SYNOPSIS

pdns_recursor [OPTION]...

DESCRIPTION

pdns_recursor(1) is a high performance, simple and secure recursing nameserver. It currently powers over two million internet connections.

The recursor is configured via a configuration file, but each item in that file can be overridden on the command line.

This manpage lists the core set of features needed to get the PowerDNS recursor working, for full and up to date details head to http://doc.powerdns.com/built-in-recursor.html

EXAMPLES

To listen on 192.0.2.53 and allow the 192.0.2.0/24 subnet to recurse, and run as a daemon, execute:

# pdns_recursor --local-address=192.0.2.53 --allow-from=192.0.2.0/24 --daemon

To stop the recursor by hand, run:

# rec_control quit

However, the recommended way of starting and stopping the recursor is to use the init.d script provided.

OPTIONS

For authoritative listing of options, consult the online documentation at http://doc.powerdns.com/md/recursor/settings/

--allow-from=NETWORK[,NETWORK]...

If set, only allow these comma separated NETWORKs, with network mask to recurse. For example: 192.0.2.0/24,203.0.113.128/25.

--auth-zones=ZONENAME=FILENAME[,ZONENAME=FILENAME]...

Serve ZONENAME from FILENAME authoritatively. For example: ds9a.nl=/var/zones/ds9a.nl,powerdns.com=/var/zones/powerdns.com.

--chroot=DIRECTORY

chroot the process to DIRECTORY.

--client-tcp-timeout=NUM

Timeout in seconds when talking to TCP clients.

--config-dir=DIRECTORY

Location of configuration directory (recursor.conf), /etc/powerdns by default.

--daemon

Operate as a daemon.

--delegation-only

Which domains we only accept delegations from (a Verisign special).

--entropy-source=FILE

Read new entropy from FILE, defaults to /dev/urandom.

--export-etc-hosts

If set, this flag will export the hostnames and IP addresses mentioned in /etc/hosts.

--forward-zones=ZONENAME=ADDRESS[,ZONENAME=ADDRESS]...

Queries for ZONENAME will be forwarded to ADDRESS. ADDRESS should be an IP address, not a hostname (to prevent chicken and egg problems). Example: forward-zones= ds9a.nl=213.244.168.210, powerdns.com=127.0.0.1.

--forward-zones-file=FILENAME

Similar to --forward-zones, but read the options from FILENAME. FILENAME should contain one zone per line, like: ds9a.nl=213.244.168.210.

--help

Show a summary of options.

--hint-file=FILENAME

Load root hints from this FILENAME

--local-address=ADDRESS[,ADDRESS]...

Listen on ADDRESS, separated by spaces or commas.

--local-port=PORT

Listen on PORT.

--log-common-errors

If we should log rather common errors.

--max-cache-entries=NUM

Maximum number of entries in the main cache.

--max-negative-ttl=NUM

maximum number of seconds to keep a negative cached entry in memory.

--max-tcp-clients=NUM

Maximum number of simultaneous TCP clients.

--max-tcp-per-client

If set, maximum number of TCP sessions per client (IP address).

--query-local-address=ADDRESS

Use ADDRESS as Source IP address when sending queries.

--query-local-address6=ADDRESS

Send out local IPv6 queries from ADDRESS. Disabled by default, which also disables outgoing IPv6 support. A useful setting is '::0'.

--quiet

Suppress logging of questions and answers.

--server-id=TEXT

Return TEXT when queried for 'server.id' TXT, defaults to hostname.

--serve-rfc1918

On by default, this makes the server authoritatively aware of: 10.in-addr.arpa, 168.192.in-addr.arpa and 16-31.172.in-addr.arpa, which saves load on the AS112 servers. Individual parts of these zones can still be loaded or forwarded.

--setgid=GID

If set, change group id to GID for more security.

--setuid=UID

If set, change user id to UID for more security.

--single-socket

If set, only use a single socket for outgoing queries.

--socket-dir=DIRECTORY

The controlsocket will live in DIRECTORY.

--spoof-nearmiss-max=NUM

If non-zero, assume spoofing after this many near misses.

--trace

if we should output heaps of logging.

--version-string=TEXT

TEXT will be reported on version.pdns or version.bind queries.

RESOURCES

Website: http://www.powerdns.com, https://github.com/PowerDNS/pdns

AUTHORS