How to Setup an Arabic ccTLD Server
(Version 0.2)
Date: 27 April 2005
Prepared by: GCC-ADNS Taskforce
1. Introduction
If any country wants to contribute in
the pilot project for implementing Arabic Domain names in the GCC
countries they should setup and runs their own Arabic ccTLD
server(s) for the chosen Arabic domain name that represent their
country name. They should contact the GCC-ADNS Taskforce and inform
them about the chosen domain name (Note: there is an ISO standard
for representing countries names in the Arabic language in simple
and detailed format) and the IP address(s) of your Arabic ccTLD
server(s).
2. Recommendation for the Arabic ccTLD server
Since this project is a test bed we
recommend setup the Arabic ccTLD server on a new secure DNS server
(e.g. PII Linux box with bind 8 or 9) with permanent Internet
connectivity. However the ccTLD administrator is free to use any
existing name server in their network and configure it to act as
Arabic ccTLD server on their own responsibility.
3. Get the ASC (puny code) representation of
your Arabic ccTLD
You can use any tool on the Internet
that convert IDN domain name to the corresponded ASCII format.
As an example, an Arabic domain name , "ÇáÓÚæÏíÉ",
will look like the following form “xn--mgberp4a5d4ar” after
converting it from IDN to ASCII format (using “stringprep”,
“nameprep” and “punycode” operations).
Hint: you can use this tool
http://arabic-domains.org.sa/idn.php
4. Configuring Bind name server
To setup your Arabic
ccTLD server you need to configure bind to host your Arabic
ccTLD as "primary server" in the bind configuration file
"named.conf":
// add these lines to your named.conf file.
zone “xn--mgberp4a5d4ar” {
type master;
file “sa.idn.zone” ;
};
File: named.conf
In Addition, you need to setup and
configure the zone file for your Arabic ccTLD:
$TTL 172800 ; 2 days
@ IN SOA ar-cctld.nic.net.sa. hostmaster.isu.net.sa.
(
2 ; serial
86400 ; refresh (1 day)
7200 ; retry (2 hours)
3600000 ; expire (1000
hours)
172800 ; minimum (2 days)
)
NS ar-cctld.nic.net.sa.
; netaq
xn--mgb5a8an NS ns1.nic.net.sa.
xn--mgb5a8an NS ns2.nic.net.sa.
; moq3
xn--4gbrim NS ns1.nic.net.sa.
xn--4gbrim NS ns2.nic.net.sa.
; dalel
xn--ugb6bax NS ns1.nic.net.sa.
xn--ugb6bax NS ns2.nic.net.sa.
;
; etc..
File: sa.idn.zone
Note: As what you can see defining your Arabic ccTLD is that same
as defining any domain name on any DNS server.
5. Mirroring other Arabic ccTLD zone files
Each GCC ccTLD server can act as secondary for other GCC ccTLD,
which will add more redundancy and localization for the DNS queries.
And this can be achieved by contacting other GCC ccTLD
administrators and asking them to allow zone transfer for their
Arabic ccTLD domain name. And to configure bind to act as secondary
for other Arabic ccTLD:
// add these lines to your named.conf file.
zone “xn--mgberp4a5d4ar” {
type slave;
file “sa.idn.zone” ;
masters { 212.26.18.12; };
};
File: named.conf
6. Registering some test Arabic domain names
As what have agreed on each GCC ccTLD can register some test
Arabic domain names such as:
|
Example |
Arabic test Domain name |
Purpose |
|
ãæÞÚ.ÇáÓÚæÏíÉ |
ãæÞÚ.<ÇÓã ÇáÏæáÉ> |
A site for testing Arabic domain name in each GCC ccTLD |
|
Ïáíá.ÇáÅãÇÑÇÊ |
Ïáíá.<ÇÓã ÇáÏæáÉ> |
A site that list all the registered Arabic test domain names
in each GCC ccTLD. |
|
ãÑßÒ-ÇáÊÓÌíá.ÞØÑ |
ãÑßÒ-ÇáÊÓÌíá.<ÇÓã ÇáÏæáÉ> |
A site for registering Arabic test domain names in each GCC
ccTLD |
More information
|
