nsupdate is a computer network maintenance utility used by network administrators to request the name server

Name server

In computing, a name server is a program or computer server that implements a name-service protocol. It maps a human-recognizable identifier to a system-internal, often numeric, identification or addressing component....

 of a DNS

Domain name system

The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...

 zone to update its database. The name server might be local to a domain or, with appropriate authentication and permission provided by DNSSEC

DNSSEC

The Domain Name System Security Extensions is a suite of Internet Engineering Task Force specifications for securing certain kinds of information provided by the Domain Name System as used on Internet Protocol networks...

, an internet name server.

BIND

BIND

BIND , or named , is the most widely used DNS software on the Internet.On Unix-like operating systems it is the de facto standard.Originally written by four graduate students at the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley , the name originates as an acronym from...

 8 and later supports this feature.

Example

This example removes the nameserver address record for oldhost from domain example.com and replaces it with a new address record with a 24 hour time to live (86,400 seconds). The new host's IP address

IP address

An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...

is 192.168.254.117.
# nsupdate
> server ns.mydns.com
> update delete oldhost.example.com. A
> update add newhost.example.com. 86400 A 192.168.254.117
> send
> quit

External links

• Linux nsupdate man page
• nsupdate: Quick and Painless Dynamic DNS
• NSUPDATE HOWTO by Stef Caunter, Feb 2003. Updated Jan 28, 2005.
• Debian Administration System Administration Tips and Resources