NAMED-JOURNALPRINT(1) | BIND 9 | NAMED-JOURNALPRINT(1)

# NAME

named-journalprint - print zone journal in human-readable form

# SYNOPSIS

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

# DESCRIPTION

named-journalprint scans the contents of a zone journal file, printing it in a human-readable form, or, optionally, converting it to a different journal file format.

Journal files are automatically created by named <#std-iscman-named> when changes are made to dynamic zones (e.g., by nsupdate <#std-iscman-nsupdate>). They record each addition or deletion of a resource record, in binary format, allowing the changes to be re-applied to the zone when the server is restarted after a shutdown or crash. By default, the name of the journal file is formed by appending the extension .jnl to the name of the corresponding zone file.

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 continues with the resource record in master-file format.

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 <#std-iscman-named> is running, and 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.

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.

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.) Note that these options must not be used while named <#std-iscman-named> is running.

# SEE ALSO

named(8) <#std-iscman-named>, nsupdate(1) <#std-iscman-nsupdate>, BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.

# Author

Internet Systems Consortium

# Copyright

2026, Internet Systems Consortium

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