This document is about PowerDNS 4.0. For other versions, please see the documentation index.

Remote Backend

Warning: The Remote Backend is available since PowerDNS Authoritative Server 3.2. This backend is stable on version 3.3, not before.
Native Yes
Master Yes*
Slave Yes*
Superslave Yes*
Autoserial Yes*
DNSSEC Yes*
Multiple instances Yes

* If provided by the responder (your script).

This backend provides Unix socket, Pipe, HTTP and ZeroMQ remoting for powerdns. You should think this as normal RPC thin client, which converts native C++ calls into JSON/RPC and passes them to you via connector.

Important notices

Please do not use remotebackend shipped before version 3.3. This version has severe bug that can crash the entire process.

There is a breaking change on v4.0 and later. Before version 4.0, the DNS names passed in queries were without trailing dot, after version 4.0 the DNS names are sent with trailing dot. F.ex. example.org is now sent as example.org.

In some (broken) network setups, the IP addresses provided in the request (when this is an IPv6 address) may be suffixed with a % and the name of the network interface (e.g. %eth1). Keep this in mind when checking the IP addresses.

Compiling

To compile this backend, you need to configure --with-modules="remote".

For versions prior to 3.4.0, if you want to use http connector, you need libcurl and use --enable-remotebackend-http.

If you want to use ZeroMQ connector, you need libzmq-dev or libzmq3-dev and use --enable-remotebackend-zeromq.

Usage

The only configuration options for backend are remote-connection-string and remote-dnssec.

remote-connection-string=<type>:<param>=<value>,<param>=<value>...

You can pass as many parameters as you want. For unix and pipe connectors, these are passed along to the remote end as initialization. See API. Initialize is not called for http connector.

Unix connector

parameters: path, timeout (default 2000ms)

remote-connection-string=unix:path=/path/to/socket

Pipe connector

parameters: command,timeout (default 2000ms)

remote-connection-string=pipe:command=/path/to/executable,timeout=2000

HTTP connector

parameters: url, url-suffix, post, post_json, timeout (default 2000ms)

remote-connection-string=http:url=http://localhost:63636/dns,url-suffix=.php

HTTP connector tries to do RESTful requests to your server. See examples. You can also use post to change behaviour so that it will send POST request to url/method + url_suffix with parameters=json-formatted-parameters. If you use post and post_json, it will POST url with text/javascript containing JSON formatted RPC request, just like for pipe and unix. You can use '1', 'yes', 'on' or 'true' to turn these features on.

URL should not end with /, and url-suffix is optional, but if you define it, it's up to you to write the ".php" or ".json". Lack of dot causes lack of dot in URL. Timeout is divided by 1000 because libcurl only supports seconds, but this is given in milliseconds for consistency with other connectors.

HTTPS is not supported, stunnel is the suggested workaround. HTTP Authentication is not supported.

ZeroMQ connector

parameters: endpoint, timeout (default 2000ms)

remote-connection-string=zeromq:endpoint=ipc:///tmp/tmp.sock

0MQ connector implements a REQ/REP RPC model. Please see http://zeromq.org/ for more information.

API

Queries

Unix, Pipe and ZeroMQ connectors send JSON formatted strings to the remote end. Each JSON query has two sections, 'method' and 'parameters'.

HTTP connector calls methods based on URL and has parameters in the query string. Most calls are GET; see the methods listing for details. You can change this with post and post_json attributes.

Replies

You must always reply with JSON hash with at least one key, 'result'. This must be boolean false if the query failed. Otherwise it must conform to the expected result. For HTTP connector, to signal bare success, you can just reply with HTTP 200 OK, and omit any output. This will result in same outcome as sending {"result":true}.

You can optionally add an array of strings to the 'log' array; each line in this array will be logged in PowerDNS at loglevel info (6).

Methods

initialize

Called to initialize the backend. This is not called for HTTP connector. You should do your initializations here.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"initialize", "parameters":{"command":"/path/to/something", "timeout":"2000", "something":"else"}}

Response:

{"result":true}

lookup

This method is used to do the basic query. You can omit auth, but if you are using DNSSEC this can lead into trouble.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"lookup", "parameters":{"qtype":"ANY", "qname":"www.example.com.", "remote":"192.0.2.24", "local":"192.0.2.1", "real-remote":"192.0.2.24", "zone-id":-1}}

Response:

{"result":[{"qtype":"A", "qname":"www.example.com", "content":"203.0.113.2", "ttl": 60}]}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

GET /dnsapi/lookup/www.example.com./ANY HTTP/1.1
X-RemoteBackend-remote: 192.0.2.24
X-RemoteBackend-local: 192.0.2.1
X-RemoteBackend-real-remote: 192.0.2.24
X-RemoteBackend-zone-id: -1

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":[{"qtype":"A", "qname":"www.example.com", "content":"203.0.113.2", "ttl": 60}]}

list

Lists all records for the zonename. If you are running dnssec, you should take care of setting auth to appropriate value, otherwise things can go wrong.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"list", "parameters":{"zonename":"example.com.","domain_id":-1}}

Response (split into lines for ease of reading)

{"result":[
  {"qtype":"SOA", "qname":"example.com", "content":"dns1.icann.org. hostmaster.icann.org. 2012081600 7200 3600 1209600 3600", "ttl": 3600},
  {"qtype":"NS", "qname":"example.com", "content":"ns1.example.com", "ttl": 60},
  {"qtype":"MX", "qname":"example.com", "content":"10 mx1.example.com.", "ttl": 60},
  {"qtype":"A", "qname":"www.example.com", "content":"203.0.113.2", "ttl": 60},
  {"qtype":"A", "qname":"ns1.example.com", "content":"192.0.2.2", "ttl": 60},
  {"qtype":"A", "qname":"mx1.example.com", "content":"192.0.2.3", "ttl": 60} 
]}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

GET /dnsapi/list/-1/example.com HTTP/1.1
X-RemoteBackend-domain-id: -1

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":[{"qtype":"SOA", "qname":"example.com", "content":"dns1.icann.org. hostmaster.icann.org. 2012081600 7200 3600 1209600 3600", "ttl": 3600},{"qtype":"NS", "qname":"example.com", "content":"ns1.example.com", "ttl": 60},{"qtype":"MX", "qname":"example.com", "content":"10 mx1.example.com.", "ttl": 60},{"qtype":"A", "qname":"www.example.com", "content":"203.0.113.2", "ttl": 60},{"qtype":"A", "qname":"ns1.example.com", "content":"192.0.2.2", "ttl": 60},{"qtype":"A", "qname":"mx1.example.com", "content":"192.0.2.3", "ttl": 60}]}

getBeforeAndAfterNamesAbsolute

Asks the names before and after qname. qname is given without dots or domain part. The query will be hashed when using NSEC3. Care must be taken to handle wrap-around when qname is first or last in the ordered list. Do not return nil for either one.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"getbeforeandafternamesabsolute", "params":{"id":0,"qname":"www.example.com"}}

Response:

{”result":{"before":"ns1","after":""}}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

/dnsapi/getbeforeandafternamesabsolute/0/www.example.com

Response:

{”result":{"before":"ns1","after":""}}

getAllDomainMetadata

Returns the value(s) for variable kind for zone name. You must always return something, if there are no values, you shall return empty set or false.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"getalldomainmetadata", "parameters":{"name":"example.com"}}

Response:

{"result":{"PRESIGNED":["0"]}}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

GET /dnsapi/getalldomainmetadata/example.com HTTP/1.1

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":{"PRESIGNED":["0"]}}

getDomainMetadata

Returns the value(s) for variable kind for zone name. Most commonly it's one of NSEC3PARAM, PRESIGNED, SOA-EDIT. Can be others, too. You must always return something, if there are no values, you shall return empty array or false.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"getdomainmetadata", "parameters":{"name":"example.com.","kind":"PRESIGNED"}}

Response:

{"result":["0"]}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

GET /dnsapi/getdomainmetadata/example.com./PRESIGNED HTTP/1.1

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":["0"]}

setDomainMetadata

Replaces the value(s) on domain name for variable kind to string(s) on array value. The old value is discarded. Value can be an empty array, which can be interpreted as deletion request.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"setdomainmetadata","parameters":{"name":"example.com","kind":"PRESIGNED","value":["YES"]}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

PATCH /dnsapi/setdomainmetadata/example.com/PRESIGNED HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded 
Content-Length: 12

value[]=YES&

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

getDomainKeys

Retrieves any keys of kind. The id, flags are unsigned integers, and active is boolean. Content must be valid key record in format that PowerDNS understands. You are encouraged to implement the section called "addDomainKey", as you can use pdnsutil to provision keys.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"getdomainkeys","parameters":{"name":"example.com."}}

Response:

{"result":[{"id":1,"flags":256,"active":true,"content":"Private-key-format: v1.2
Algorithm: 8 (RSASHA256)
Modulus: r+vmQll38ndQqNSCx9eqRBUbSOLcH4PZFX824sGhY2NSQChqt1G4ZfndzRwgjXMUwiE7GkkqU2Vbt/g4iP67V/+MYecMV9YHkCRnEzb47nBXvs9JCf8AHMCnma567GQjPECh4HevPE9wmcOfpy/u7UN1oHKSKRWuZJadUwcjbp8=
PublicExponent: AQAB
PrivateExponent: CYC93UtVnOM6wrFJZ+qA9+Yx+p5yk0CSi0Q7c+/6EVMuABQ5gNyTuu0j65lU3X81bwUk2wHPx6smfgoVDRAW5jjO4jgIFV6nE4inzk5YQKycQSL8YG3Nm9GciLFya1KUXs81sHsQpkvK7MNaSbvkaHZQ6iv16bZ4t73Wascwa/E=
Prime1: 6a165cIC0nNsGlTW/s2jRu7idq5+U203iE1HzSIddmWgx5KIKE/s3I+pwfmXYRUmq+4H9ASd/Yot1lSYW98szw==
Prime2: wLoCPKxxnuxDx6/9IKOYz8t9ZNLY74iCeQ85koqvTctkFmB9jpOUHTU9BhecaFY2euP9CuHV7z3PLtCoO8s1MQ==
Exponent1: CuzJaiR/7UboLvL4ekEy+QYCIHpX/Z6FkiHK0ZRevEJUGgCHzRqvgEBXN3Jr2WYbwL4IMShmGoxzSCn8VY9BkQ==
Exponent2: LDR9/tyu0vzuLwc20B22FzNdd5rFF2wAQTQ0yF/3Baj5NAi9w84l0u07KgKQZX4g0N8qUyypnU5YDyzc6ZoagQ==
Coefficient: 6S0vhIQITWzqfQSLj+wwRzs6qCvJckHb1+SD1XpwYjSgMTEUlZhf96m8WiaE1/fIt4Zl2PC3fF7YIBoFLln22w=="}]}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

GET /dnsapi/getdomainkeys/example.com/0 HTTP/1.1

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":[{"id":1,"flags":256,"active":true,"content":"Private-key-format: v1.2
Algorithm: 8 (RSASHA256)
Modulus: r+vmQll38ndQqNSCx9eqRBUbSOLcH4PZFX824sGhY2NSQChqt1G4ZfndzRwgjXMUwiE7GkkqU2Vbt/g4iP67V/+MYecMV9YHkCRnEzb47nBXvs9JCf8AHMCnma567GQjPECh4HevPE9wmcOfpy/u7UN1oHKSKRWuZJadUwcjbp8=
PublicExponent: AQAB
PrivateExponent: CYC93UtVnOM6wrFJZ+qA9+Yx+p5yk0CSi0Q7c+/6EVMuABQ5gNyTuu0j65lU3X81bwUk2wHPx6smfgoVDRAW5jjO4jgIFV6nE4inzk5YQKycQSL8YG3Nm9GciLFya1KUXs81sHsQpkvK7MNaSbvkaHZQ6iv16bZ4t73Wascwa/E=
Prime1: 6a165cIC0nNsGlTW/s2jRu7idq5+U203iE1HzSIddmWgx5KIKE/s3I+pwfmXYRUmq+4H9ASd/Yot1lSYW98szw==
Prime2: wLoCPKxxnuxDx6/9IKOYz8t9ZNLY74iCeQ85koqvTctkFmB9jpOUHTU9BhecaFY2euP9CuHV7z3PLtCoO8s1MQ==
Exponent1: CuzJaiR/7UboLvL4ekEy+QYCIHpX/Z6FkiHK0ZRevEJUGgCHzRqvgEBXN3Jr2WYbwL4IMShmGoxzSCn8VY9BkQ==
Exponent2: LDR9/tyu0vzuLwc20B22FzNdd5rFF2wAQTQ0yF/3Baj5NAi9w84l0u07KgKQZX4g0N8qUyypnU5YDyzc6ZoagQ==
Coefficient: 6S0vhIQITWzqfQSLj+wwRzs6qCvJckHb1+SD1XpwYjSgMTEUlZhf96m8WiaE1/fIt4Zl2PC3fF7YIBoFLln22w=="}]}

addDomainKey

Adds key into local storage. See getDomainKeys for more information.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"adddomainkey", "parameters":{"key":{"id":1,"flags":256,"active":true,"content":"Private-key-format: v1.2
Algorithm: 8 (RSASHA256)
Modulus: r+vmQll38ndQqNSCx9eqRBUbSOLcH4PZFX824sGhY2NSQChqt1G4ZfndzRwgjXMUwiE7GkkqU2Vbt/g4iP67V/+MYecMV9YHkCRnEzb47nBXvs9JCf8AHMCnma567GQjPECh4HevPE9wmcOfpy/u7UN1oHKSKRWuZJadUwcjbp8=
PublicExponent: AQAB
PrivateExponent: CYC93UtVnOM6wrFJZ+qA9+Yx+p5yk0CSi0Q7c+/6EVMuABQ5gNyTuu0j65lU3X81bwUk2wHPx6smfgoVDRAW5jjO4jgIFV6nE4inzk5YQKycQSL8YG3Nm9GciLFya1KUXs81sHsQpkvK7MNaSbvkaHZQ6iv16bZ4t73Wascwa/E=
Prime1: 6a165cIC0nNsGlTW/s2jRu7idq5+U203iE1HzSIddmWgx5KIKE/s3I+pwfmXYRUmq+4H9ASd/Yot1lSYW98szw==
Prime2: wLoCPKxxnuxDx6/9IKOYz8t9ZNLY74iCeQ85koqvTctkFmB9jpOUHTU9BhecaFY2euP9CuHV7z3PLtCoO8s1MQ==
Exponent1: CuzJaiR/7UboLvL4ekEy+QYCIHpX/Z6FkiHK0ZRevEJUGgCHzRqvgEBXN3Jr2WYbwL4IMShmGoxzSCn8VY9BkQ==
Exponent2: LDR9/tyu0vzuLwc20B22FzNdd5rFF2wAQTQ0yF/3Baj5NAi9w84l0u07KgKQZX4g0N8qUyypnU5YDyzc6ZoagQ==
Coefficient: 6S0vhIQITWzqfQSLj+wwRzs6qCvJckHb1+SD1XpwYjSgMTEUlZhf96m8WiaE1/fIt4Zl2PC3fF7YIBoFLln22w=="}}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

PUT /dnsapi/adddomainkey/example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 965

flags=256&active=1&content=Private-key-format: v1.2
Algorithm: 8 (RSASHA256)
Modulus: r+vmQll38ndQqNSCx9eqRBUbSOLcH4PZFX824sGhY2NSQChqt1G4ZfndzRwgjXMUwiE7GkkqU2Vbt/g4iP67V/+MYecMV9YHkCRnEzb47nBXvs9JCf8AHMCnma567GQjPECh4HevPE9wmcOfpy/u7UN1oHKSKRWuZJadUwcjbp8=
PublicExponent: AQAB
PrivateExponent: CYC93UtVnOM6wrFJZ+qA9+Yx+p5yk0CSi0Q7c+/6EVMuABQ5gNyTuu0j65lU3X81bwUk2wHPx6smfgoVDRAW5jjO4jgIFV6nE4inzk5YQKycQSL8YG3Nm9GciLFya1KUXs81sHsQpkvK7MNaSbvkaHZQ6iv16bZ4t73Wascwa/E=
Prime1: 6a165cIC0nNsGlTW/s2jRu7idq5+U203iE1HzSIddmWgx5KIKE/s3I+pwfmXYRUmq+4H9ASd/Yot1lSYW98szw==
Prime2: wLoCPKxxnuxDx6/9IKOYz8t9ZNLY74iCeQ85koqvTctkFmB9jpOUHTU9BhecaFY2euP9CuHV7z3PLtCoO8s1MQ==
Exponent1: CuzJaiR/7UboLvL4ekEy+QYCIHpX/Z6FkiHK0ZRevEJUGgCHzRqvgEBXN3Jr2WYbwL4IMShmGoxzSCn8VY9BkQ==
Exponent2: LDR9/tyu0vzuLwc20B22FzNdd5rFF2wAQTQ0yF/3Baj5NAi9w84l0u07KgKQZX4g0N8qUyypnU5YDyzc6ZoagQ==
Coefficient: 6S0vhIQITWzqfQSLj+wwRzs6qCvJckHb1+SD1XpwYjSgMTEUlZhf96m8WiaE1/fIt4Zl2PC3fF7YIBoFLln22w==

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

removeDomainKey

Removes key id from domain name.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"removedomainkey","parameters":"{"name":"example.com","id":1}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

DELETE /dnsapi/removedomainkey/example.com/1 HTTP/1.1

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

activateDomainKey

Activates key id for domain name.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"activatedomainkey","parameters":{"name":"example.com","id":1}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

POST /dnsapi/activatedomainkey/example.com/1 HTTP/1.1

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; utf-8

{"result": true}

deactivateDomainKey

Deactivates key id for domain name.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"deactivatedomainkey","parameters":{"name":"example.com","id":1}}

Response:

{"result": true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

POST /dnsapi/deactivatedomainkey/example.com/1 HTTP/1.1

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; utf-8

{"result": true}

getTSIGKey

Retrieves the key needed to sign AXFR.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"gettsigkey","parameters":{"name":"example.com."}}

Response:

{"result":{"algorithm":"hmac-md5","content:"kp4/24gyYsEzbuTVJRUMoqGFmN3LYgVDzJ/3oRSP7ys="}}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

GET /dnsapi/gettsigkey/example.com.

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":{"algorithm":"hmac-md5","content:"kp4/24gyYsEzbuTVJRUMoqGFmN3LYgVDzJ/3oRSP7ys="}}

getDomainInfo

Retrieves information about given domain from the backend. If your return value has no zone attribute, the backend will signal error. Everything else will default to something. Default values: serial:0, kind:NATIVE, id:-1, notified_serial:-1, last_check:0, masters: []. Masters, if present, must be array of strings.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"getdomaininfo","parameters":{"name":"example.com"}}

Response:

{"result":{id:1,"zone":"example.com","kind":"NATIVE","serial":2002010100}}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

GET /dnsapi/getdomaininfo/example.com HTTP/1.1

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
content-Type: text/javascript: charset=utf-8

{"result":{id:1,"zone":"example.com","kind":"NATIVE","serial":2002010100}}

setNotified

Updates last notified serial for the domain id. Any errors are ignored.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"setnotified","parameters":{"id":1,"serial":2002010100}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

PATCH /dnsapi/setnotified/1
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 17

serial=2002010100

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

isMaster

Determines whether given IP is master for given domain name.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"isMaster","parameters":{"name":"example.com","ip":"198.51.100.0.1"}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

GET /dnsapi/isMaster/example.com/198.51.100.0.1

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

superMasterBackend

Creates new domain with given record(s) as master servers. IP address is the address where notify is received from. nsset is array of NS resource records.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"superMasterBackend","parameters":{"ip":"198.51.100.0.1","domain":"example.com","nsset":[{"qtype":"NS","qname":"example.com","qclass":1,"content":"ns1.example.com","ttl":300,"auth":true},{"qtype":"NS","qname":"example.com","qclass":1,"content":"ns2.example.com","ttl":300,"auth":true}]}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Alternative response:

{"result":{"account":"my account","nameserver":"ns2.example.com"}}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

POST /dnsapi/supermasterbackend/198.51.100.0.1/example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 317

nsset[1][qtype]=NS&nsset[1][qname]=example.com&nsset[1][qclass]=1&nsset[1][content]=ns1.example.com&nsset[1][ttl]=300&nsset[1][auth]=true&nsset[2][qtype]=NS&nsset[2][qname]=example.com&nsset[2][qclass]=1&nsset[2][content]=ns2.example.com&nsset[2][ttl]=300&nsset[2][auth]=true

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

Alternative response

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":{"account":"my account}}

createSlaveDomain

Creates new domain. This method is called when NOTIFY is received and you are superslaving.

Mandatory: No Parameters: ip, domain Optional parameters: nameserver, account Reply: true for success, false for failure

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"createSlaveDomain","parameters":{"ip":"198.51.100.0.1","domain":"pirate.example.net"}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

POST /dnsapi/createslavedomain/198.51.100.0.1/pirate.example.net
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 0

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

replaceRRSet

This method replaces a given resource record with new set. The new qtype can be different from the old.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"replaceRRSet","parameters":{"domain_id":2,"qname":"replace.example.com","qtype":"A","trxid":1370416133,"rrset":[{"qtype":"A","qname":"replace.example.com","qclass":1,"content":"1.1.1.1","ttl":300,"auth":true}]}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

PATCH /dnsapi/replacerrset/2/replace.example.com/A
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 135

trxid=1370416133&rrset[qtype]=A&rrset[qname]=replace.example.com&rrset[qclass]=1&rrset[content]=1.1.1.1&rrset[auth]=1

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

feedRecord

Asks to feed new record into system. If startTransaction was called, trxId identifies a transaction. It is not always called by PowerDNS.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"feedRecord","parameters":{"rr":{"qtype":"A","qname":"replace.example.com","qclass":1,"content":"127.0.0.1","ttl":300,"auth":true},"trxid":1370416133}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

PATCH /dnsapi/feedrecord/1370416133
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 117

rr[qtype]=A&rr[qname]=replace.example.com&rr[qclass]=1&rr[content]=127.0.0.1&rr[ttl]=300&rr[auth]=true

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

feedEnts

This method is used by pdnsutil rectify-zone to populate missing non-terminals. This is used when you have, say, record like _sip._upd.example.com, but no _udp.example.com. PowerDNS requires that there exists a non-terminal in between, and this instructs you to add one. If startTransaction is called, trxid identifies a transaction.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"feedEnts","parameters":{"domain_id":2,"trxid":1370416133,"nonterm":["_sip._udp","_udp"]}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

PATCH /dnsapi/feedents/2
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 50

trxid=1370416133&nonterm[]=_udp&nonterm[]=_sip.udp

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

feedEnts3

Same as feedEnts, but provides NSEC3 hashing parameters. Note that salt is BYTE value, and can be non-readable text.

Example JSON/RPC\

Query:

{"method":"feedEnts3","parameters":{"domain_id":2,"domain":"example.com","times":1,"salt":"9642","narrow":false,"trxid":1370416356,"nonterm":["_sip._udp","_udp"]}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

PATCH /dnsapi/2/example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 78

trxid=1370416356&times=1&salt=9642&narrow=0&nonterm[]=_sip._udp&nonterm[]=_udp

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

startTransaction

Starts a new transaction. Transaction ID is chosen for you. Used to identify f.ex. AXFR transfer.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"startTransaction","parameters":{"trxid":1234,"domain_id":1,"domain":"example.com"}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

POST /dnsapi/starttransaction/1/example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 10

trxid=1234

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

commitTransaction

Signals successful transfer and asks to commit data into permanent storage.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"commitTransaction","parameters":{"trxid":1234}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

POST /dnsapi/committransaction/1234
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 0

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

abortTransaction

Signals failed transaction, and that you should rollback any changes.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"abortTransaction","parameters":{"trxid":1234}}

Response:

{"result":true}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

POST /dnsapi/aborttransaction/1234
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 0

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":true}

calculateSOASerial

Asks you to calculate a new serial based on the given data and update the serial.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"calculateSOASerial","parameters":{"domain":"unit.test","sd":{"qname":"unit.test","nameserver":"ns.unit.test","hostmaster":"hostmaster.unit.test","ttl":300,"serial":1,"refresh":2,"retry":3,"expire":4,"default_ttl":5,"domain_id":-1,"scopeMask":0}}}

Response:

{"result":2013060501}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

POST /dnsapi/calculatesoaserial/unit.test
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 198

sd[qname]=unit.test&sd[nameserver]=ns.unit.test&sd[hostmaster]=hostmaster.unit.test&sd[ttl]=300&sd[serial]=1&sd[refresh]=2&sd[retry]=3&sd[expire]=4&sd[default_ttl]=5&sd[domain_id]=-1&sd[scopemask]=0

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":2013060501}

directBackendCmd

Can be used to send arbitrary commands to your backend using (backend-cmd)(dnssec.md#pdnsutil).

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"directBackendCmd","parameters":{"query":"PING"}}

Response:

{"result":"PONG"}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

POST /dnsapi/directBackendCmd
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 10

query=PING

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":"PONG"}

getAllDomains

Get DomainInfo records for all domains in your backend.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method": "getAllDomains", "parameters": {"include_disabled": true}}

Response:

{"result":[{"id":1,"zone":"unit.test.","masters":["10.0.0.1"],"notified_serial":2,"serial":2,"last_check":1464693331,"kind":"native"}]}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

GET /dnsapi/getAllDomains?includeDisabled=true

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8
Content-Length: 135
{"result":[{"id":1,"zone":"unit.test.","masters":["10.0.0.1"],"notified_serial":2,"serial":2,"last_check":1464693331,"kind":"native"}]}

searchRecords

Can be used to search records from the backend. This is used by web api.

Example JSON/RPC

Query:

{"method":"searchRecords","parameters":{"pattern":"www.example*","maxResults":100}}

Response:

{"result":[{"qtype":"A", "qname":"www.example.com", "content":"203.0.113.2", "ttl": 60}]}

Example HTTP/RPC

Query:

GET /dnsapi/searchRecords?q=www.example*&maxResults=100

Response:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/javascript; charset=utf-8

{"result":[{"qtype":"A", "qname":"www.example.com", "content":"203.0.113.2", "ttl": 60}]}

Examples

Scenario: SOA lookup via pipe, unix or zeromq connector

Query:

{ 
  "method": "lookup",
  "parameters": {
     "qname": "example.com", 
     "qtype": "SOA",
     "zone_id": "-1"
  }
}

Reply:

{
  "result": 
   [ 
     { "qtype": "SOA",
       "qname": "example.com", 
       "content": "dns1.icann.org. hostmaster.icann.org. 2012080849 7200 3600 1209600 3600",
       "ttl": 3600,
       "domain_id": -1
     }
   ]
}

Scenario: SOA lookup with HTTP connector

Query:

/dns/lookup/example.com/SOA

Reply:

{
  "result":
   [
     { "qtype": "SOA",
       "qname": "example.com",
       "content": "dns1.icann.org. hostmaster.icann.org. 2012080849 7200 3600 1209600 3600",
       "ttl": 3600,
       "domain_id": -1
     }
   ]
}