Getting Started =============== The PowerDNS Recursor can be installed on any modern unix-like system and is available in the software repositories for all major Linux distributions and BSDs. Installation ------------ The Recursor is available for many platforms, instructions are provided here for several platforms. **note**: PowerDNS itself provides repositories for several Recursor versions for different operating systems. Checkout `the repositories `_ for more information. Debian-based distributions ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ On Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and related distributions, running ``apt-get install pdns-recursor`` as root will install the Recursor. Enterprise Linux ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ On Red Hat, CentOS and related distributions, ensure that `EPEL `_ is available. To install the PowerDNS Recursor, run ``yum install pdns-recursor`` as root. FreeBSD ^^^^^^^ On FreeBSD the Recursor is available through the `ports system `_. Run ``pkg install powerdns-recursor`` as root to install. To compile yourself from ports, run ``cd /usr/ports/dns/powerdns-recursor/ && make install clean``. From Source ^^^^^^^^^^^ See :doc:`appendices/compiling` for instructions on how to build the PowerDNS Recursor from source. Configuring the Recursor ------------------------ The configuration file is called ``recursor.conf`` and is located in the ``SYSCONFDIR`` defined at compile-time. This is usually ``/etc/powerdns``, ``/etc/pdns``, ``/etc/pdns-recursor``, ``/usr/local/etc`` or similar. Run ``pdns_recursor --config=default | grep config-dir`` to find this location on you installation. The PowerDNS Recursor listens on the local loopback interface by default, this can be changed with the :ref:`setting-local-address` setting. Now access will need to be granted to the Recursor. The :ref:`setting-allow-from` setting lists the subnets that can communicate with the Recursor. An example configuration is shown below. Change this to match the local infrastructure. .. code-block:: none local-address=192.0.2.25, 2001:DB8::1:25 allow-from=192.0.2.0/24, 2001:DB8::1:/64 After a restart of the Recursor, it will answer queries on 192.0.2.25 and 2001:DB8::1:25, but only for queries with a source address in the 192.0.2.0/24 and 2001:DB8::1:/64 networks. The recursor is now ready to be used. For more options that can be set in ``recursor.conf`` see the :doc:`list of settings `. Guidance on interaction with the Recursor is documented in :doc:`operating the PowerDNS recursor `. If dynamic answer generation is needed or policies need to be applied to queries, the :doc:`scripting manual ` will come in handy. Using Ansible ------------- The PowerDNS Recursor can also be installed and configured with `Ansible `_. There is a `role available `_ from the PowerDNS authors.