DNSControl/dnscontrol
Dnscontrol
DNSControl is an infrastructure-as-code tool designed to manage DNS records and zones across multiple providers through a unified, programmable configuration language. By treating DNS as code, it enables teams to maintain consistent infrastructure state, automate record updates, and perform version-controlled management of network settings across diverse cloud, registrar, and network DNS services.
The system functions as a multi-provider orchestrator that uses a declarative reconciliation engine to compare local configurations against live remote states. It employs a provider-agnostic abstraction layer, allowing users to define DNS records once and synchronize them across different services while automatically calculating the necessary API calls to correct configuration drift. This approach prevents vendor lock-in and simplifies the management of complex, multi-provider environments.
Beyond core synchronization, the tool provides a comprehensive suite of automation and security capabilities. It includes features for compile-time validation, automated testing, and change previews to ensure configuration integrity before deployment. The platform also supports advanced traffic management, security-focused record generation, and extensive monitoring tools to audit changes and verify authoritative nameserver delegation.
DNSControl is distributed as a command-line utility that integrates with existing CI/CD workflows and version control systems. It supports modular configuration imports, dynamic variable injection, and interactive setup wizards to streamline the onboarding of new DNS providers and the maintenance of large-scale infrastructure.
Features
- Infrastructure as Code Tools - Provides a declarative infrastructure-as-code tool for managing DNS records and zones across multiple providers.
- Automated DNS Record Synchronization - Synchronizes DNS zone configurations with cloud providers by authenticating via API tokens and unified configuration definitions.
- Declarative Infrastructure Reconciliation - Maintains consistent DNS infrastructure state by continuously reconciling defined configurations with live remote records.
- Extensible Provider Frameworks - Implements a standard interface to integrate new DNS service providers into the infrastructure management system.
- Policy-as-Code Definitions - Enables managing DNS zones and records as version-controlled code using a domain-specific language.
- Programmatic Configuration Generation - Constructs domain records using a JavaScript-based language to enable dynamic generation and modular management.
- Automated DNS Managers - Automates the synchronization of DNS records and domain registrations across multiple cloud providers and registrars.
- Configuration Domain-Specific Languages - Provides a programmable domain-specific language for defining DNS infrastructure as code with support for variables and logic.
- API Credential Managers - Centralizes API keys and configuration parameters in files to enable secure and repeatable infrastructure synchronization.
- Cloud Authentication Providers - Supports static keys, environment variables, profiles, and roles to manage DNS records across multiple cloud accounts.
- Multi-Provider Orchestrators - Orchestrates DNS configurations across multiple hosting services to prevent vendor lock-in and ensure redundancy.
- Multi-Provider Synchronizers - Distributes DNS records across several providers simultaneously to enable redundancy and high-availability failover.
- Provider-Agnostic Interfaces - Maps unified configuration definitions to provider-specific API calls to hide vendor implementation details.
- Provisioning Automations - Applies identical record sets to multiple domains simultaneously using loops or custom functions to manage large-scale infrastructure.
- CentralNic Reseller Integrations - Connects to the reseller API to synchronize DNS records and domain registrations using account credentials.
- DNS Configuration Extensions - Appends additional records and metadata to defined domains using a longest-match algorithm to organize entries.
- Sandbox Testing - Routes API calls to isolated testing environments to verify configuration changes safely before production deployment.
- Configuration Imports - Loads multiple configuration files from directories using pattern matching to modularize infrastructure definitions.
- Cloud Provider Settings - Applies custom parameters and behavioral flags to DNS records that are unique to specific infrastructure providers.
- DNS Change Previews - Displays differences between local configurations and live remote states to verify updates before deployment.
- Infrastructure as Code Frameworks - Implements a framework for defining DNS infrastructure as code to enable automated provisioning and auditing.
- Infrastructure Automation Scripts - Uses variables and functions to dynamically generate and manage DNS records across different environments.
- Provider Plugin Architectures - Uses a standardized plugin interface to integrate and interact with various DNS service providers.
- Alibaba Cloud DNS Integrations - Synchronizes DNS records and manages zone configurations through a unified infrastructure-as-code interface.
- Google Cloud Integrations - Synchronizes DNS records to Google Cloud DNS using service account keys or application default credentials.
- DNS Forwarding Routing - Defines upstream DNS servers and aliases within network hardware to route domain queries with support for encrypted connections.
- Registrar Integrations - Connects to a domain registrar to automate the management of domain names and their associated registration details.
- Split-Horizon Views - Defines multiple configurations for the same domain using tags to serve different DNS records based on the request source.
- Domain-Based DNS Query Blockings - Configures network devices to return NXDOMAIN responses for specific domains to prevent resolution of unwanted traffic.
- DNS Record Management - Synchronizes static DNS entries and conditional forwarders on network devices via REST API.
- Alias Record Support - Maps domain names to cloud resources using specialized alias record types that resolve to target IP addresses.
- Custom Record Definitions - Supports specialized provider-specific record types such as URL redirects and pull zone identifiers alongside standard DNS records.
- Gandi Integrations - Synchronizes DNS records and domain registration settings with the Gandi LiveDNS platform.
- Geographic DNS Records - Simplifies creation of location records by accepting coordinate strings and calculating provider parameters.
- Hetzner Integrations - Synchronizes DNS records with the Hetzner platform by authenticating with an API token.
- IPv6 Record Generation - Creates IPv6 address records for domains by specifying labels and address strings.
- PTR Record Mapping - Creates PTR resource records for reverse DNS lookups with automatic IP-to-reverse conversion.
- Record Attribute Configuration - Applies settings like time-to-live values to individual DNS records to control resolution behavior.
- Record Management Exclusions - Prevents the system from modifying specific DNS records managed by external services to avoid conflicts.
- Record Set Variables - Defines collections of DNS records as variables to apply consistent configurations across multiple domains.
- Record Type Optimizations - Flattens SPF includes and removes duplicates to optimize DNS lookup counts and improve configuration efficiency.
- TXT Record Management - Manages DNS TXT records with automated handling for complex string quoting and splitting.
- Reverse DNS Zone Calculation - Calculates correct reverse lookup domain strings from IP networks to simplify reverse DNS zone definitions.
- Akamai DNS Integrations - Synchronizes DNS zone configurations with edge DNS services using API-based authentication and proprietary record types.
- AutoDNS Integrations - Synchronizes DNS zone records with the provider by authenticating through a service account and context identifier.
- Exoscale Integrations - Synchronizes DNS zone records with the Exoscale platform by authenticating through a credentials file.
- FortiGate Integrations - Synchronizes DNS records and zones on Fortinet devices by communicating with the REST API.
- DNS Zone Transfers - Updates DNS records on authoritative servers using zone transfers and dynamic update protocols with TSIG authentication.
- Zone File Parsers - Generates standard BIND-style zone files from existing provider records for backups and migrations.
- CNAME Flattening Tools - Resolves CNAME targets to IP addresses at the edge to allow root-level domain aliasing.
- Provider-Specific Routing Metadata - Applies provider-specific metadata to DNS records to enable weighted load balancing and intelligent resolution lines.
- IPv4 Address Records - Maps domain names to specific IPv4 addresses for network routing and host resolution.
- Apex Domain Configurations - Maps domain apex to CDN targets to enable traffic routing for root-level domains.
- Dynamic Computations - Executes logic at query time to determine record values, enabling traffic steering, geo-location routing, and health-based failover.
- Zone-Specific Configurations - Manages primary name server and refresh interval settings to control zone authority across different providers.
- Dynamic Variable Injection - Injects dynamic variables into configuration files to enable flexible and environment-aware DNS record generation.
- Record Construction and Updates - Provides helper functions to construct complex DNS record sets like CAA and DKIM with correct formatting.
- Azure DNS Integrations - Synchronizes DNS zone records by mapping a unified configuration language to the specific requirements and API structure of the platform.
- DNS Security - Configures cryptographic signing for DNS zones to verify record authenticity and protect against cache poisoning.
- Cloudflare Integrations - Authenticates with the provider using API tokens or keys to enable automated management of DNS records and infrastructure settings.
- ClouDNS Integrations - Synchronizes DNS records and configurations to the provider using a unified infrastructure-as-code language.
- DNSimple Integrations - Connects to the DNSimple API to synchronize DNS records and domain registrations using a unified configuration language.
- Domainnameshop Integrations - Authenticates with the Domainnameshop API to synchronize and update DNS records across managed domains.
- Dynu Integrations - Synchronizes DNS zone configurations and record sets with the Dynu provider using an API key for authentication.
- Gcore Integrations - Synchronizes DNS records and manages GeoDNS or failover configurations by authenticating with a provider-specific API key.
- Huawei Cloud Integrations - Synchronizes DNS records with Huawei Cloud by authenticating via API credentials and automatically creating missing domains.
- Infomaniak Integrations - Authenticates with the Infomaniak API using a personal access token to synchronize DNS records and zone configurations.
- Joker Integrations - Synchronizes DNS zone records with the Joker provider using either account credentials or an API key.
- Route 53 Integrations - Provides provider-specific settings for Route 53 records to integrate with cloud-native traffic management and health checks.
- Stored Credential Retrievals - Executes external commands to retrieve credentials at runtime for secure integration with secret management systems.
- Provider Capability Advertisements - Specifies supported record types and features to ensure configuration validation aligns with provider capabilities.
- Compile-Time Validators - Validates DNS record constraints and syntax during the build process to prevent deployment errors.
- Nameserver Monitors - Verifies that active nameservers match the expected configuration by performing periodic lookups.
- Desired State Restoration - Calculates differences between local configurations and remote provider states to apply only necessary updates.
- Domain Setting Configurations - Applies global settings like time-to-live values and safety overrides to control domain synchronization.
- Default Domain Settings - Sets common configuration arguments for all subsequent domain definitions to ensure consistency across managed zones.
- Health Check Associations - Links existing external health checks to specific DNS records to enable automated traffic routing based on endpoint availability.
- Delegation Monitors - Tracks authoritative nameservers for a domain and alerts if the actual delegation diverges from the defined configuration.
- HTTPS Configuration - Defines HTTPS resource records with priority, target address, and connection parameters for service binding.
- DNS Management - Synchronize DNS records across multiple providers using a DSL.
