Synchronize your DNS to multiple providers from a simple DSL
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Tom Limoncelli 554c9ae68e
ROUTE53: Docs should specify FQDN with dot. (#1130)
After helping with
https://github.com/StackExchange/dnscontrol/issues/1128 I noticed that
the examples don't include a "." at the end of FQDNs.

Are these examples more correct?
2021-04-22 12:49:29 -04:00
.github/workflows Maint: DS record tests should use more realistic data (#1127) 2021-04-17 10:49:06 -04:00
bin Automate releng a bit more (#1006) 2020-12-26 10:05:46 -05:00
build Re-engineer TXT records for simplicity and better compliance (#1063) 2021-03-07 13:19:22 -05:00
cmd/convertzone go get -u github.com/miekg/dns v1.1.31 (#846) 2020-09-04 16:26:56 -04:00
commands Linting (#1087) 2021-03-08 20:14:30 -05:00
docs ROUTE53: Docs should specify FQDN with dot. (#1130) 2021-04-22 12:49:29 -04:00
integrationTest Maint: DS record tests should use more realistic data (#1127) 2021-04-17 10:49:06 -04:00
models GANDI_V5: supports DS records already (#1112) 2021-03-29 10:04:36 -04:00
pkg IGNORE_NAME: Should work at domain apex (#1118) 2021-04-13 08:59:47 -04:00
providers Maint: DS record tests should use more realistic data (#1127) 2021-04-17 10:49:06 -04:00
.editorconfig NEW: .editorconfig (#921) 2020-10-29 13:38:15 -04:00
.gitattributes NEW PROVIDER: MSDNS (#1005) 2020-12-28 16:07:33 -05:00
.gitignore js_test.go should leave behind actuals 2021-02-01 07:33:41 -05:00
.prettierrc
.travis.yml upgrade go version to 1.14 (#676) 2020-03-02 11:24:19 -05:00
azure-pipelines.yml Internals: Switch to v2 go.mod, drop GOPATH, and fix Azure Pipelines (#595) 2020-01-28 10:42:31 -05:00
build.ps1 fix line-endings 2021-01-20 05:50:14 -05:00
dnscontrol.nuspec fix line-endings 2021-01-20 05:50:14 -05:00
Dockerfile upgrade go version to 1.14 (#676) 2020-03-02 11:24:19 -05:00
go.mod Update primary modules (#1123) 2021-04-16 13:48:10 -04:00
go.sum Update primary modules (#1123) 2021-04-16 13:48:10 -04:00
LICENSE
main.go Release v3.8.0 (#1111) 2021-03-28 16:09:59 -04:00
OWNERS NEW PROVIDER: DNS Made Easy (#1093) 2021-03-17 23:36:42 -04:00
package-lock.json AZURE_DNS: Add support for Alias: AZURE_ALIAS() (#675) 2020-03-02 11:25:42 -05:00
README.md NEW PROVIDER: DNS Made Easy (#1093) 2021-03-17 23:36:42 -04:00

DNSControl

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DNSControl is a system for maintaining DNS zones. It has two parts: a domain specific language (DSL) for describing DNS zones plus software that processes the DSL and pushes the resulting zones to DNS providers such as Route53, Cloudflare, and Gandi. It can send the same DNS records to multiple providers. It even generates the most beautiful BIND zone files ever. It runs anywhere Go runs (Linux, macOS, Windows). The provider model is extensible, so more providers can be added.

Currently supported DNS providers:

  • AWS Route 53
  • AXFR+DDNS
  • Active Directory (Deprecated, see Microsoft DNS)
  • Azure DNS
  • BIND
  • ClouDNS
  • Cloudflare
  • DNSOVERHTTPS
  • DNS Made Easy
  • DNSimple
  • DigitalOcean
  • Exoscale
  • Gandi
  • Google DNS
  • Hetzner
  • HEXONET
  • hosting.de
  • Hurricane Electric DNS
  • INWX
  • Internet.bs
  • Linode
  • Microsoft Windows Server DNS Server
  • NS1
  • Name.com
  • Namecheap
  • Netcup
  • OVH
  • OctoDNS
  • OpenSRS
  • Oracle Cloud
  • PowerDNS
  • SoftLayer
  • Vultr
  • deSEC

At Stack Overflow, we use this system to manage hundreds of domains and subdomains across multiple registrars and DNS providers.

You can think of it as a DNS compiler. The configuration files are written in a DSL that looks a lot like JavaScript. It is compiled to an intermediate representation (IR). Compiler back-ends use the IR to update your DNS zones on services such as Route53, Cloudflare, and Gandi, or systems such as BIND and Active Directory.

An Example

dnsconfig.js:

// define our registrar and providers
var namecom = NewRegistrar("name.com", "NAMEDOTCOM");
var r53 = NewDnsProvider("r53", "ROUTE53")

D("example.com", namecom, DnsProvider(r53),
  A("@", "1.2.3.4"),
  CNAME("www","@"),
  MX("@",5,"mail.myserver.com."),
  A("test", "5.6.7.8")
)

Running dnscontrol preview will talk to the providers (here name.com as registrar and route 53 as the dns host), and determine what changes need to be made.

Running dnscontrol push will make those changes with the provider and my dns records will be correctly updated.

See Getting Started page on documentation site.

Benefits

  • Less error-prone than editing a BIND zone file.
  • More reproducible than clicking buttons on a web portal.
  • Easily switch between DNS providers: The DNSControl language is vendor-agnostic. If you use it to maintain your DNS zone records, you can switch between DNS providers easily. In fact, DNSControl will upload your DNS records to multiple providers, which means you can test one while switching to another. We've switched providers 3 times in three years and we've never lost a DNS record.
  • Adopt CI/CD principles to DNS! At StackOverflow we maintain our DNSControl configurations in Git and use our CI system to roll out changes. Keeping DNS information in a VCS means we have full history. Using CI enables us to include unit-tests and system-tests. Remember when you forgot to include a "." at the end of an MX record? We haven't had that problem since we included a test to make sure Tom doesn't make that mistake... again.
  • Adopt PR-based updates. Allow developers to send updates as PRs, which you can review before you approve.
  • Variables save time! Assign an IP address to a constant and use the variable name throughout the file. Need to change the IP address globally? Just change the variable and "recompile."
  • Macros! Define your SPF records, MX records, or other repeated data once and re-use them for all domains.
  • Control Cloudflare from a single source of truth. Enable/disable Cloudflare proxying (the "orange cloud" button) directly from your DNSControl files.
  • Keep similar domains in sync with transforms and other features. If one domain is supposed to be a filtered version of another, this is easy to set up.
  • It is extendable! All the DNS providers are written as plugins. Writing new plugins is very easy.

Installation

From source

DNSControl can be built with Go version 1.14 or higher.

The go get command will will download the source, compile it, and install dnscontrol in your $GOBIN directory.

To install, simply run

GO111MODULE=on go get github.com/StackExchange/dnscontrol/v3

To download the source

git clone github.com/StackExchange/dnscontrol

If these don't work, more info is in #805.


Via packages

Get prebuilt binaries from github releases

Alternatively, on Mac you can install it using homebrew:

brew install dnscontrol

Via docker

docker run --rm -it -v $(pwd)/dnsconfig.js:/dns/dnsconfig.js -v $(pwd)/creds.json:/dns/creds.json stackexchange/dnscontrol dnscontrol preview

More info at our web site

The website: https://stackexchange.github.io/dnscontrol/

The getting started guide: https://stackexchange.github.io/dnscontrol/getting-started