A "template" statement can contain the same configuration clauses
as a "zone" statement. A "zone" statement can now reference a
template, and all the clauses in that template will be used as
default values for the zone. For example:
template primary {
type primary;
file "$name.db";
initial-file "primary.db";
};
zone example.com {
template primary;
file "different-name.db"; // overrides the template
};
When loading a primary zone for the first time, if the zonefile
does not exist but an "initial-file" option has been set, then a
new file will be copied into place from the path specified by
"initial-file".
This can be used to simplify the process of adding new zones. For
instance, a template zonefile could be used by running:
$ rndc addzone example.com \
'{ type primary; file "example.db"; initial-file "template.db"; };'
