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

# [NAME](#NAME)

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

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

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

# [DESCRIPTION](#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](#SEE_ALSO)

[**named(8)**](/man/os/bind/named.8) <#std-iscman-named>, [**nsupdate(1)**](/man/os/bind/nsupdate.1) <#std-iscman-nsupdate>, BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual.

# [Author](#Author)

Internet Systems Consortium

# [Copyright](#Copyright)

2026, Internet Systems Consortium

2026-11-05 9.20.30

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Document: named-journalprint(1) from bind 9.20.30-r1 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/bind9.git