Ubuntu – dnsmasq not working to point .local addresses to 127.0.0.1

dnsdnsmasqnetworkingUbuntu

I'd like to get .local addresses (such as test.local) to point to 127.0.0.1 but it isn't working. I'm on latest Ubuntu. In /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf I commented out dns=dnsmasq then did sudo service network-manager restart.

I then installed dnsmasq and added a address=/local/127.0.0.1 to /etc/dnsmasq.d/mycustomfile then did sudo service dnsmasq restart. Apart from what I've mentioned I made no other changes.

But when I visit test.local it doesn't resolve to 127.0.0.1, doing a ping of that .local address also isn't successful. Maybe the contents of /etc/resolv.conf are relevant, it is just the default I didn't change it:

# Dynamic resolv.conf(5) file for glibc resolver(3) generated by resolvconf(8)
#     DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND -- YOUR CHANGES WILL BE OVERWRITTEN
nameserver 222.11.22.36
nameserver 222.11.22.37

This is the output when I run dnsmasq not as a daemon:

$ sudo dnsmasq --no-daemon     
dnsmasq: started, version 2.68 cachesize 150
dnsmasq: compile time options: IPv6 GNU-getopt DBus i18n IDN DHCP DHCPv6 no-Lua TFTP conntrack ipset auth
dnsmasq: reading /etc/resolv.conf
dnsmasq: using nameserver 222.11.22.37#53
dnsmasq: using nameserver 222.11.22.36#53
dnsmasq: read /etc/hosts - 9 addresses

When dnsmasq is running the /etc/resolv.conf automatically updates (and reverts back to the entry above when dnsmasq is stopped):

# Dynamic resolv.conf(5) file for glibc resolver(3) generated by resolvconf(8)
#     DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND -- YOUR CHANGES WILL BE OVERWRITTEN
nameserver 127.0.0.1

And this:

$ sudo nslookup test.local 127.0.0.1
Server:         127.0.0.1
Address:        127.0.0.1#53

Name:   test.local
Address: 127.0.0.1

But still doing a ping to localhost doesn't work.

What do I need to do to get dnsmasq working to resolve .local addresses?

Best Answer

local seem to be some kind of reserved keyword, at least on Ubuntu:

address=/local/127.0.0.1 -- doesn't work.
address=/loc/127.0.0.1 -- works.

Related Solutions

MacOS Networking – How to Prepend 127.0.0.1 to DNS Servers List

First, using 127.0.0.1 AND the DHCP-assigned DNS server won't work. If OS X has multiple DNS servers configured, it doesn't try them in sequence, it does something more like round robin -- sending different requests to different servers more or less at random. Net result: some of the lookups you wanted handled by dnsmasq will go to the regular server instead (and get the wrong result), and some that you wanted sent to the regular server will go to dnsmasq (and fail). Not good.

Telling dnsmasq to use the DHCP-provided DNS server might be possible, but I don't see a clean way to do it. Instead, what I'd recommend is using a DNS config that overrides the regular DNS config for the domains you want specially handled. There are two options for this:

Skip dnsmasq, and put the hosts you want specially handled into /etc/hosts (see this article, for example).
Use /etc/resolver/ files to direct queries for specific domains to 127.0.0.1, overriding the general (DHCP-supplied) DNS server (see the man page for /etc/resolver and this Mac OS X Hints article. Essentially, you create the /etc/resolver folder, and put a file in it for each domain you want to override. E.g. /etc/resolver/somedomain.com would contain "nameserver 127.0.0.1".

Networking – DD-WRT: dnsmasq headaches with static hosts

I have quite a bit of experience with dnsmasq on dd-wrt and especially close to the date of this comment. I can share with you my working solution to each of the answers to each requirement. I will resist adding more.

Each option in your active /tmp/dnsmasq.conf posted above comes directly from the config options you have selected as described

Except

for your hostname= entry which you should not use imo. You want

Used Domain: [WAN/LAN] not Used Domain [WAN].

This will allow wired (LAN) and wireless (WAN) devices to work on your network.

Also pick a short Lan Domain: [dom ] or any short word besides local. Some use lan some use localdomain . This is required for your requirements and will provide an anchor faux internal only domain that only you and internal users will see/use. The value you choose will be put into each DHCP client's search dom resolver. I will use dom for the remainder but you can make it whatever you like.

I will start with the first two requirements.

DNS queries from the LAN/WLAN for hosts on the LAN/WLAN should be answered for both short names and FQDNs.
Since some of the devices are portable (like my phone), I need host.mydyndomain.net to resolve to a LAN IP when connected to the LAN and to the external IP when queried from outside the LAN.

For hosts having a different internal vs external ip but the same name on both sides of dd-wrt you need to have:

Add one line per resolvable host in your Static Leases just below your correctly empty Additional DHCP Options text area. Note the internal name web.dom or just web is for convenience when on the lan.

Note:

 [Static Leases++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++]    
  [MAC Address]       [Host Name   ][IP Address    ][Client Lease Time]
  [00:19:B9:5B:2B:A5] [web         ][192.168.2.5   ][             1440]

Notes: I thought this was used only for udhcpcd but this is also used by dnsmasq and will write both the actual dnsmasq.conf with correct dhcp-host= lines and puts a `ip host.dom entry for each in /tmp/hosts used by DNSMasq to do all the local name resolution.

I have a script and text file to create these entries as the web interface is a bit cumbersome. Here's what the script does in a nutshell.

macToHostNames.txt:
# comment lines ignored unless embedded set:tag values like set:kids 
# note the ip is just the HOST portion of the subnet, eg: 192.168.1.32 -> 1.32
# host      id       mac address        cnames/aliases for same box
kidhost1    1.32     00:MA:CA:DD:E5     alias1 nabi2 # in-line comment set:kid 
web         1.5      00:AM:AC:AD:ES     www homeweb  # web server with aliases
EOF
generate_Files_Then_Send_Then_Activate_If_Tests_Are_Ok.sh < macToHostNames.txt
# this script file creates 3 files which are sent along with a test script:
dnsmasq_options.new # nvram set dnsmasq_options="$(cat dnsmasq_options.new)"
static_leases.new   # nvram set static_leases="$(cat static_leases.new)"
static_leasenum.new # nvram set static_leasenum="$(cat static_leasnum.new)"
testDnsMasqOpts.sh  # scp -p *.new test*.sh admin@gw:/tmp && ssh admin@gw "/tmp/test*.sh"

add address=/web.dynip.org/<ip> lines in your DNSMasq Options box address=/web.mydyndomain.net/192.168.2.5 # add as many of these as you need
finally you need to update your DDNS config to provide the DDNS service mapping your external ISP provided dynamic ip address to resolve as web.mydyndomain.net. I presume you have successfully configured this part.

With this configuration you can ping web or ping web.dom or ping web.mydyndomain.net will return 192.168.2.5 while inside the firewall and access from outside by the name web.mydyndomain.org still works.

The other requirements are met by your other config but you can safely add these lines as I have tested MANY times (to the point of writing a script to execute one dnsmasq line at a time and showing me the offending line since ALL dns logging is left out for space in my latest dnsmasq build and all you can rely on is the return status of the dnsmasq: $?).

For the last requrements I will show you lines of my config with comments (note you can put comments in the DNSMasq Additional Options box).

Queries for DHCP leased hosts are being correctly returned (dd-wrt's "Local DNS" option for dnsmasq).
Queries to any random non-existant host incorrectly return the external WAN IP address. So, "nslookup foobarbaz" gives a result when it should return an error.

  domain-needed    # dont fwd to ext DNS names with no domain
  address=/web.mydnsdomain.org/192.168.2.5 # resolve to this internally!
  expand-hosts     # add .dom to host names without a domain 
  local=/dom/      # map all host.dom request to *this* dns
  bogus-priv       # reject local lookups not in hosts
  localise-queries # for local servers

I will throw in some non-related freebies of questionable value (and for offsite backup).

 no-ping          # some swear by this one to get DNSMasq to work!
 filterwin2k      # junk from MSFT boxen (remove this if ldap SRV used)
 cache-size=3000  # fast local DNS lookups 
 clear-on-reload  # clear ifr.c changes and sig received

To Limit the number of DNS servers you can do with the dhcp-options=6 as follows:

dhcp-options=lan,6,8.8.8.8 # this will send only one nameserver entry for all hosts

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MacOS Networking – How to Prepend 127.0.0.1 to DNS Servers List

Networking – DD-WRT: dnsmasq headaches with static hosts

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