DNS Clustering not working as expected?

[Xavior82]

Hello,

I have recently activated DNS clustering on my servers, with the objective being to group all my zone files on the same server for easier management (we're using a different system to actually distribute our zone information across several servers).

While the clustering appears to work (I can view/edit zone files from all my web severs), it appears this system does not actually copy zone files to the DNS servers as far as I can tell. I expected to see all .db files from all my web servers to be copied to the /var/named directory on my DNS server, but that apparently doesn't happen. Maybe I'm not getting it, but how does the clustering actually work? Is there some other synchronization process happening that I'm not aware of?

Some help would be appreciated here...

Many thanks!

[cpanelkenneth]

After configuring and enabling the cluster you need to initiate a synchronization. This is done in WHM >> DNS Functions >> Synchronize Records

[Xavior82]

Excellent, thanks! I've now successfully synchronized the zone files on my DNS server.

So now, for the inevitable follow-up question...

What triggers the synchronization process when a change is made to a zone file on a web server? Does synchronization only occur when triggered manually, is it cron based, is it triggered when a zone file is edited via WHM/CPanel's MX editor, or is there some other sync process?

If I manually edit the .db zone file on my web server using some third party tool, will this zone record automatically be updated on the slave DNS server as well through this (presumably automated) sync process? If so, how soon after I made the change?

Thank you in advance for clarifying these points!

[cpanelkenneth]

Zones changes are synced when performed through the WHM and cPanel interfaces. Manual edits can be synced either through the WHM interface I mentioned in the prior post, or on the command line using /scripts/dnscluster

[Xavior82]

Thanks for your help, Kenneth.

Is there a way to sync only one zone via the command line? Can you post a usage example?

I want to make sure that a single zone change does not trigger a full synchronization (which I have noticed can take upwards of 2 minutes).

[Xavior82]

Or am I actually better off just running the full dnscluster sync script at a regular interval via a cron job (say, once every 4 hours)?

[cpanelkenneth]

Executing /scripts/dnscluster displays usage information. You can use that script to sync one zone or all zones.

You only need to perform a full synchronization in the following scenarios:

1. After setting up the cluster initially
2. After you add a new member to the cluster

Zones modified using the cPanel tools will be automatically synced within the cluster.