new

    # Use the default configuration
    $resolver = Net::DNS::Resolver->new();

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

    # Set options in the constructor
    $resolver = Net::DNS::Resolver->new(
        nameservers => [ '2001:DB8::1', 'ns.example.com' ],
        recurse     => 0,
        debug       => 1
        );

Returns a resolver object. If no arguments are supplied, "new()" returns an object having the default configuration.

On Unix and Linux systems, the default values are read from the following files, in the order indicated:

The following keywords are recognised in resolver configuration files:

Except for /etc/resolv.conf, files will only be read if owned by the effective userid running the program. In addition, several environment variables may contain configuration information; see "ENVIRONMENT".

Note that the domain and searchlist keywords are mutually exclusive. If both are present, the resulting behaviour is unspecified. If neither is present, the domain is determined from the local hostname.

On Windows systems, an attempt is made to determine the system defaults using the registry. Systems with many dynamically configured network interfaces may confuse Net::DNS.

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

You can include a configuration file of your own when creating a resolver object. This is supported on both Unix and Windows.

If a custom configuration file is specified at first instantiation, all other configuration files and environment variables are ignored.

    # Set options in the constructor
    $resolver = Net::DNS::Resolver->new(
        nameservers => [ '2001:DB8::1', 'ns.example.com' ],
        recurse     => 0
        );

Explicit arguments to "new()" override the corresponding configuration variables. The argument list consists of a sequence of (name=>value) pairs, each interpreted as an invocation of the corresponding method.

print

    $resolver->print;

Prints the resolver state on the standard output.

query

    $packet = $resolver->query( 'host' );
    $packet = $resolver->query( 'host.example.com' );
    $packet = $resolver->query( '2001:DB8::1' );
    $packet = $resolver->query( 'example.com', 'MX' );
    $packet = $resolver->query( 'annotation.example.com', 'TXT', 'IN' );

Performs a DNS query for the given name; the search list is not applied. If "defnames" is true, the default domain will be appended to unqualified names.

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 a query within in-addr.arpa or ip6.arpa will be performed.

Returns a Net::DNS::Packet object, or "undef" if no answers were found. The reason for failure may be determined using "errorstring()".

If you need to examine the response packet, whether it contains any answers or not, use the "send()" method instead.

search

    $packet = $resolver->search( 'host' );
    $packet = $resolver->search( 'host.example.com' );
    $packet = $resolver->search( '2001:DB8::1' );
    $packet = $resolver->search( 'example.com', 'MX' );
    $packet = $resolver->search( 'annotation.example.com', 'TXT', 'IN' );

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

If the name contains one or more non-terminal dots, perform an initial query using the unmodified name.

If the number of dots is less than "ndots", and there is no terminal dot, try appending each suffix in the search list.

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 a query within in-addr.arpa or ip6.arpa will be performed.

Returns a Net::DNS::Packet object, or "undef" if no answers were found. The reason for failure may be determined using "errorstring()".

If you need to examine the response packet, whether it contains any answers or not, use the "send()" method instead.

send

    $packet = $resolver->send( $query );

    $packet = $resolver->send( 'host.example.com' );
    $packet = $resolver->send( '2001:DB8::1' );
    $packet = $resolver->send( 'example.com', 'MX' );
    $packet = $resolver->send( 'annotation.example.com', 'TXT', 'IN' );

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 pre-built query Net::DNS::Packet 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 a query within in-addr.arpa or ip6.arpa 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 no response was received.

axfr

    @zone = $resolver->axfr();
    @zone = $resolver->axfr( 'example.com' );
    @zone = $resolver->axfr( 'example.com', 'IN' );

    $iterator = $resolver->axfr();
    $iterator = $resolver->axfr( 'example.com' );
    $iterator = $resolver->axfr( 'example.com', 'IN' );

    $rr = $iterator->();

Performs a zone transfer using the resolver nameservers list, attempted in the order listed.

If the zone is omitted, it defaults to the first zone listed in the resolver search list.

If the class is omitted, it defaults to IN.

When called in list context, "axfr()" returns a list of Net::DNS::RR objects. The redundant SOA record that terminates the zone transfer is not returned to the caller.

In deferrence to RFC1035(6.3), a complete zone transfer is expected to return all records in the zone or nothing at all. When no resource records are returned by "axfr()", the reason for failure may be determined using "errorstring()".

Here is an example that uses a timeout and TSIG verification:

    $resolver->tcp_timeout( 10 );
    $resolver->tsig( 'Khmac-sha1.example.+161+24053.private' );
    @zone = $resolver->axfr( 'example.com' );

    foreach $rr (@zone) {
        $rr->print;
    }

When called in scalar context, "axfr()" returns an iterator object. Each invocation of the iterator returns a single Net::DNS::RR or "undef" when the zone is exhausted.

An exception is raised if the zone transfer can not be completed.

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

Here is the example above, implemented using an iterator:

    $resolver->tcp_timeout( 10 );
    $resolver->tsig( 'Khmac-sha1.example.+161+24053.private' );
    $iterator = $resolver->axfr( 'example.com' );

    while ( $rr = $iterator->() ) {
        $rr->print;
    }

bgsend

    $handle = $resolver->bgsend( $packet ) || die $resolver->errorstring;

    $handle = $resolver->bgsend( 'host.example.com' );
    $handle = $resolver->bgsend( '2001:DB8::1' );
    $handle = $resolver->bgsend( 'example.com', 'MX' );
    $handle = $resolver->bgsend( 'annotation.example.com', 'TXT', 'IN' );

Performs a background DNS query for the given name and returns immediately without waiting for the response. The program can then perform other tasks while awaiting the 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 (IPv4 or IPv6), then a query within in-addr.arpa or ip6.arpa will be performed.

Returns an opaque handle which is passed to subsequent invocations of the "bgbusy()" and "bgread()" methods. Errors are indicated by returning "undef" in which case the reason for failure may be determined using "errorstring()".

The response Net::DNS::Packet object is obtained by calling "bgread()".

BEWARE: Programs should make no assumptions about the nature of the handles returned by "bgsend()" which should be used strictly as described here.

bgread

    $handle = $resolver->bgsend( 'www.example.com' );
    $packet = $resolver->bgread($handle);

Reads the response following a background query. The argument is the handle returned by "bgsend()".

Returns a Net::DNS::Packet object or "undef" if no response was received before the timeout interval expired.

bgbusy

    $handle = $resolver->bgsend( 'foo.example.com' );

    while ($resolver->bgbusy($handle)) {
        ...
    }

    $packet = $resolver->bgread($handle);

Returns true while awaiting the response or for the transaction to time out. The argument is the handle returned by "bgsend()".

Truncated UDP packets will be retried transparently using TCP while continuing to assert busy to the caller.

debug

    print 'debug flag: ', $resolver->debug, "\n";
    $resolver->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.

defnames

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

Get or set the defnames flag. If true, calls to "query()" will append the default domain to resolve names that are not fully qualified. The default is true.

dnsrch

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

Get or set the dnsrch flag. If true, calls to "search()" will apply the search list to resolve names that are not fully qualified. The default is true.

domain

    $domain = $resolver->domain;
    $resolver->domain( 'domain.example' );

Gets or sets the resolver default domain.

igntc

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

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

nameserver, nameservers

    @nameservers = $resolver->nameservers();
    $resolver->nameservers( '2001:DB8::1', '192.0.2.1' );
    $resolver->nameservers( 'ns.domain.example.' );

Gets or sets the nameservers to be queried.

Also see the IPv6 transport notes below

persistent_tcp

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

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

The default is false unless you are running a SOCKSified Perl, in which case the default is true.

persistent_udp

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

Get or set the persistent UDP setting. If true, a Net::DNS resolver will use the same UDP socket for all queries within each address family.

This avoids the cost of creating and tearing down UDP sockets, but also defeats source port randomisation.

port

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

Gets or sets the port to which queries are sent. Convenient for nameserver testing using a non-standard port. The default is port 53.

recurse

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

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

retrans

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

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

retry

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

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

searchlist

    @searchlist = $resolver->searchlist;
    $resolver->searchlist( 'a.example', 'b.example', 'c.example' );

Gets or sets the resolver search list.

srcaddr

    $resolver->srcaddr('2001::DB8::1');

Sets the source address from which queries are sent. Convenient for forcing queries from a specific interface on a multi-homed host. The default is to use any local address.

srcport

    $resolver->srcport(5353);

Sets the port from which queries are sent. The default is 0, meaning any port.

tcp_timeout

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

Get or set the TCP timeout in seconds. The default is 120 seconds (2 minutes).

udp_timeout

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

Get or set the bgsend() UDP timeout in seconds. The default is 30 seconds.

udppacketsize

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

Get or set the UDP packet size. If set to a value not less than the default DNS packet size, an EDNS extension will be added indicating support for large UDP datagrams.

usevc

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

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

replyfrom

    print 'last response was from: ', $resolver->replyfrom, "\n";

Returns the IP address from which the most recent packet was received in response to a query.

errorstring

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

Returns a string containing error information from the most recent DNS protocol interaction. "errorstring()" is meaningful only when interrogated immediately after the corresponding method call.

dnssec

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

The dnssec flag causes the resolver to transmit DNSSEC queries and to add a EDNS0 record as required by RFC2671 and RFC3225. The actions of, and response from, the remote nameserver is determined by the settings of the AD and CD flags.

Calling the "dnssec()" method with a non-zero value will also 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.

   $resolver->dnssec(1);                # DNSSEC using default packetsize
   $resolver->udppacketsize(1250);      # lower the UDP packet size

A fatal exception will be raised if the "dnssec()" method is called but the Net::DNS::SEC library has not been installed.

adflag

    $resolver->dnssec(1);
    $resolver->adflag(1);
    print "authentication desired flag: ", $resolver->adflag, "\n";

Gets or sets the AD bit for dnssec queries. This bit indicates that the caller is interested in the returned AD (authentic data) bit but does not require any dnssec RRs to be included in the response. The default value is false.

cdflag

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

Gets or sets the CD bit for dnssec queries. This bit indicates that authentication by upstream nameservers should be suppressed. Any dnssec RRs required to execute the authentication procedure should be included in the response. The default value is false.

tsig

    $resolver->tsig( $tsig );

    $resolver->tsig( 'Khmac-sha1.example.+161+24053.private' );

    $resolver->tsig( 'Khmac-sha1.example.+161+24053.key' );

    $resolver->tsig( 'Khmac-sha1.example.+161+24053.key',
                fudge => 60
                );

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

    $resolver->tsig( undef );

Set the TSIG record used to automatically sign outgoing queries, zone transfers and updates. Automatic signing is disabled if called with undefined arguments.

The default resolver behaviour is not to sign any packets. You must call this method to set the key if you would like the resolver to sign and verify packets automatically.

Packets can also be signed 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.

RES_NAMESERVERS

    # Bourne Shell
    RES_NAMESERVERS="2001:DB8::1 192.0.2.1"
    export RES_NAMESERVERS

    # C Shell
    setenv RES_NAMESERVERS "2001:DB8::1 192.0.2.1"

A space-separated list of nameservers to query.

RES_SEARCHLIST

    # Bourne Shell
    RES_SEARCHLIST="a.example.com b.example.com c.example.com"
    export RES_SEARCHLIST

    # C Shell
    setenv RES_SEARCHLIST "a.example.com b.example.com c.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 inet6"
    export RES_OPTIONS

    # C Shell
    setenv RES_OPTIONS "retrans:3 retry:2 inet6"

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