---
name: "donutsd"
section: "1p"
platform: "linux"
package: "dnssec-tools"
version: "2.2.3-16"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/donutsd"
---

# donutsd(1p)

Run the donuts syntax checker periodically and report the results to an administrator

## NAME

donutsd - Run the donuts syntax checker periodically and report the results to an administrator

## SYNOPSIS

```
  donutsd [-z FREQ] [-t TMPDIR] [-f FROM] [-s SMTPSERVER] [-a DONUTSARGS]
          [-x] [-v] [-i zonelistfile] [ZONEFILE ZONENAME ZONECONTACT]
```

## DESCRIPTION

**donutsd** runs **donuts** on a set of zone files every so often (the frequency is specified by the *-z* flag which defaults to 24 hours) and watches for changes in the results.  These changes may be due to the time-sensitive nature of DNSSEC-related records (e.g., RRSIG validity periods) or because parent/child relationships have changed.  If any changes have occurred in the output since the last run of **donuts** on a particular zone file, the results are emailed to the specified zone administrator's email address.

## OPTIONS

- \-v

  Turns on more verbose output.

- \-o

  Run once and quit, as opposed to sleeping or re-running forever.

- \-a ARGUMENTS

  Specifies command line arguments to be passed to **donuts** executions.

- \-z TIME

  Sleeps TIME seconds between calls to **donuts**.  The DNSSEC-Tools **timetrans** program can be used to convert from large time units (e.g., weeks and days) to seconds.

- \-e ADDRESS

  Mail ADDRESS with a summary of the results from all the files. These are the last few lines of the **donuts** output for each zone that details the number of errors found.

- \-s SMTPSERVER

  When sending mail, send it to the SMTPSERVER specified.  The default is *localhost*.

- \-f FROMADDR

  When sending mail, use FROMADDR for the From: address.

- \-x

  Send the *diff* output in the email message as well as the **donuts** output.

- \-t TMPDIR

  Store temporary files in TMPDIR.

- \-i INPUTZONES

  See the next section details.

## ZONE ARGUMENTS

The rest of the arguments to **donutsd** should be triplets of the following information:

- ZONEFILE

  The zone file to examine.

- ZONENAME

  The zonename that file is supposed to be defining.

- ZONECONTACT

  An email address of the zone administrator (or a comma-separated list of addresses.)  The results will be sent to this email address.

Additionally, instead of listing all the zones you wish to monitor on the command line, you can use the *-i* flag which specifies a file to be read listing the TRIPLES instead.  Each line in this file should contain one triple with white-space separating the arguments.

Example:

```
   db.zonefile1.com   zone1.com   admin@zone1.com
   db.zonefile2.com   zone2.com   admin@zone2.com,admin2@zone2.com
```

For even more control, you can specify an XML file (whose name must end in **.xml**) that describes the same information.  This also allows for per-zone customization of the **donuts** arguments.  The **XML::Smart** Perl module must be installed in order to use this feature.

```
 <donutsd>
   <zones>
    <zone>
      <file>db.example.com</file>
      <name>example.com</name>
      <contact>admin@example.com</contact>
      <!-- this is not a signed zone therefore we'll
           add these args so we don't display DNSSEC errors -->
      <donutsargs>-i DNSSEC</donutsargs>
    </zone>
   </zones>
 </donutsd>
```

The **donutsd** tree may also contain a *configs* section where command-line flags can be specified:

```
 <donutsd>
  <configs>
   <config><flag>a</flag><value>--features live --level 8</value></config>
   <config><flag>e</flag><value>wes@example.com</value></config>
  </configs>
  <zones>
   ...
  </zones>
 </donutsd>
```

Real command line flags will be used in preference to those specified in the **.xml** file, however.

## EXAMPLE

```
  donutsd -a "--features live --level 8" -f root@example.com \
     db.example.com example.com admin@example.com
```

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2005-2013 SPARTA, Inc.  All rights reserved. See the COPYING file included with the DNSSEC-Tools package for details.

## AUTHOR

Wes Hardaker \<hardaker@users.sourceforge.net\>

## SEE ALSO

**donuts(8)**

**timetrans(1)**

http://dnssec-tools.sourceforge.net