The named.conf file is a collection of statements using nested options surrounded by opening and closing ellipse characters, { }. Administrators must be careful when editing named.conf to avoid syntax errors as many seemingly minor errors prevent the named service from starting.

A typical named.conf file is organized similar to the following example:

<statement-1> ["<statement-1-name>"] [<statement-1-class>] { <option-1>; <option-2>; <option-N>; }; <statement-2> ["<statement-2-name>"] [<statement-2-class>] { <option-1>; <option-2>; <option-N>; }; <statement-N> ["<statement-N-name>"] [<statement-N-class>] { <option-1>; <option-2>; <option-N>; };