1unbound-control(8) unbound 1.9.6 unbound-control(8)
2
6 unbound-control, unbound-control-setup - Unbound remote server control
7 utility.
8
10 unbound-control [-hq] [-c cfgfile] [-s server] command
11
13 Unbound-control performs remote administration on the unbound(8) DNS
14 server. It reads the configuration file, contacts the unbound server
15 over SSL sends the command and displays the result.
16 The available options are:
18 -h Show the version and commandline option help.
20 -c cfgfile
22 The config file to read with settings. If not given the default
23 config file /etc/unbound/unbound.conf is used.
24 -s server[@port]
26 IPv4 or IPv6 address of the server to contact. If not given,
27 the address is read from the config file.
28 -q quiet, if the option is given it does not print anything if it
30 works ok.
31
33 There are several commands that the server understands.
34 start Start the server. Simply execs unbound(8). The unbound exe‐
36 cutable is searched for in the PATH set in the environment. It
37 is started with the config file specified using -c or the
38 default config file.
39 stop Stop the server. The server daemon exits.
41 reload Reload the server. This flushes the cache and reads the config
43 file fresh.
44 verbosity number
46 Change verbosity value for logging. Same values as verbosity
47 keyword in unbound.conf(5). This new setting lasts until the
48 server is issued a reload (taken from config file again), or the
49 next verbosity control command.
50 log_reopen
52 Reopen the logfile, close and open it. Useful for logrotation
53 to make the daemon release the file it is logging to. If you
54 are using syslog it will attempt to close and open the syslog
55 (which may not work if chrooted).
56 stats Print statistics. Resets the internal counters to zero, this can
58 be controlled using the statistics-cumulative config statement.
59 Statistics are printed with one [name]: [value] per line.
60 stats_noreset
62 Peek at statistics. Prints them like the stats command does, but
63 does not reset the internal counters to zero.
64 status Display server status. Exit code 3 if not running (the connec‐
66 tion to the port is refused), 1 on error, 0 if running.
67 local_zone name type
69 Add new local zone with name and type. Like local-zone config
70 statement. If the zone already exists, the type is changed to
71 the given argument.
72 local_zone_remove name
74 Remove the local zone with the given name. Removes all local
75 data inside it. If the zone does not exist, the command suc‐
76 ceeds.
77 local_data RR data...
79 Add new local data, the given resource record. Like local-data
80 config statement, except for when no covering zone exists. In
81 that case this remote control command creates a transparent zone
82 with the same name as this record. This command is not good at
83 returning detailed syntax errors.
84 local_data_remove name
86 Remove all RR data from local name. If the name already has no
87 items, nothing happens. Often results in NXDOMAIN for the name
88 (in a static zone), but if the name has become an empty nonter‐
89 minal (there is still data in domain names below the removed
90 name), NOERROR nodata answers are the result for that name.
91 local_zones
93 Add local zones read from stdin of unbound-control. Input is
94 read per line, with name space type on a line. For bulk addi‐
95 tions.
96 local_zones_remove
98 Remove local zones read from stdin of unbound-control. Input is
99 one name per line. For bulk removals.
100 local_datas
102 Add local data RRs read from stdin of unbound-control. Input is
103 one RR per line. For bulk additions.
104 local_datas_remove
106 Remove local data RRs read from stdin of unbound-control. Input
107 is one name per line. For bulk removals.
108 dump_cache
110 The contents of the cache is printed in a text format to stdout.
111 You can redirect it to a file to store the cache in a file.
112 load_cache
114 The contents of the cache is loaded from stdin. Uses the same
115 format as dump_cache uses. Loading the cache with old, or wrong
116 data can result in old or wrong data returned to clients. Load‐
117 ing data into the cache in this way is supported in order to aid
118 with debugging.
119 lookup name
121 Print to stdout the name servers that would be used to look up
122 the name specified.
123 flush name
125 Remove the name from the cache. Removes the types A, AAAA, NS,
126 SOA, CNAME, DNAME, MX, PTR, SRV and NAPTR. Because that is fast
127 to do. Other record types can be removed using flush_type or
128 flush_zone.
129 flush_type name type
131 Remove the name, type information from the cache.
132 flush_zone name
134 Remove all information at or below the name from the cache. The
135 rrsets and key entries are removed so that new lookups will be
136 performed. This needs to walk and inspect the entire cache, and
137 is a slow operation. The entries are set to expired in the
138 implementation of this command (so, with serve-expired enabled,
139 it'll serve that information but schedule a prefetch for new
140 information).
141 flush_bogus
143 Remove all bogus data from the cache.
144 flush_negative
146 Remove all negative data from the cache. This is nxdomain
147 answers, nodata answers and servfail answers. Also removes bad
148 key entries (which could be due to failed lookups) from the
149 dnssec key cache, and iterator last-resort lookup failures from
150 the rrset cache.
151 flush_stats
153 Reset statistics to zero.
154 flush_requestlist
156 Drop the queries that are worked on. Stops working on the
157 queries that the server is working on now. The cache is unaf‐
158 fected. No reply is sent for those queries, probably making
159 those users request again later. Useful to make the server
160 restart working on queries with new settings, such as a higher
161 verbosity level.
162 dump_requestlist
164 Show what is worked on. Prints all queries that the server is
165 currently working on. Prints the time that users have been
166 waiting. For internal requests, no time is printed. And then
167 prints out the module status. This prints the queries from the
168 first thread, and not queries that are being serviced from other
169 threads.
170 flush_infra all|IP
172 If all then entire infra cache is emptied. If a specific IP
173 address, the entry for that address is removed from the cache.
174 It contains EDNS, ping and lameness data.
175 dump_infra
177 Show the contents of the infra cache.
178 set_option opt: val
180 Set the option to the given value without a reload. The cache
181 is therefore not flushed. The option must end with a ':' and
182 whitespace must be between the option and the value. Some val‐
183 ues may not have an effect if set this way, the new values are
184 not written to the config file, not all options are supported.
185 This is different from the set_option call in libunbound, where
186 all values work because unbound has not been initialized.
187 The values that work are: statistics-interval, statistics-cumu‐
189 lative, do-not-query-localhost, harden-short-bufsize,
190 harden-large-queries, harden-glue, harden-dnssec-stripped,
191 harden-below-nxdomain, harden-referral-path, prefetch,
192 prefetch-key, log-queries, hide-identity, hide-version, iden‐
193 tity, version, val-log-level, val-log-squelch, ignore-cd-flag,
194 add-holddown, del-holddown, keep-missing, tcp-upstream,
195 ssl-upstream, max-udp-size, ratelimit, ip-ratelimit,
196 cache-max-ttl, cache-min-ttl, cache-max-negative-ttl.
197 get_option opt
199 Get the value of the option. Give the option name without a
200 trailing ':'. The value is printed. If the value is "", noth‐
201 ing is printed and the connection closes. On error 'error ...'
202 is printed (it gives a syntax error on unknown option). For
203 some options a list of values, one on each line, is printed.
204 The options are shown from the config file as modified with
205 set_option. For some options an override may have been taken
206 that does not show up with this command, not results from e.g.
207 the verbosity and forward control commands. Not all options
208 work, see list_stubs, list_forwards, list_local_zones and
209 list_local_data for those.
210 list_stubs
212 List the stub zones in use. These are printed one by one to the
213 output. This includes the root hints in use.
214 list_forwards
216 List the forward zones in use. These are printed zone by zone
217 to the output.
218 list_insecure
220 List the zones with domain-insecure.
221 list_local_zones
223 List the local zones in use. These are printed one per line
224 with zone type.
225 list_local_data
227 List the local data RRs in use. The resource records are
228 printed.
229 insecure_add zone
231 Add a domain-insecure for the given zone, like the statement in
232 unbound.conf. Adds to the running unbound without affecting the
233 cache contents (which may still be bogus, use flush_zone to
234 remove it), does not affect the config file.
235 insecure_remove zone
237 Removes domain-insecure for the given zone.
238 forward_add [+i] zone addr ...
240 Add a new forward zone to running unbound. With +i option also
241 adds a domain-insecure for the zone (so it can resolve inse‐
242 curely if you have a DNSSEC root trust anchor configured for
243 other names). The addr can be IP4, IP6 or nameserver names,
244 like forward-zone config in unbound.conf.
245 forward_remove [+i] zone
247 Remove a forward zone from running unbound. The +i also removes
248 a domain-insecure for the zone.
249 stub_add [+ip] zone addr ...
251 Add a new stub zone to running unbound. With +i option also
252 adds a domain-insecure for the zone. With +p the stub zone is
253 set to prime, without it it is set to notprime. The addr can be
254 IP4, IP6 or nameserver names, like the stub-zone config in
255 unbound.conf.
256 stub_remove [+i] zone
258 Remove a stub zone from running unbound. The +i also removes a
259 domain-insecure for the zone.
260 forward [off | addr ... ]
262 Setup forwarding mode. Configures if the server should ask
263 other upstream nameservers, should go to the internet root name‐
264 servers itself, or show the current config. You could pass the
265 nameservers after a DHCP update.
266 Without arguments the current list of addresses used to forward
268 all queries to is printed. On startup this is from the for‐
269 ward-zone "." configuration. Afterwards it shows the status.
270 It prints off when no forwarding is used.
271 If off is passed, forwarding is disabled and the root name‐
273 servers are used. This can be used to avoid to avoid buggy or
274 non-DNSSEC supporting nameservers returned from DHCP. But may
275 not work in hotels or hotspots.
276 If one or more IPv4 or IPv6 addresses are given, those are then
278 used to forward queries to. The addresses must be separated
279 with spaces. With '@port' the port number can be set explicitly
280 (default port is 53 (DNS)).
281 By default the forwarder information from the config file for
283 the root "." is used. The config file is not changed, so after
284 a reload these changes are gone. Other forward zones from the
285 config file are not affected by this command.
286 ratelimit_list [+a]
288 List the domains that are ratelimited. Printed one per line
289 with current estimated qps and qps limit from config. With +a
290 it prints all domains, not just the ratelimited domains, with
291 their estimated qps. The ratelimited domains return an error
292 for uncached (new) queries, but cached queries work as normal.
293 ip_ratelimit_list [+a]
295 List the ip addresses that are ratelimited. Printed one per
296 line with current estimated qps and qps limit from config. With
297 +a it prints all ips, not just the ratelimited ips, with their
298 estimated qps. The ratelimited ips are dropped before checking
299 the cache.
300 list_auth_zones
302 List the auth zones that are configured. Printed one per line
303 with a status, indicating if the zone is expired and current
304 serial number.
305 auth_zone_reload zone
307 Reload the auth zone from zonefile. The zonefile is read in
308 overwriting the current contents of the zone in memory. This
309 changes the auth zone contents itself, not the cache contents.
310 Such cache contents exists if you set unbound to validate with
311 for-upstream yes and that can be cleared with flush_zone zone.
312 auth_zone_transfer zone
314 Transfer the auth zone from master. The auth zone probe
315 sequence is started, where the masters are probed to see if they
316 have an updated zone (with the SOA serial check). And then the
317 zone is transferred for a newer zone version.
318 view_list_local_zones view
320 list_local_zones for given view.
321 view_local_zone view name type
323 local_zone for given view.
324 view_local_zone_remove view name
326 local_zone_remove for given view.
327 view_list_local_data view
329 list_local_data for given view.
330 view_local_data view RR data...
332 local_data for given view.
333 view_local_data_remove view name
335 local_data_remove for given view.
336 view_local_datas view
338 Add a list of local_data for given view from stdin. Like
339 local_datas.
340
342 The unbound-control program exits with status code 1 on error, 0 on
343 success.
344
346 The setup requires a self-signed certificate and private keys for both
347 the server and client. The script unbound-control-setup generates
348 these in the default run directory, or with -d in another directory.
349 If you change the access control permissions on the key files you can
350 decide who can use unbound-control, by default owner and group but not
351 all users. Run the script under the same username as you have config‐
352 ured in unbound.conf or as root, so that the daemon is permitted to
353 read the files, for example with:
354 sudo -u unbound unbound-control-setup
355 If you have not configured a username in unbound.conf, the keys need
356 read permission for the user credentials under which the daemon is
357 started. The script preserves private keys present in the directory.
358 After running the script as root, turn on control-enable in
359 unbound.conf.
360
362 The stats command shows a number of statistic counters.
363 threadX.num.queries
365 number of queries received by thread
366 threadX.num.queries_ip_ratelimited
368 number of queries rate limited by thread
369 threadX.num.cachehits
371 number of queries that were successfully answered using a cache
372 lookup
373 threadX.num.cachemiss
375 number of queries that needed recursive processing
376 threadX.num.dnscrypt.crypted
378 number of queries that were encrypted and successfully decapsu‐
379 lated by dnscrypt.
380 threadX.num.dnscrypt.cert
382 number of queries that were requesting dnscrypt certificates.
383 threadX.num.dnscrypt.cleartext
385 number of queries received on dnscrypt port that were cleartext
386 and not a request for certificates.
387 threadX.num.dnscrypt.malformed
389 number of request that were neither cleartext, not valid
390 dnscrypt messages.
391 threadX.num.prefetch
393 number of cache prefetches performed. This number is included
394 in cachehits, as the original query had the unprefetched answer
395 from cache, and resulted in recursive processing, taking a slot
396 in the requestlist. Not part of the recursivereplies (or the
397 histogram thereof) or cachemiss, as a cache response was sent.
398 threadX.num.zero_ttl
400 number of replies with ttl zero, because they served an expired
401 cache entry.
402 threadX.num.recursivereplies
404 The number of replies sent to queries that needed recursive pro‐
405 cessing. Could be smaller than threadX.num.cachemiss if due to
406 timeouts no replies were sent for some queries.
407 threadX.requestlist.avg
409 The average number of requests in the internal recursive pro‐
410 cessing request list on insert of a new incoming recursive pro‐
411 cessing query.
412 threadX.requestlist.max
414 Maximum size attained by the internal recursive processing
415 request list.
416 threadX.requestlist.overwritten
418 Number of requests in the request list that were overwritten by
419 newer entries. This happens if there is a flood of queries that
420 recursive processing and the server has a hard time.
421 threadX.requestlist.exceeded
423 Queries that were dropped because the request list was full.
424 This happens if a flood of queries need recursive processing,
425 and the server can not keep up.
426 threadX.requestlist.current.all
428 Current size of the request list, includes internally generated
429 queries (such as priming queries and glue lookups).
430 threadX.requestlist.current.user
432 Current size of the request list, only the requests from client
433 queries.
434 threadX.recursion.time.avg
436 Average time it took to answer queries that needed recursive
437 processing. Note that queries that were answered from the cache
438 are not in this average.
439 threadX.recursion.time.median
441 The median of the time it took to answer queries that needed
442 recursive processing. The median means that 50% of the user
443 queries were answered in less than this time. Because of big
444 outliers (usually queries to non responsive servers), the aver‐
445 age can be bigger than the median. This median has been calcu‐
446 lated by interpolation from a histogram.
447 threadX.tcpusage
449 The currently held tcp buffers for incoming connections. A spot
450 value on the time of the request. This helps you spot if the
451 incoming-num-tcp buffers are full.
452 total.num.queries
454 summed over threads.
455 total.num.cachehits
457 summed over threads.
458 total.num.cachemiss
460 summed over threads.
461 total.num.dnscrypt.crypted
463 summed over threads.
464 total.num.dnscrypt.cert
466 summed over threads.
467 total.num.dnscrypt.cleartext
469 summed over threads.
470 total.num.dnscrypt.malformed
472 summed over threads.
473 total.num.prefetch
475 summed over threads.
476 total.num.zero_ttl
478 summed over threads.
479 total.num.recursivereplies
481 summed over threads.
482 total.requestlist.avg
484 averaged over threads.
485 total.requestlist.max
487 the maximum of the thread requestlist.max values.
488 total.requestlist.overwritten
490 summed over threads.
491 total.requestlist.exceeded
493 summed over threads.
494 total.requestlist.current.all
496 summed over threads.
497 total.recursion.time.median
499 averaged over threads.
500 total.tcpusage
502 summed over threads.
503 time.now
505 current time in seconds since 1970.
506 time.up
508 uptime since server boot in seconds.
509 time.elapsed
511 time since last statistics printout, in seconds.
512
514 mem.cache.rrset
515 Memory in bytes in use by the RRset cache.
516 mem.cache.message
518 Memory in bytes in use by the message cache.
519 mem.cache.dnscrypt_shared_secret
521 Memory in bytes in use by the dnscrypt shared secrets cache.
522 mem.cache.dnscrypt_nonce
524 Memory in bytes in use by the dnscrypt nonce cache.
525 mem.mod.iterator
527 Memory in bytes in use by the iterator module.
528 mem.mod.validator
530 Memory in bytes in use by the validator module. Includes the key
531 cache and negative cache.
532 mem.streamwait
534 Memory in bytes in used by the TCP and TLS stream wait buffers.
535 These are answers waiting to be written back to the clients.
536 histogram.<sec>.<usec>.to.<sec>.<usec>
538 Shows a histogram, summed over all threads. Every element counts
539 the recursive queries whose reply time fit between the lower and
540 upper bound. Times larger or equal to the lowerbound, and
541 smaller than the upper bound. There are 40 buckets, with bucket
542 sizes doubling.
543 num.query.type.A
545 The total number of queries over all threads with query type A.
546 Printed for the other query types as well, but only for the
547 types for which queries were received, thus =0 entries are omit‐
548 ted for brevity.
549 num.query.type.other
551 Number of queries with query types 256-65535.
552 num.query.class.IN
554 The total number of queries over all threads with query class IN
555 (internet). Also printed for other classes (such as CH (CHAOS)
556 sometimes used for debugging), or NONE, ANY, used by dynamic
557 update. num.query.class.other is printed for classes 256-65535.
558 num.query.opcode.QUERY
560 The total number of queries over all threads with query opcode
561 QUERY. Also printed for other opcodes, UPDATE, ...
562 num.query.tcp
564 Number of queries that were made using TCP towards the unbound
565 server.
566 num.query.tcpout
568 Number of queries that the unbound server made using TCP outgo‐
569 ing towards other servers.
570 num.query.tls
572 Number of queries that were made using TLS towards the unbound
573 server. These are also counted in num.query.tcp, because TLS
574 uses TCP.
575 num.query.tls.resume
577 Number of TLS session resumptions, these are queries over TLS
578 towards the unbound server where the client negotiated a TLS
579 session resumption key.
580 num.query.ipv6
582 Number of queries that were made using IPv6 towards the unbound
583 server.
584 num.query.flags.RD
586 The number of queries that had the RD flag set in the header.
587 Also printed for flags QR, AA, TC, RA, Z, AD, CD. Note that
588 queries with flags QR, AA or TC may have been rejected because
589 of that.
590 num.query.edns.present
592 number of queries that had an EDNS OPT record present.
593 num.query.edns.DO
595 number of queries that had an EDNS OPT record with the DO
596 (DNSSEC OK) bit set. These queries are also included in the
597 num.query.edns.present number.
598 num.query.ratelimited
600 The number of queries that are turned away from being send to
601 nameserver due to ratelimiting.
602 num.query.dnscrypt.shared_secret.cachemiss
604 The number of dnscrypt queries that did not find a shared secret
605 in the cache. The can be use to compute the shared secret
606 hitrate.
607 num.query.dnscrypt.replay
609 The number of dnscrypt queries that found a nonce hit in the
610 nonce cache and hence are considered a query replay.
611 num.answer.rcode.NXDOMAIN
613 The number of answers to queries, from cache or from recursion,
614 that had the return code NXDOMAIN. Also printed for the other
615 return codes.
616 num.answer.rcode.nodata
618 The number of answers to queries that had the pseudo return code
619 nodata. This means the actual return code was NOERROR, but
620 additionally, no data was carried in the answer (making what is
621 called a NOERROR/NODATA answer). These queries are also
622 included in the num.answer.rcode.NOERROR number. Common for
623 AAAA lookups when an A record exists, and no AAAA.
624 num.answer.secure
626 Number of answers that were secure. The answer validated cor‐
627 rectly. The AD bit might have been set in some of these
628 answers, where the client signalled (with DO or AD bit in the
629 query) that they were ready to accept the AD bit in the answer.
630 num.answer.bogus
632 Number of answers that were bogus. These answers resulted in
633 SERVFAIL to the client because the answer failed validation.
634 num.rrset.bogus
636 The number of rrsets marked bogus by the validator. Increased
637 for every RRset inspection that fails.
638 unwanted.queries
640 Number of queries that were refused or dropped because they
641 failed the access control settings.
642 unwanted.replies
644 Replies that were unwanted or unsolicited. Could have been ran‐
645 dom traffic, delayed duplicates, very late answers, or could be
646 spoofing attempts. Some low level of late answers and delayed
647 duplicates are to be expected with the UDP protocol. Very high
648 values could indicate a threat (spoofing).
649 msg.cache.count
651 The number of items (DNS replies) in the message cache.
652 rrset.cache.count
654 The number of RRsets in the rrset cache. This includes rrsets
655 used by the messages in the message cache, but also delegation
656 information.
657 infra.cache.count
659 The number of items in the infra cache. These are IP addresses
660 with their timing and protocol support information.
661 key.cache.count
663 The number of items in the key cache. These are DNSSEC keys,
664 one item per delegation point, and their validation status.
665 dnscrypt_shared_secret.cache.count
667 The number of items in the shared secret cache. These are pre‐
668 computed shared secrets for a given client public key/server
669 secret key pair. Shared secrets are CPU intensive and this cache
670 allows unbound to avoid recomputing the shared secret when mul‐
671 tiple dnscrypt queries are sent from the same client.
672 dnscrypt_nonce.cache.count
674 The number of items in the client nonce cache. This cache is
675 used to prevent dnscrypt queries replay. The client nonce must
676 be unique for each client public key/server secret key pair.
677 This cache should be able to host QPS * `replay window` interval
678 keys to prevent replay of a query during `replay window` sec‐
679 onds.
680 num.query.authzone.up
682 The number of queries answered from auth-zone data, upstream
683 queries. These queries would otherwise have been sent (with
684 fallback enabled) to the internet, but are now answered from the
685 auth zone.
686 num.query.authzone.down
688 The number of queries for downstream answered from auth-zone
689 data. These queries are from downstream clients, and have had
690 an answer from the data in the auth zone.
691 num.query.aggressive.NOERROR
693 The number of queries answered using cached NSEC records with
694 NODATA RCODE. These queries would otherwise have been sent to
695 the internet, but are now answered using cached data.
696 num.query.aggressive.NXDOMAIN
698 The number of queries answered using cached NSEC records with
699 NXDOMAIN RCODE. These queries would otherwise have been sent to
700 the internet, but are now answered using cached data.
701 num.query.subnet
703 Number of queries that got an answer that contained EDNS client
704 subnet data.
705 num.query.subnet_cache
707 Number of queries answered from the edns client subnet cache.
708 These are counted as cachemiss by the main counters, but hit the
709 client subnet specific cache, after getting processed by the
710 edns client subnet module.
711
713 /etc/unbound/unbound.conf
714 unbound configuration file.
715 /etc/unbound
717 directory with private keys (unbound_server.key and unbound_con‐
718 trol.key) and self-signed certificates (unbound_server.pem and
719 unbound_control.pem).
720
722 unbound.conf(5), unbound(8).
723NLnet Labs dec 12, 2019 unbound-control(8)