them from the registry (on Windows NT), or environment variables (on Solaris and Windows NT). If Network Registrar cannot find values for these parameters, it prompts you for them.

The Windows NT registry and Solaris or Windows NT environment variables are AIC_NAME for the name, AIC_PASSWORD for the password, and AIC_CLUSTER for the cluster name. The Windows NT registry path is Software\American Internet\Registrar\2.0 and the registry hive is HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

To execute the command line interface in interactive mode, enter:

nrcmd [-C cluster] [-N user] [-P password]

 

Typing this command displays the interactive prompt nrcmd> to which you enter:

nrcmd>command  [optional parameters ]

 

To specify a series of items, use commas between the items. Do not add a space after the comma. For example:

nrcmd>zone example.com. set dynupdate-set=192.168.1.1,127.0.0.1

 

To terminate an interactive session, enter the exit command.

To view the online help, enter the help command.

Command Organization

The nrcmd commands specify a class of object which you can create, delete, or list. Each of these objects in turn has properties which you can set or get, and features which you can enable, disable, or test. These objects may also have methods, which are specific to the type of object, and that let you perform operations on groups of properties.

When you use the nrcmd commands to configure Network Registrar, you manipulate the following:

• Classes of objects—these are things that you can create, delete, show or list such as scopes, policies, or zones.
  
  • create—creates an entry. If the entry already exists, this command overwrites it with the new information.
    
    
  • delete—removes an entry.
    
    
  • list—displays all the objects of a given type, including all attributes.
    
    
  • listnames—displays only the names of all objects of a given type.
    
    
  • show—displays the values of all the features or properties.
    
    
• Properties of objects—these are things whose value you can set or display. They include a DNS zone's minimum TTL, or the DHCP server's log settings.
  
  • set—sets the value of the property.
    
    
  • unset—makes a property have no value. You cannot unset required properties.
    
    
  • get—displays the value of the property.
    
    
• Features of objects—these are things that you enable or disable. They include whether you want permanent leases or whether you want to use the DHCP LDAP service. You use the enable, disable, and get commands to manipulate them. After you enable a feature, you often need to set its associated properties.
  
  • enable—enables a feature.
    
    
  • disable—disables a feature.
    
    
  • unset—makes a feature undefined.
    
    
  • get—displays the value of the feature.
    
    
• Methods—these are operations that you can perform on groups of properties, such as adding a range of IP addresses to a scope, or removing hosts from a zone.
  

Command Usage

How you specify a series of arguments depends on the type of command you are using. The following shows the differences when using the create, set, and enable commands.

Create Command

When you use the create command and there are required arguments, you must supply them. You can also supply additional arguments. You must supply the required arguments in the specified order; however, you can specify the optional arguments in any order with the syntax prop=value.

For example, the syntax for creating a scope is as follows:

scope name create addr mask [prop=value]

 

This means that you must supply an IP address and mask when you create a scope, and you can optionally specify other properties of the scope.

The following example creates the scope testScope with the IP address of 128.103.1.1 and a mask of 255.255.255.0:

nrcmd>scope testScope create 128.103.1.1 255.255.255.0
 

For example, if you want to create a scope and also specify the name of the DNS zone to which a DHCP client's host name should be added, enter:

nrcmd>scope testScope create 128.103.1.1 255.255.255.0 dns-zone-name=QuickExample.com
 

After the create command creates and assigns all specified parameters to the object, it checks that all the required properties have values (either defaults or user-specified). If you neglect to supply the required arguments, Network Registrar reports an error.

Set Command

You use the set command to set the value of a property. If you want to set a list of things, such as DNS servers, or IP addresses, you can separate them with commas. You can also use the set command to set several properties on a single line—just specify the property and its value followed by a space and the next property and value pair.

For example, to specify the name of the DNS zone to which a DHCP client's host name should be added, enter:

nrcmd>scope testScope set dns-zone-name=QuickExample.com
 

For example, to specify the list of IP addresses that you will allow to perform zone transfers, enter:

nrcmd>zone QuickExample.com set auth-servers=196.68.1.10,196.68.1.20
 

For example, to set the client's client-class and domain-name, enter:

nrcmd>client 1,6,02:02:02:02:02:02 set client-class-name=internal 
domain-name=QuickExample.com
 

Additionally, you can set a feature to its enabled state (set feature=enabled).

The unset command places a property or feature in the undefined state.

Enable Command

You use the enable command to enable a feature. After you enable a feature you often need to set its associated properties.

For example, to enable incremental transfer processing for the DNS server, enter:

nrcmd>dns enable ixfr-enable
 

To change the incremental transfer expiration interval, enter:

nrcmd>dns set ixfr-expire-interval=10d

Note   You cannot add set commands to an enable command line. You need to first enable the feature, and then on the next command line, set the associated properties.

Saving Your Changes

The CLI waits for one of the following events to occur before it saves your changes to the database:

• Invoking the save command
  
  
• Exiting from nrcmd
  
  
• Reloading a server
  
  
• Adding a resource record or a host to a zone
  
  

Note   Network Registrar saves resource records immediately.

Command Line Navigation Keys

Table 1-1 lists keyboard navigation key combinations that are useful when entering nrcmd commands.

Nrcmd Commands

Table 1-2 lists the nrcmd commands, alphabetically. You can use these commands on the command line or insert them into scripts.