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kumomta/docs/reference/kumo.dns/define_resolver.md
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Wez Furlong 4d576922f8 deps: hickory 0.25 -> 0.26
This is fairly big diff because a number of hickory types moved around
or changed signature.

In particular, the config structs changed in a way that would fan out
and require attention by our users.  So the approach I opted to take
here was to define our own types that look like the hickory 0.25
shape and then we have explicit logic to map those to hickory and
also to our unbound resolver crate.

This commit also bumps up the unbound resolver crate because it also
uses hickory's types.  I took the opportunity to upgrade the version
of the embedded unbound resolver as part of that work.
2026-06-23 15:47:08 +01:00

3.4 KiB

define_resolver

kumo.dns.define_resolver(NAME, CONFIG)

{{since('2025.12.02-67ee9e96')}}

This function defines an alternative resolver from the default configured via configure_resolver, and gives it a name.

The alternate resolver name can then be optionally passed as a parameter to a number of other kumo.dns functions.

The intended use case is to define an alternate resolver that points to an rbldnsd or similar specialized resolver that provides access to a DNSBL.

The NAME parameter is a string that defines the name of the alternate resolver.

The CONFIG parameter defines the parameters for the resolver. It can have one of the following shapes:

!!! note This function should be called only from inside your init event handler.

Hickory with an explicit upstream

If you have rbldnsd or similar available on 10.0.0.1:53, then you might use this:

kumo.dns.define_resolver('rbl', {
  Hickory = {
    name_servers = {
      '10.0.0.1:53',
    },
  },
})

You can then query it:

local answer, reason = kumo.dns.rbl_lookup(IP, 'rbl.domain', 'rbl')

Test or static DNS

If you have fixed and locally available zone data, then you can query that explicitly:

kumo.dns.define_resolver('rbl', {
  Test = {
    zones = {
      [[
$ORIGIN rbl.domain.
1.0.0.10 30 IN A   127.0.0.2
1.0.0.10 300   TXT "Blocked for a very good reason!"
  ]],
    },
  },
})

You can then query it:

local answer, reason = kumo.dns.rbl_lookup('10.0.0.1', 'rbl.domain', 'rbl')

This mode of operation was originally intended for testing, but may prove useful in other situations.

System Default

kumo.dns.define_resolver('myresolver', 'HickorySystemConfig')

Parses the system resolver configuration and applies that to a separate instance of the hickory DNS resolver client. This is equivalent to the default resolver settings in kumomta.

If you would like to start from the system upstreams and then layer your own resolver options on top, see kumo.dns.load_resolv_conf {{since('dev', inline=True)}}.

Unbound with an explicit upstream

!!! note We generally recommend sticking with Hickory unless you have a very good reason.

If you have rbldnsd or similar available on 10.0.0.1:53, then you might use this:

kumo.dns.define_resolver('rbl', {
  Unbound = {
    name_servers = {
      '10.0.0.1:53',
    },
  },
})

You can then query it:

local answer, reason = kumo.dns.rbl_lookup(IP, 'rbl.domain', 'rbl')

Aggregating Different Resolvers

If you have a mixture of local zone files and a remote DNS, then you can mix them together; have the local zones queried before falling back to a remote host.

In the example below, the local zone is used first before falling back to querying the upstream specified by the system.

kumo.dns.define_resolve('aggregate', {
  Aggregate = {
    -- The value of `Aggregate` here is an array style table
    -- listing out one of the CONFIG options shown in the
    -- examples above.

    -- First we have a Test setup
    Test = {
      zones = {
        [[
$ORIGIN 0.0.127.in-addr.arpa.
1 30 IN PTR localhost.
  ]],
      },
    },

    -- Then we have a system default setup
    'HickorySystemConfig',
  },
})