Net::DNS::Resolver(3)

NAME
Net::DNS::Resolver - DNS resolver class

SYNOPSIS
  use Net::DNS;

  my $res = Net::DNS::Resolver->new;

  # Perform a lookup, using the searchlist if appropriate.
  my $answer = $res->search('example.com');

  # Perform a lookup, without the searchlist
  my $answer = $res->query('example.com', 'MX');

  # Perform a lookup, without pre or post-processing
  my $answer = $res->send('example.com', 'MX', 'CH');

  # Send a prebuilt packet
  my $packet = Net::DNS::Packet->new(...);
  my $answer = $res->send($packet);

DESCRIPTION
Instances of the "Net::DNS::Resolver" class represent resolver objects. A program can have multiple resolver objects, each maintaining its own state information such as the nameservers to be queried, whether recursion is desired, etc.

METHODS

  new
  # Use the system defaults
  my $res = Net::DNS::Resolver->new;

  # Use my own configuration file
  my $res = Net::DNS::Resolver->new(config_file => '/my/dns.conf');

  # Set options in the constructor
  my $res = Net::DNS::Resolver->new(
        nameservers => [qw(10.1.1.128 10.1.2.128)],
        recurse     => 0,
        debug       => 1,
  );

Returns a resolver object. If given no arguments, "new()" returns an object configured to your system's defaults. On UNIX systems the defaults are read from the following files, in the order indicated:

    /etc/resolv.conf
    $HOME/.resolv.conf
    ./.resolv.conf

The following keywords are recognized in resolver configuration files:

domain
    The default domain.

search
    A space-separated list of domains to put in the search list.

nameserver
    A space-separated list of nameservers to query.

Files except for /etc/resolv.conf must be owned by the effective userid running the program or they won't be read. In addition, several environment variables can also contain configuration information; see "ENVIRONMENT".

On Windows systems, an attempt is made to determine the system defaults using the registry. This is still a work in progress; systems with many dynamically configured network interfaces may confuse Net::DNS.

You can include a configuration file of your own when creating a resolver object:

 # Use my own configuration file
 my $res = Net::DNS::Resolver->new(config_file => '/my/dns.conf');

This is supported on both UNIX and Windows. Values pulled from a custom configuration file override the the system's defaults, but can still be overridden by the other arguments to new().

Explicit arguments to new override both the system's defaults and the values of the custom configuration file, if any. The following arguments to new() are supported:

nameservers
    An array reference of nameservers to query.

searchlist
    An array reference of domains.

recurse
debug
domain
port
srcaddr
srcport
tcp_timeout
udp_timeout
retrans
retry
usevc
stayopen
igntc
defnames
dnsrch
persistent_tcp
persistent_udp
dnssec

For more information on any of these options, please consult the method of the same name.

  search
    $packet = $res->search('mailhost');
    $packet = $res->search('mailhost.example.com');
    $packet = $res->search('192.168.1.1');
    $packet = $res->search('example.com', 'MX');
    $packet = $res->search('user.passwd.example.com', 'TXT', 'HS');

Performs a DNS query for the given name, applying the searchlist if appropriate. The search algorithm is as follows:

1.  If the name contains at least one dot, try it as is.

2.  If the name doesn't end in a dot then append each item in the search list to the name. This is only done if dnsrch is true.

3.  If the name doesn't contain any dots, try it as is.

The record type and class can be omitted; they default to A and IN. If the name looks like an IP address (4 dot-separated numbers), then an appropriate PTR query will be performed.

Returns a "Net::DNS::Packet" object, or "undef" if no answers were found. If you need to examine the response packet whether it contains any answers or not, use the send() method instead.

  query
    $packet = $res->query('mailhost');
    $packet = $res->query('mailhost.example.com');
    $packet = $res->query('192.168.1.1');
    $packet = $res->query('example.com', 'MX');
    $packet = $res->query('user.passwd.example.com', 'TXT', 'HS');

Performs a DNS query for the given name; the search list is not applied. If the name doesn't contain any dots and defnames is true then the default domain will be appended.

The record type and class can be omitted; they default to A and IN. If the name looks like an IP address (IPv4 or IPv6), then an appropriate PTR query will be performed.

Returns a "Net::DNS::Packet" object, or "undef" if no answers were found. If you need to examine the response packet whether it contains any answers or not, use the send() method instead.

  send
    $packet = $res->send($packet_object);
    $packet = $res->send('mailhost.example.com');
    $packet = $res->send('example.com', 'MX');
    $packet = $res->send('user.passwd.example.com', 'TXT', 'HS');

Performs a DNS query for the given name. Neither the searchlist nor the default domain will be appended.

The argument list can be either a "Net::DNS::Packet" object or a list of strings. The record type and class can be omitted; they default to A and IN. If the name looks like an IP address (Ipv4 or IPv6), then an appropriate PTR query will be performed.

Returns a "Net::DNS::Packet" object whether there were any answers or not. Use "$packet->header->ancount" or "$packet->answer" to find out if there were any records in the answer section. Returns "undef" if there was an error.

  axfr
    @zone = $res->axfr;
    @zone = $res->axfr('example.com');
    @zone = $res->axfr('passwd.example.com', 'HS');

Performs a zone transfer from the first nameserver listed in "nameservers". If the zone is omitted, it defaults to the first zone listed in the resolver's search list. If the class is omitted, it defaults to IN.

Returns a list of "Net::DNS::RR" objects, or "undef" if the zone transfer failed.

The redundant SOA record that terminates the zone transfer is not returned to the caller.

See also "axfr_start" and "axfr_next".

Here's an example that uses a timeout:

    $res->tcp_timeout(10);
    my @zone = $res->axfr('example.com');

    if (@zone) {
        foreach my $rr (@zone) {
            $rr->print;
        }
    } else {
        print 'Zone transfer failed: ', $res->errorstring, "\n";
    }

  axfr_start
    $res->axfr_start;
    $res->axfr_start('example.com');
    $res->axfr_start('example.com', 'HS');

Starts a zone transfer from the first nameserver listed in "nameservers". If the zone is omitted, it defaults to the first zone listed in the resolver's search list. If the class is omitted, it defaults to IN.

IMPORTANT:

This method currently returns the "IO::Socket::INET" object that will be used for reading, or "undef" on error. DO NOT DEPEND ON "axfr_start()" returning a socket object. THIS MIGHT CHANGE in future releases.

Use "axfr_next" to read the zone records one at a time.

  axfr_next
    $res->axfr_start('example.com');

    while (my $rr = $res->axfr_next) {
            $rr->print;
    }

Reads records from a zone transfer one at a time.

Returns "undef" at the end of the zone transfer. The redundant SOA record that terminates the zone transfer is not returned.

See also "axfr".

  nameservers
    @nameservers = $res->nameservers;
    $res->nameservers('192.168.1.1', '192.168.2.2', '192.168.3.3');

Gets or sets the nameservers to be queried.

Also see the IPv6 transport notes below

  empty_nameservers
    $res->empty_nameservers();

Empties the list of nameservers.

  print
    $res->print;

Prints the resolver state on the standard output.

  string
    print $res->string;

Returns a string representation of the resolver state.

  searchlist
    @searchlist = $res->searchlist;
    $res->searchlist('example.com', 'a.example.com', 'b.example.com');

Gets or sets the resolver search list.

  empty_searchlist
    $res->empty_searchlist();

Empties the searchlist.

  port
    print 'sending queries to port ', $res->port, "\n";
    $res->port(9732);

Gets or sets the port to which we send queries. This can be useful for testing a nameserver running on a non-standard port. The default is port 53.

  srcport
    print 'sending queries from port ', $res->srcport, "\n";
    $res->srcport(5353);

Gets or sets the port from which we send queries. The default is 0, meaning any port.

  srcaddr
    print 'sending queries from address ', $res->srcaddr, "\n";
    $res->srcaddr('192.168.1.1');

Gets or sets the source address from which we send queries. Convenient for forcing queries out a specific interfaces on a multi-homed host. The default is 0.0.0.0, meaning any local address.

  bgsend
    $socket = $res->bgsend($packet_object) || die " $res->errorstring";

    $socket = $res->bgsend('mailhost.example.com');
    $socket = $res->bgsend('example.com', 'MX');
    $socket = $res->bgsend('user.passwd.example.com', 'TXT', 'HS');

Performs a background DNS query for the given name, i.e., sends a query packet to the first nameserver listed in "$res->nameservers" and returns immediately without waiting for a response. The program can then perform other tasks while waiting for a response from the nameserver.

The argument list can be either a "Net::DNS::Packet" object or a list of strings. The record type and class can be omitted; they default to A and IN. If the name looks like an IP address (4 dot-separated numbers), then an appropriate PTR query will be performed.

Returns an "IO::Socket::INET" object or "undef" on error in which case the reason for failure can be found through a call to the errorstring method.

The program must determine when the socket is ready for reading and call "$res->bgread" to get the response packet. You can use "$res->bgisready" or "IO::Select" to find out if the socket is ready before reading it.

bgsend does not support persistent sockets.

BEWARE: bgsend does not support the usevc option (TCP) and operates on UDP only; Answers may not fit in an UDP packet and might be truncated. Truncated packets will not be retried over TCP automatically and should be handled by the caller.

  bgread
    $packet = $res->bgread($socket);
    if ($packet->header->tc) {
        # Retry over TCP (blocking).
    }
    undef $socket;

Reads the answer from a background query (see "bgsend"). The argument is an "IO::Socket" object returned by "bgsend".

Returns a "Net::DNS::Packet" object or "undef" on error.

The programmer should close or destroy the socket object after reading it.

  bgisready
    $socket = $res->bgsend('foo.example.com');
    until ($res->bgisready($socket)) {
        # do some other processing
    }
    $packet = $res->bgread($socket);
    if ($packet->header->tc) {
        # Retry over TCP (blocking).
    }
    $socket = undef;

Determines whether a socket is ready for reading. The argument is an "IO::Socket" object returned by "$res->bgsend".

Returns true if the socket is ready, false if not.

  tsig
    my $tsig = $res->tsig;

    $res->tsig(Net::DNS::RR->new("$key_name TSIG $key"));

    $tsig = Net::DNS::RR->new("$key_name TSIG $key");
    $tsig->fudge(60);
    $res->tsig($tsig);

    $res->tsig($key_name, $key);

    $res->tsig(0);

Get or set the TSIG record used to automatically sign outgoing queries and updates. Call with an argument of 0 or '' to turn off automatic signing.

The default resolver behavior is not to sign any packets. You must call this method to set the key if you'd like the resolver to sign packets automatically.

You can also sign packets manually -- see the "Net::DNS::Packet" and "Net::DNS::Update" manual pages for examples. TSIG records in manually-signed packets take precedence over those that the resolver would add automatically.

  retrans
    print 'retrans interval: ', $res->retrans, "\n";
    $res->retrans(3);

Get or set the retransmission interval. The default is 5.

  retry
    print 'number of tries: ', $res->retry, "\n";
    $res->retry(2);

Get or set the number of times to try the query. The default is 4.

  recurse
    print 'recursion flag: ', $res->recurse, "\n";
    $res->recurse(0);

Get or set the recursion flag. If this is true, nameservers will be requested to perform a recursive query. The default is true.

  defnames
    print 'defnames flag: ', $res->defnames, "\n";
    $res->defnames(0);

Get or set the defnames flag. If this is true, calls to query will append the default domain to names that contain no dots. The default is true.

  dnsrch
    print 'dnsrch flag: ', $res->dnsrch, "\n";
    $res->dnsrch(0);

Get or set the dnsrch flag. If this is true, calls to search will apply the search list. The default is true.

  debug
    print 'debug flag: ', $res->debug, "\n";
    $res->debug(1);

Get or set the debug flag. If set, calls to search, query, and send will print debugging information on the standard output. The default is false.

  usevc
    print 'usevc flag: ', $res->usevc, "\n";
    $res->usevc(1);

Get or set the usevc flag. If true, then queries will be performed using virtual circuits (TCP) instead of datagrams (UDP). The default is false.

  tcp_timeout
    print 'TCP timeout: ', $res->tcp_timeout, "\n";
    $res->tcp_timeout(10);

Get or set the TCP timeout in seconds. A timeout of "undef" means indefinite. The default is 120 seconds (2 minutes).

  udp_timeout
    print 'UDP timeout: ', $res->udp_timeout, "\n";
    $res->udp_timeout(10);

Get or set the UDP timeout in seconds. A timeout of "undef" means the retry and retrans settings will be just utilized to perform the retries until they are exhausted. The default is "undef".

  persistent_tcp
    print 'Persistent TCP flag: ', $res->persistent_tcp, "\n";
    $res->persistent_tcp(1);

Get or set the persistent TCP setting. If set to true, Net::DNS will keep a TCP socket open for each host:port to which it connects. This is useful if you're using TCP and need to make a lot of queries or updates to the same nameserver.

This option defaults to false unless you're running under a SOCKSified Perl, in which case it defaults to true.

  persistent_udp
    print 'Persistent UDP flag: ', $res->persistent_udp, "\n";
    $res->persistent_udp(1);

Get or set the persistent UDP setting. If set to true, Net::DNS will keep a single UDP socket open for all queries. This is useful if you're using UDP and need to make a lot of queries or updates.

  igntc
    print 'igntc flag: ', $res->igntc, "\n";
    $res->igntc(1);

Get or set the igntc flag. If true, truncated packets will be ignored. If false, truncated packets will cause the query to be retried using TCP. The default is false.

  errorstring
    print 'query status: ', $res->errorstring, "\n";

Returns a string containing the status of the most recent query.

  answerfrom
    print 'last answer was from: ', $res->answerfrom, "\n";

Returns the IP address from which we received the last answer in response to a query.

  answersize
    print 'size of last answer: ', $res->answersize, "\n";

Returns the size in bytes of the last answer we received in response to a query.

  dnssec
    print "dnssec flag: ", $res->dnssec, "\n";
    $res->dnssec(0);

Enabled DNSSEC this will set the checking disabled flag in the query header and add EDNS0 data as in RFC2671 and RFC3225

When set to true the answer and additional section of queries from secured zones will contain DNSKEY, NSEC and RRSIG records.

Setting calling the dnssec method with a non-zero value will set the UDP packet size to the default value of 2048. If that is too small or too big for your environment you should call the udppacketsize() method immediately after.

   $res->dnssec(1);    # turns on DNSSEC and sets udp packetsize to 2048
   $res->udppacketsize(1028);   # lowers the UDP pakcet size

The method will Croak::croak with the message "You called the Net::DNS::Resolver::dnssec() method but do not have Net::DNS::SEC installed at ..." if you call it without Net::DNS::SEC being in your @INC path.

  cdflag
    print "checking disabled flag: ", $res->dnssec, "\n";
    $res->dnssec(1);
    $res->cdflag(1);

Sets or gets the CD bit for a dnssec query. This bit is always zero for non dnssec queries. When the dnssec is enabled the flag defaults to 0 can be set to 1.

  adflag
    print "checking disabled flag: ", $res->dnssec, "\n";
    $res->dnssec(1);
    $res->adflag(1);

Sets or gets the AD bit for a dnssec query. This bit is always zero for non dnssec queries. When the dnssec is enabled the flag defaults to 1.

  udppacketsize
    print "udppacketsize: ", $res->udppacketsize, "\n";
    $res->udppacketsize(2048);

udppacketsize will set or get the packet size. If set to a value greater than Net::DNS::PACKETSZ() an EDNS extension will be added indicating support for MTU path recovery.

Default udppacketsize is Net::DNS::PACKETSZ() (512)

CUSTOMIZING
Net::DNS::Resolver is actually an empty subclass. At compile time a super class is chosen based on the current platform. A side benefit of this allows for easy modification of the methods in Net::DNS::Resolver. You simply add a method to the namespace!

For example, if we wanted to cache lookups:

 package Net::DNS::Resolver;

 my %cache;

 sub search {
        my ($self, @args) = @_;

        return $cache{@args} ||= $self->SUPER::search(@args);
 }

IPv6 transport
The Net::DNS::Resolver library will use IPv6 transport if the appropriate libraries (Socket6 and IO::Socket::INET6) are available and the address the server tries to connect to is an IPv6 address.

The print() will method will report if IPv6 transport is available.

You can use the force_v4() method with a non-zero argument to force IPv4 transport.

The nameserver() method has IPv6 dependend behavior. If IPv6 is not available or IPv4 transport has been forced the nameserver() method will only return IPv4 addresses.

For example

    $res->nameservers('192.168.1.1', '192.168.2.2', '2001:610:240:0:53:0:0:3');
    $res->force_v4(1);
    print join (" ",$res->nameserver());

Will print: 192.168.1.1 192.168.2.2

ENVIRONMENT
The following environment variables can also be used to configure the resolver:

  RES_NAMESERVERS
    # Bourne Shell
    RES_NAMESERVERS="192.168.1.1 192.168.2.2 192.168.3.3"
    export RES_NAMESERVERS

    # C Shell
    setenv RES_NAMESERVERS "192.168.1.1 192.168.2.2 192.168.3.3"

A space-separated list of nameservers to query.

  RES_SEARCHLIST
    # Bourne Shell
    RES_SEARCHLIST="example.com sub1.example.com sub2.example.com"
    export RES_SEARCHLIST

    # C Shell
    setenv RES_SEARCHLIST "example.com sub1.example.com sub2.example.com"

A space-separated list of domains to put in the search list.

  LOCALDOMAIN
    # Bourne Shell
    LOCALDOMAIN=example.com
    export LOCALDOMAIN

    # C Shell
    setenv LOCALDOMAIN example.com

The default domain.

  RES_OPTIONS
    # Bourne Shell
    RES_OPTIONS="retrans:3 retry:2 debug"
    export RES_OPTIONS

    # C Shell
    setenv RES_OPTIONS "retrans:3 retry:2 debug"

A space-separated list of resolver options to set. Options that take values are specified as option:value.

BUGS
Error reporting and handling needs to be improved.

The current implementation supports TSIG only on outgoing packets. No validation of server replies is performed.

bgsend does not honor the usevc flag and only uses UDP for transport.

COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1997-2002 Michael Fuhr.

Portions Copyright (c) 2002-2004 Chris Reinhardt. Portions Copyright (c) 2005 Olaf M. Kolkman, NLnet Labs.

All rights reserved. This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO
perl, Net::DNS, Net::DNS::Packet, Net::DNS::Update, Net::DNS::Header, Net::DNS::Question, Net::DNS::RR, resolver(5), RFC 1035, RFC 1034 Section 4.3.5