acme-dns is a DNS server and protocol manager designed to proxy TXT records for ACME DNS-01 challenges. It enables the validation of domain ownership for automated certificate issuance without exposing primary DNS zone files or credentials to external clients.
The project utilizes CNAME-based delegation to offload verification from a primary zone to a specialized server. It provides a REST API for programmatically updating short-lived validation tokens, which is secured through CIDR-based network restrictions and automated TLS provisioning for the API interface.
The system supports stateless DNS proxying and the management of custom A, AAAA, and NS records. It includes server health monitoring via liveness and readiness probes for orchestration environments.
The service is available as a containerized deployment for consistent installation across different host operating systems.