Example of subprocess.checkoutput and rndc

process.py

def reload_zone(origin):

    for action in ['status','freeze', 'reload', 'thaw', 'status']:
        print('doing... rndc', action, origin)
        cmd = ['/usr/sbin/rndc', action, origin]
        try:
            Out = subprocess.check_output(cmd,stderr=sys.stdout.buffer,universal_newlines=True)
            print("{}".format(Out))
        except subprocess.CalledProcessError as rndcexc:
            print("Error code {} {}".format(rndcexc.returncode, rndcexc.output))