---
name: "dnsproxy"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "dnsproxy"
version: "1.16-0.1+deb11u1"
release: "Debian 11 (Bullseye)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/dnsproxy"
---

# dnsproxy(1)

DNS proxy

## NAME

**dnsproxy** – DNS proxy

## SYNOPSIS

**dnsproxy** \[**-dhV**\] \[**-c** *file*\]

## DESCRIPTION

The **dnsproxy** daemon waits for nameserver queries on a user specified address, dispatches these queries to authoritative and recursive nameservers and forwards the received answers back to the original client.

The options are as follows:

- **-c** *file*

  Read configuration from file.

- **-d**

  Detach from current terminal and run as background process.

- **-h**

  Show usage.

- **-V**

  Show version.

If a client from an internal IP address does a recursive lookup the query is forwarded to a recursive DNS server. Authoritative queries and queries coming from clients in foreign networks are forwarded to an authoritative DNS server.

## CONFIGURATION FILE

At startup **dnsproxy** reads a configuration file specified via the -c option or at the default location of /etc/dnsproxy.conf.

The following keywords are recognized:

- authoritative *IP*

  Address of the authoritative nameserver \[required\].

- recursive *IP*

  Address of the recursive nameserver \[required\].

- listen *IP*

  Local address (defaults to 0.0.0.0).

- port *number*

  Local port number (defaults to 53).

- chroot *path*

  A path to chroot to before starting to answer queries.

- user *name*

  A user to change to before starting to answer queries.

- authoritative-timeout *seconds*

  Time in seconds when authoritative queries time out (defaults to 10).

- recursive-timeout *seconds*

  Time in seconds when recursive queries time out (defaults to 90).

- authoritative-port *number*

  Port number on authoritative nameserver (defaults to 53).

- recursive-port *number*

  Port number on recursive nameserver (defaults to 53).

- statistics *seconds*

  Period between output of statistics (defaults to 3600). Use 0 to disable output of statistics completely.

- internal *network*

  Declare networks recognized as internal and thus eligible to do recursive queries. One network in CIDR notation per keyword.

### EXAMPLE

```
authoritative 10.1.1.1
recursive 127.0.0.1
recursive-port 10053
listen 192.168.1.1
port 53
chroot /var/empty
user nobody
internal 192.168.1.0/24
internal 127.0.0.1
```

## STATISTICS

Every hour (by default) **dnsproxy** logs the collected statistics about its usage to standard error (or syslog when running detached). Statistics look like

```
ActiveQr AuthorQr RecursQr AllQuery Answered
0        0        0        0        0
TimeoutQ DroppedQ DroppedA LateAnsw HashColl
0        0        0        0        0
```

and have the following meaning:

- ActiveQr

  Number of currently active queries proxied to the servers.

- AuthorQr

  Accumulated number of authoritative queries.

- RecursQr

  Accumulated number of recursive queries.

- AllQuery

  Accumulated number of all queries ever received.

- Answered

  Accumulated number of answered queries.

- TimeoutQ

  Accumulated number of queries that did not receive an answer in time.

- DroppedQ

  Accumulated number of dropped queries (e.g. transmission errors).

- DroppedA

  Accumulated number of dropped answers.

- LateAnsw

  Accumulated number of answers received after the timeout period.

- HashColl

  Accumulated number of hash collisions in the query list.

## SEE ALSO

named(1)

## VERSION

This manual page describes **dnsproxy** version 1.16.

## AUTHORS

Armin Wolfermann \<armin@wolfermann.org\>

The **dnsproxy** homepage is at http://www.wolfermann.org/dnsproxy.html.