Bind9 to PAN-OS

Load bind9 zone files into a PAN-OS firewall as address and address group objects.

Creates {hostname}-fqdn, {hostname}-v4, {hostname}-v6 (and {hostname}-v4_{n} / {hostname}-v6_{n} for hosts with multiple IPv4 and / or IPv6 addresses) address objects and a {hostname} address group per host in the zone file.

Parses inline comments for a tag (panos_tag=) and descriptions (panos_desc=), these can appear anywhere in the comments. Values with spaces are supported but must be quoted. Tags must already exist on the PAN-OS device.

For example:

example         IN  A   10.10.10.10 ; some comment panos_tag=trust panos_Desc="box that does things"

NOTE: Updates to IPs, panos_tag, or panos_desc will be propagated to the PAN-OS device on next run, however, renamed or deleted hosts will not be removed from PAN-OS, this must be done manually.

Requirements

• Python 3.10 to 3.14 on Linux, macOS, or Windows,
• PIP Module dnspython, and
• PIP Module pan-os-python.

Setup

1. Copy the project to the bind server, or another host with access to the zone files.
2. Create a virtual environment: python3 -m venv venv ; source venv/bin/activate.
3. Install the dependencies: pip3 install -r ./requirements.txt.
4. Create a configuration file: cp example.conf bind9_to_panos.conf.
5. Restrict access to the configuration file: chmod 600 bind9_to_panos.conf.
6. Edit the DEFAULT section of bind9_to_panos.conf to point to your firewall.
7. Edit the example.tld section of bind9_to_panos.conf to point to the zone file.
8. (Optional) Add additional sections for other zone files.
9. Run the script: python3 bind9_to_panos.py.
10. (Optional) Add a cron job to run the script periodically:
    1. Disable printing to screen by setting log_to_screen to False in bind9_to_panos.conf.
    2. Open the crontab for the desired users: sudo crontab -u <username> -e.
       • Use a low privilege user that can read the zone files, avoid root and named.
    3. Add the cron job to the file on the desired schedule (04:00 daily in this example): 0 4 * * * /path/to/venv/bin/python3 /path/to/bind9_to_panos.py.