How to Set Up the PSP DNS Server?

Before you can start serving web pages to your PSP, you need to first trick the PSP into believing that your web server is someone it's not. When you load up the "Downloads" section of Wipeout Pure, your PSP attempts to retrieve data from the following domain: ingame.scea.com. Normally, the IP address returned by your Internet service provider's DNS server would belong to Sony and would direct you to downloadable Wipeout Pure content. However, by setting up your own DNS server, it is possible to "trick" the PSP and return the IP address of a web server of your choice.

The first step in setting up a DNS server is installation. If you are using a Mac or a Unix variant, the most common DNS server used is BIND. If you are using Windows, a good (and free) DNS server is TreeWalk DNS (http://www.ntcanuck.com). Installation guides are included with both of these server packages when you download the software, and are pretty straightforward. Further, these are just recommendations; there are dozens of DNS server software packages available for virtually every platform.

Once installed, you now need to configure your DNS server to resolve ingame.scea.com to the IP address of your web server. There are two files you will need to create and edit: scea.zone and named.conf. First, we will create the scea.zone file. Using a text editor, create a new file called scea.zone (make sure there is no .txt appended to the filename) and type in the following:

; scea.zone
; scea.com db file
$TTL 86400
@ IN SOA scea.com dummy.scea.com. (
050622 ; Serial
10800 ; Refresh
3600 ; Retry
604800 ; Expire
86400 ; Min TTL
)

; Addresses for canonical names

NS 192.168.0.100
A 192.168.0.100
ingame A 192.168.0.100
webcluster A 192.168.0.100

$ORIGIN scea.com.

In the preceding example, 192.168.0.100 is used as the IP address of the DNS/web server you are setting up. Replace each occurrence of that IP address with the IP address of the machine you installed the DNS server on.

Where this file must be placed on your computer depends on the DNS server you installed. If you're using BIND, the file should be placed in either /etc/namedb or /var/named, depending on how it was installed. If you're using TreeWalk DNS, place the file in C:\Windows\System32\dns\etc. If you installed another DNS server, consult the documentation that came with the software to see where DNS Zone files must be stored.

All that's left to do now is to make your DNS server aware of the new DNS Zone you have just created. To do this, locate the named.conf file on your computer. If using BIND, this file may be found at /etc/named.conf. For those using TreeWalk DNS, the file is located at C:\Windows\System32\dns\etc\named.conf. Again, consult the server documentation if you are using another DNS server.

Once you've located the file, simply append this entry to the end and save the file:

zone "scea.com" {
type master;
file "scea.zone";
};

All that is left to do is restart the DNS server so it takes note of the new DNS Zone. If you're using BIND, run the named executable.

This will need to be done via a shell prompt, and most likely will require root privileges. To run the executable with root privileges, type the command sudo named. You will then be prompted for the root password to your machine.

If you're using TreeWalk DNS, access the TreeWalk control panel via the Start menu and click "Reload" and then "Start" if the server isn't already running.

That's all for the DNS server; now it's time to set up the web server.