[people/ms/dnsmasq.git] / doc.html

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<TITLE> Dnsmasq - network services for small networks.</TITLE>
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<td align="left" valign="middle"><img border="0" src="http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/images/icon.png" /></td>
<td align="middle" valign="middle"><h1>Dnsmasq</h1></td>
<td align="right" valign="middle"><img border="0" src="http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/images/icon.png" /></td></tr>
</table>
Dnsmasq provides network infrastructure for small networks: DNS, DHCP, router advertisement and network boot. It is designed to be 
lightweight and have a small footprint, suitable for resource constrained routers and firewalls. It has also been widely used 
for tethering on smartphones and portable hotspots, and to support virtual networking in virtualisation frameworks.
Supported platforms include Linux (with glibc and uclibc), Android, *BSD, and Mac OS X. Dnsmasq is included in most
Linux distributions and the ports systems of FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD. Dnsmasq provides full IPv6 support.

<P>
The DNS subsystem provides a local DNS server for the network, with forwarding of all query types to upstream recursive DNS servers and
cacheing of common record types (A, AAAA, CNAME and PTR, also DNSKEY and DS when DNSSEC is enabled). 
<DIR>
<LI>Local DNS names can be defined by reading /etc/hosts, by importing names from the DHCP subsystem, or by configuration of a wide range of useful record types.</LI>
<LI>Upstream servers can be configured in a variety of convenient ways, including  dynamic configuration as these change on moving upstream network.
<LI>Authoritative DNS mode allows local DNS names may be exported to zone in the global DNS. Dnsmasq acts as authoritative server for this zone, and also provides 
zone transfer to secondaries for the zone, if required.</LI>
<LI>DNSSEC validation may be performed on DNS replies from upstream nameservers, providing security against spoofing and cache poisoning.</LI>
<LI>Specified sub-domains can be directed to their own upstream DNS servers, making VPN configuration easy.</LI>
<LI>Internationalised domain names are supported.
</DIR>
<P>
The DHCP subsystem supports DHCPv4, DHCPv6, BOOTP and PXE.
<DIR>
<LI> Both static and dynamic DHCP leases are supported, along with stateless mode in DHCPv6.</LI>
<LI> The PXE system is a full PXE server, supporting netboot menus and multiple architecture support. It
includes proxy-mode, where the PXE system co-operates with another DHCP server.</LI>
<LI> There is a built in read-only TFTP server to support netboot.</LI>
<LI> Machines which are configured by DHCP have their names automatically 
included in the DNS and the names can specified by each machine or
centrally by associating a name with a MAC address or UID in the dnsmasq
configuration file.</LI>
</DIR>
<P>
The Router Advertisement subsystem provides basic autoconfiguration for IPv6 hosts. It can be used stand-alone or in conjunction with DHCPv6.
<DIR>
<LI> The M and O bits are configurable, to control hosts' use of DHCPv6.</LI>
<LI> Router advertisements can include the RDNSS option.</LI>
<LI> There is a mode which uses name information from DHCPv4 configuration to provide DNS entries
 for autoconfigured IPv6 addresses which would otherwise be anonymous.</LI>
</DIR>
<P>
 
For extra compactness, unused features may be omitted at compile time.


<H2>Get code.</H2>

<A HREF="http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/">Download</A> dnsmasq here. 
The tarball includes this documentation, source, and manpage.
There is also a <A HREF="CHANGELOG"> CHANGELOG</A> and a <A HREF="FAQ">FAQ</A>.

Dnsmasq has a git repository which contains the complete release
history of version 2 and development history from 2.60. You can 
<A HREF="http://thekelleys.org.uk/gitweb/?p=dnsmasq.git;a=summary">browse</A>
the repo, or get a copy using git protocol with the command

<PRE><TT>git clone git://thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq.git </TT></PRE>

<H2>License.</H2>
Dnsmasq is distributed under the GPL, version 2 or version 3 at your discretion. See the files COPYING and COPYING-v3 in the distribution 
for details.

<H2>Contact.</H2>
There is a dnsmasq mailing list at <A
HREF="http://lists.thekelleys.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/dnsmasq-discuss">
http://lists.thekelleys.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/dnsmasq-discuss</A> which should be the
first location for queries, bugreports, suggestions etc.
You can contact me at <A
HREF="mailto:simon@thekelleys.org.uk">simon@thekelleys.org.uk</A>.

<H2>Donations.</H2>
Dnsmasq is mainly written and maintained by Simon Kelley. For most of its life, dnsmasq has been a spare-time project. 
These days I'm working on it as my main activity. 
I don't have an employer or anyone who pays me regularly to work on dnsmasq. If you'd like to make 
a contribution towards my expenses, please use the donation button below.
<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="_top">
<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_s-xclick">
<input type="hidden" name="hosted_button_id" value="V3X9GVW5GX6DA">
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Commit	Line	Data
9e4abcb5 SK	1	<HTML>
9e4abcb5 SK	2	<HEAD>
7e22cf28	3	<TITLE> Dnsmasq - network services for small networks.</TITLE>
28866e95 SK	4	<link rel="icon"
28866e95 SK	5	href="http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/images/favicon.ico">
9e4abcb5 SK	6	</HEAD>
9e4abcb5 SK	7	<BODY BGCOLOR="WHITE">
28866e95 SK	8	<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
	9	<tr>
	10	<td align="left" valign="middle"><img border="0" src="http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/images/icon.png" /></td>
	11	<td align="middle" valign="middle"><h1>Dnsmasq</h1></td>
	12	<td align="right" valign="middle"><img border="0" src="http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/images/icon.png" /></td></tr>
	13	</table>
7e22cf28 SK	14	Dnsmasq provides network infrastructure for small networks: DNS, DHCP, router advertisement and network boot. It is designed to be
	15	lightweight and have a small footprint, suitable for resource constrained routers and firewalls. It has also been widely used
	16	for tethering on smartphones and portable hotspots, and to support virtual networking in virtualisation frameworks.
	17	Supported platforms include Linux (with glibc and uclibc), Android, *BSD, and Mac OS X. Dnsmasq is included in most
	18	Linux distributions and the ports systems of FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD. Dnsmasq provides full IPv6 support.
28866e95	19
9e4abcb5	20	<P>
7e22cf28 SK	21	The DNS subsystem provides a local DNS server for the network, with forwarding of all query types to upstream recursive DNS servers and
	22	cacheing of common record types (A, AAAA, CNAME and PTR, also DNSKEY and DS when DNSSEC is enabled).
	23	<DIR>
	24	<LI>Local DNS names can be defined by reading /etc/hosts, by importing names from the DHCP subsystem, or by configuration of a wide range of useful record types.</LI>
	25	<LI>Upstream servers can be configured in a variety of convenient ways, including dynamic configuration as these change on moving upstream network.
	26	<LI>Authoritative DNS mode allows local DNS names may be exported to zone in the global DNS. Dnsmasq acts as authoritative server for this zone, and also provides
	27	zone transfer to secondaries for the zone, if required.</LI>
	28	<LI>DNSSEC validation may be performed on DNS replies from upstream nameservers, providing security against spoofing and cache poisoning.</LI>
	29	<LI>Specified sub-domains can be directed to their own upstream DNS servers, making VPN configuration easy.</LI>
	30	<LI>Internationalised domain names are supported.
	31	</DIR>
9e4abcb5	32	<P>
7e22cf28	33	The DHCP subsystem supports DHCPv4, DHCPv6, BOOTP and PXE.
9e4abcb5	34	<DIR>
7e22cf28 SK	35	<LI> Both static and dynamic DHCP leases are supported, along with stateless mode in DHCPv6.</LI>
	36	<LI> The PXE system is a full PXE server, supporting netboot menus and multiple architecture support. It
	37	includes proxy-mode, where the PXE system co-operates with another DHCP server.</LI>
	38	<LI> There is a built in read-only TFTP server to support netboot.</LI>
	39	<LI> Machines which are configured by DHCP have their names automatically
26128d27	40	included in the DNS and the names can specified by each machine or
7e22cf28 SK	41	centrally by associating a name with a MAC address or UID in the dnsmasq
7e22cf28 SK	42	configuration file.</LI>
9e4abcb5	43	</DIR>
7e22cf28 SK	44	<P>
	45	The Router Advertisement subsystem provides basic autoconfiguration for IPv6 hosts. It can be used stand-alone or in conjunction with DHCPv6.
	46	<DIR>
	47	<LI> The M and O bits are configurable, to control hosts' use of DHCPv6.</LI>
	48	<LI> Router advertisements can include the RDNSS option.</LI>
	49	<LI> There is a mode which uses name information from DHCPv4 configuration to provide DNS entries
	50	for autoconfigured IPv6 addresses which would otherwise be anonymous.</LI>
	51	</DIR>
	52	<P>
	53
	54	For extra compactness, unused features may be omitted at compile time.
	55
9e4abcb5	56
246839d6	57	<H2>Get code.</H2>
9e4abcb5	58
246839d6	59	<A HREF="http://www.thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq/">Download</A> dnsmasq here.
4011c4e0	60	The tarball includes this documentation, source, and manpage.
832af0ba	61	There is also a <A HREF="CHANGELOG"> CHANGELOG</A> and a <A HREF="FAQ">FAQ</A>.
9e4abcb5	62
246839d6 SK	63	Dnsmasq has a git repository which contains the complete release
	64	history of version 2 and development history from 2.60. You can
	65	<A HREF="http://thekelleys.org.uk/gitweb/?p=dnsmasq.git;a=summary">browse</A>
	66	the repo, or get a copy using git protocol with the command
	67
	68	<PRE><TT>git clone git://thekelleys.org.uk/dnsmasq.git </TT></PRE>
	69
9e4abcb5	70	<H2>License.</H2>
7e22cf28	71	Dnsmasq is distributed under the GPL, version 2 or version 3 at your discretion. See the files COPYING and COPYING-v3 in the distribution
9e4abcb5 SK	72	for details.
	73
	74	<H2>Contact.</H2>
26128d27 SK	75	There is a dnsmasq mailing list at <A
	76	HREF="http://lists.thekelleys.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/dnsmasq-discuss">
	77	http://lists.thekelleys.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/dnsmasq-discuss</A> which should be the
	78	first location for queries, bugreports, suggestions etc.
7e22cf28	79	You can contact me at <A
26128d27	80	HREF="mailto:simon@thekelleys.org.uk">simon@thekelleys.org.uk</A>.
97dce08e SK	81
97dce08e SK	82	<H2>Donations.</H2>
7e22cf28 SK	83	Dnsmasq is mainly written and maintained by Simon Kelley. For most of its life, dnsmasq has been a spare-time project.
7e22cf28 SK	84	These days I'm working on it as my main activity.
97dce08e SK	85	I don't have an employer or anyone who pays me regularly to work on dnsmasq. If you'd like to make
	86	a contribution towards my expenses, please use the donation button below.
	87	<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="_top">
	88	<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_s-xclick">
	89	<input type="hidden" name="hosted_button_id" value="V3X9GVW5GX6DA">
	90	<input type="image" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/GB/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="PayPal – The safer, easier way to pay online.">
	91	<img alt="" border="0" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_GB/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1">
	92	</form>
	93
	94
9e4abcb5 SK	95	</BODY>
9e4abcb5 SK	96