NAMED-JOURNALPRINT(1)

💖 NAMED-JOURNALPRINT 💖

okay so bestie, let me put you onto named-journalprint — it's the little tool that prints out a zone journal file in human-readable form. yep, that's the whole vibe. 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

named-journalprint [-c serial] [-dux] {journal}

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So named-journalprint scans the contents of a zone journal file and prints it in a human-readable form — or, if you're feeling fancy, optionally converts it to a different journal file format. slay. 💅

Now, quick lore drop on journal files: they're automatically created by named when changes are made to dynamic zones (like, say, by nsupdate). They record each addition or deletion of a resource record — in binary format — so the changes can be re-applied to the zone when the server is restarted after a shutdown or crash. iconic behavior honestly. by default, the name of the journal file is formed by appending the extension .jnl to the name of the corresponding zone file. no cap. 🦋

named-journalprint converts the contents of a given journal file into a human-readable text format. each line begins with add or del to indicate whether the record was added or deleted, and then continues with the resource record in master-file format. literally so readable. ✨

The -c (compact) option provides a mechanism to reduce the size of a journal by removing (most/all) transactions prior to the specified serial number.

⚠️ Note: this option must not be used while named is running, and it can cause data loss if the zone file has not been updated to contain the data being removed from the journal. use with extreme caution. like, genuinely. 😭

The -x option causes additional data about the journal file to be printed at the beginning of the output and before each group of changes. extra context, we love to see it. 👑

The -u (upgrade) and -d (downgrade) options recreate the journal file with a modified format version. the existing journal file is replaced. -d writes out the journal in the format used by versions of BIND up to 9.16.11; -u writes it out in the format used by versions since 9.16.13. (9.16.12 is omitted due to a journal-formatting bug in that release. rip to that one specifically. 💀) note that these options must not be used while named is running.

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🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

• named(8)
• nsupdate(1)
• BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual

🌈 Author 🌈

Internet Systems Consortium

🍓 Copyright 🍓

2026, Internet Systems Consortium

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and that's the whole page, bestie — brought to you by BIND 9, version 9.20.30, dated 2026-10-12. go forth and read your journals 💜🧚