1unbound-control(8) unbound 1.10.0 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_remove view
338 Remove a list of local_data for given view from stdin. Like
339 local_datas_remove.
340 view_local_datas view
342 Add a list of local_data for given view from stdin. Like
343 local_datas.
344
346 The unbound-control program exits with status code 1 on error, 0 on
347 success.
348
350 The setup requires a self-signed certificate and private keys for both
351 the server and client. The script unbound-control-setup generates
352 these in the default run directory, or with -d in another directory.
353 If you change the access control permissions on the key files you can
354 decide who can use unbound-control, by default owner and group but not
355 all users. Run the script under the same username as you have config‐
356 ured in unbound.conf or as root, so that the daemon is permitted to
357 read the files, for example with:
358 sudo -u unbound unbound-control-setup
359 If you have not configured a username in unbound.conf, the keys need
360 read permission for the user credentials under which the daemon is
361 started. The script preserves private keys present in the directory.
362 After running the script as root, turn on control-enable in
363 unbound.conf.
364
366 The stats command shows a number of statistic counters.
367 threadX.num.queries
369 number of queries received by thread
370 threadX.num.queries_ip_ratelimited
372 number of queries rate limited by thread
373 threadX.num.cachehits
375 number of queries that were successfully answered using a cache
376 lookup
377 threadX.num.cachemiss
379 number of queries that needed recursive processing
380 threadX.num.dnscrypt.crypted
382 number of queries that were encrypted and successfully decapsu‐
383 lated by dnscrypt.
384 threadX.num.dnscrypt.cert
386 number of queries that were requesting dnscrypt certificates.
387 threadX.num.dnscrypt.cleartext
389 number of queries received on dnscrypt port that were cleartext
390 and not a request for certificates.
391 threadX.num.dnscrypt.malformed
393 number of request that were neither cleartext, not valid
394 dnscrypt messages.
395 threadX.num.prefetch
397 number of cache prefetches performed. This number is included
398 in cachehits, as the original query had the unprefetched answer
399 from cache, and resulted in recursive processing, taking a slot
400 in the requestlist. Not part of the recursivereplies (or the
401 histogram thereof) or cachemiss, as a cache response was sent.
402 threadX.num.expired
404 number of replies that served an expired cache entry.
405 threadX.num.recursivereplies
407 The number of replies sent to queries that needed recursive pro‐
408 cessing. Could be smaller than threadX.num.cachemiss if due to
409 timeouts no replies were sent for some queries.
410 threadX.requestlist.avg
412 The average number of requests in the internal recursive pro‐
413 cessing request list on insert of a new incoming recursive pro‐
414 cessing query.
415 threadX.requestlist.max
417 Maximum size attained by the internal recursive processing
418 request list.
419 threadX.requestlist.overwritten
421 Number of requests in the request list that were overwritten by
422 newer entries. This happens if there is a flood of queries that
423 recursive processing and the server has a hard time.
424 threadX.requestlist.exceeded
426 Queries that were dropped because the request list was full.
427 This happens if a flood of queries need recursive processing,
428 and the server can not keep up.
429 threadX.requestlist.current.all
431 Current size of the request list, includes internally generated
432 queries (such as priming queries and glue lookups).
433 threadX.requestlist.current.user
435 Current size of the request list, only the requests from client
436 queries.
437 threadX.recursion.time.avg
439 Average time it took to answer queries that needed recursive
440 processing. Note that queries that were answered from the cache
441 are not in this average.
442 threadX.recursion.time.median
444 The median of the time it took to answer queries that needed
445 recursive processing. The median means that 50% of the user
446 queries were answered in less than this time. Because of big
447 outliers (usually queries to non responsive servers), the aver‐
448 age can be bigger than the median. This median has been calcu‐
449 lated by interpolation from a histogram.
450 threadX.tcpusage
452 The currently held tcp buffers for incoming connections. A spot
453 value on the time of the request. This helps you spot if the
454 incoming-num-tcp buffers are full.
455 total.num.queries
457 summed over threads.
458 total.num.cachehits
460 summed over threads.
461 total.num.cachemiss
463 summed over threads.
464 total.num.dnscrypt.crypted
466 summed over threads.
467 total.num.dnscrypt.cert
469 summed over threads.
470 total.num.dnscrypt.cleartext
472 summed over threads.
473 total.num.dnscrypt.malformed
475 summed over threads.
476 total.num.prefetch
478 summed over threads.
479 total.num.expired
481 summed over threads.
482 total.num.recursivereplies
484 summed over threads.
485 total.requestlist.avg
487 averaged over threads.
488 total.requestlist.max
490 the maximum of the thread requestlist.max values.
491 total.requestlist.overwritten
493 summed over threads.
494 total.requestlist.exceeded
496 summed over threads.
497 total.requestlist.current.all
499 summed over threads.
500 total.recursion.time.median
502 averaged over threads.
503 total.tcpusage
505 summed over threads.
506 time.now
508 current time in seconds since 1970.
509 time.up
511 uptime since server boot in seconds.
512 time.elapsed
514 time since last statistics printout, in seconds.
515
517 mem.cache.rrset
518 Memory in bytes in use by the RRset cache.
519 mem.cache.message
521 Memory in bytes in use by the message cache.
522 mem.cache.dnscrypt_shared_secret
524 Memory in bytes in use by the dnscrypt shared secrets cache.
525 mem.cache.dnscrypt_nonce
527 Memory in bytes in use by the dnscrypt nonce cache.
528 mem.mod.iterator
530 Memory in bytes in use by the iterator module.
531 mem.mod.validator
533 Memory in bytes in use by the validator module. Includes the key
534 cache and negative cache.
535 mem.streamwait
537 Memory in bytes in used by the TCP and TLS stream wait buffers.
538 These are answers waiting to be written back to the clients.
539 histogram.<sec>.<usec>.to.<sec>.<usec>
541 Shows a histogram, summed over all threads. Every element counts
542 the recursive queries whose reply time fit between the lower and
543 upper bound. Times larger or equal to the lowerbound, and
544 smaller than the upper bound. There are 40 buckets, with bucket
545 sizes doubling.
546 num.query.type.A
548 The total number of queries over all threads with query type A.
549 Printed for the other query types as well, but only for the
550 types for which queries were received, thus =0 entries are omit‐
551 ted for brevity.
552 num.query.type.other
554 Number of queries with query types 256-65535.
555 num.query.class.IN
557 The total number of queries over all threads with query class IN
558 (internet). Also printed for other classes (such as CH (CHAOS)
559 sometimes used for debugging), or NONE, ANY, used by dynamic
560 update. num.query.class.other is printed for classes 256-65535.
561 num.query.opcode.QUERY
563 The total number of queries over all threads with query opcode
564 QUERY. Also printed for other opcodes, UPDATE, ...
565 num.query.tcp
567 Number of queries that were made using TCP towards the unbound
568 server.
569 num.query.tcpout
571 Number of queries that the unbound server made using TCP outgo‐
572 ing towards other servers.
573 num.query.tls
575 Number of queries that were made using TLS towards the unbound
576 server. These are also counted in num.query.tcp, because TLS
577 uses TCP.
578 num.query.tls.resume
580 Number of TLS session resumptions, these are queries over TLS
581 towards the unbound server where the client negotiated a TLS
582 session resumption key.
583 num.query.ipv6
585 Number of queries that were made using IPv6 towards the unbound
586 server.
587 num.query.flags.RD
589 The number of queries that had the RD flag set in the header.
590 Also printed for flags QR, AA, TC, RA, Z, AD, CD. Note that
591 queries with flags QR, AA or TC may have been rejected because
592 of that.
593 num.query.edns.present
595 number of queries that had an EDNS OPT record present.
596 num.query.edns.DO
598 number of queries that had an EDNS OPT record with the DO
599 (DNSSEC OK) bit set. These queries are also included in the
600 num.query.edns.present number.
601 num.query.ratelimited
603 The number of queries that are turned away from being send to
604 nameserver due to ratelimiting.
605 num.query.dnscrypt.shared_secret.cachemiss
607 The number of dnscrypt queries that did not find a shared secret
608 in the cache. The can be use to compute the shared secret
609 hitrate.
610 num.query.dnscrypt.replay
612 The number of dnscrypt queries that found a nonce hit in the
613 nonce cache and hence are considered a query replay.
614 num.answer.rcode.NXDOMAIN
616 The number of answers to queries, from cache or from recursion,
617 that had the return code NXDOMAIN. Also printed for the other
618 return codes.
619 num.answer.rcode.nodata
621 The number of answers to queries that had the pseudo return code
622 nodata. This means the actual return code was NOERROR, but
623 additionally, no data was carried in the answer (making what is
624 called a NOERROR/NODATA answer). These queries are also
625 included in the num.answer.rcode.NOERROR number. Common for
626 AAAA lookups when an A record exists, and no AAAA.
627 num.answer.secure
629 Number of answers that were secure. The answer validated cor‐
630 rectly. The AD bit might have been set in some of these
631 answers, where the client signalled (with DO or AD bit in the
632 query) that they were ready to accept the AD bit in the answer.
633 num.answer.bogus
635 Number of answers that were bogus. These answers resulted in
636 SERVFAIL to the client because the answer failed validation.
637 num.rrset.bogus
639 The number of rrsets marked bogus by the validator. Increased
640 for every RRset inspection that fails.
641 unwanted.queries
643 Number of queries that were refused or dropped because they
644 failed the access control settings.
645 unwanted.replies
647 Replies that were unwanted or unsolicited. Could have been ran‐
648 dom traffic, delayed duplicates, very late answers, or could be
649 spoofing attempts. Some low level of late answers and delayed
650 duplicates are to be expected with the UDP protocol. Very high
651 values could indicate a threat (spoofing).
652 msg.cache.count
654 The number of items (DNS replies) in the message cache.
655 rrset.cache.count
657 The number of RRsets in the rrset cache. This includes rrsets
658 used by the messages in the message cache, but also delegation
659 information.
660 infra.cache.count
662 The number of items in the infra cache. These are IP addresses
663 with their timing and protocol support information.
664 key.cache.count
666 The number of items in the key cache. These are DNSSEC keys,
667 one item per delegation point, and their validation status.
668 dnscrypt_shared_secret.cache.count
670 The number of items in the shared secret cache. These are pre‐
671 computed shared secrets for a given client public key/server
672 secret key pair. Shared secrets are CPU intensive and this cache
673 allows unbound to avoid recomputing the shared secret when mul‐
674 tiple dnscrypt queries are sent from the same client.
675 dnscrypt_nonce.cache.count
677 The number of items in the client nonce cache. This cache is
678 used to prevent dnscrypt queries replay. The client nonce must
679 be unique for each client public key/server secret key pair.
680 This cache should be able to host QPS * `replay window` interval
681 keys to prevent replay of a query during `replay window` sec‐
682 onds.
683 num.query.authzone.up
685 The number of queries answered from auth-zone data, upstream
686 queries. These queries would otherwise have been sent (with
687 fallback enabled) to the internet, but are now answered from the
688 auth zone.
689 num.query.authzone.down
691 The number of queries for downstream answered from auth-zone
692 data. These queries are from downstream clients, and have had
693 an answer from the data in the auth zone.
694 num.query.aggressive.NOERROR
696 The number of queries answered using cached NSEC records with
697 NODATA RCODE. These queries would otherwise have been sent to
698 the internet, but are now answered using cached data.
699 num.query.aggressive.NXDOMAIN
701 The number of queries answered using cached NSEC records with
702 NXDOMAIN RCODE. These queries would otherwise have been sent to
703 the internet, but are now answered using cached data.
704 num.query.subnet
706 Number of queries that got an answer that contained EDNS client
707 subnet data.
708 num.query.subnet_cache
710 Number of queries answered from the edns client subnet cache.
711 These are counted as cachemiss by the main counters, but hit the
712 client subnet specific cache, after getting processed by the
713 edns client subnet module.
714 num.rpz.action.<rpz_action>
716 Number of queries answered using configured RPZ policy, per RPZ
717 action type. Possible actions are: nxdomain, nodata, passthru,
718 drop, local_data, disabled, and cname_override.
719
721 /etc/unbound/unbound.conf
722 unbound configuration file.
723 /etc/unbound
725 directory with private keys (unbound_server.key and unbound_con‐
726 trol.key) and self-signed certificates (unbound_server.pem and
727 unbound_control.pem).
728
730 unbound.conf(5), unbound(8).
731NLnet Labs Feb 20, 2020 unbound-control(8)