pdnsutil

Synopsis

pdnsutil [OPTION]… COMMAND

Description

pdnsutil (formerly pdnssec) is a powerful command that is the operator-friendly gateway into DNSSEC and zone management for PowerDNS. Behind the scenes, pdnsutil manipulates a PowerDNS backend database, which also means that for many databases, pdnsutil can be run remotely, and can configure key material on different servers.

Options

-h, --help	Show summary of options
-v, --verbose	Be more verbose.
--force	Force an action
--config-name <NAME>
	Virtual configuration name
--config-dir <DIR>
	Location of pdns.conf. Default is /etc/powerdns.

COMMANDS

There are many available commands, this section splits them up into their respective uses

DNSSEC RELATED COMMANDS

Several commands manipulate the DNSSEC keys and options for zones. Some of these commands require an ALGORITHM to be set. The following algorithms are supported:

• rsasha1
• rsasha1-nsec3-sha1
• rsasha256
• rsasha512
• ecdsa256
• ecdsa384
• ed25519
• ed448

activate-zone-key ZONE KEY-ID

Activate a key with id KEY-ID within a zone called ZONE.

add-zone-key ZONE [KSK,ZSK] [active,inactive] [published,unpublished] KEYBITS ALGORITHM

Create a new key for zone ZONE, and make it a KSK or a ZSK (default), with the specified algorithm. The key is inactive by default, set it to active to immediately use it to sign ZONE. The key is published in the zone by default, set it to unpublished to keep it from being returned in a DNSKEY query, which is useful for algorithm rollovers. Prints the id of the added key.

create-bind-db FILE

Create DNSSEC database (sqlite3) at FILE for the BIND backend. Remember to set bind-dnssec-db=*FILE* in your pdns.conf.

deactivate-zone-key ZONE KEY-ID

Deactivate a key with id KEY-ID within a zone called ZONE.

disable-dnssec ZONE

Deactivate all keys and unset PRESIGNED in ZONE.

export-zone-dnskey ZONE KEY-ID

Export to standard output DNSKEY and DS of key with key id KEY-ID within zone called ZONE.

export-zone-ds ZONE

Export to standard output all KSK DS records for ZONE.

export-zone-key ZONE KEY-ID

Export to standard output full (private) key with key id KEY-ID within zone called ZONE. The format used is compatible with BIND and NSD/LDNS.

generate-zone-key {KSK,ZSK} [ALGORITHM] [KEYBITS]

Generate a ZSK or KSK to stdout with specified algorithm and bits and print it on STDOUT. If ALGORITHM is not set, ECDSA256 is used. If KEYBITS is not set, an appropriate keysize is selected for ALGORITHM. Each ECC-based algorithm supports only one valid KEYBITS value: For ECDSA256 and ED25519, it is 256; for ECDSA384, it is 384; and for ED448, it is 456.

import-zone-key ZONE FILE {KSK,ZSK}

Import from FILE a full (private) key for zone called ZONE. The format used is compatible with BIND and NSD/LDNS. KSK or ZSK specifies the flags this key should have on import. Prints the id of the added key.

publish-zone-key ZONE KEY-ID

Publish the key with id KEY-ID within a zone called ZONE.

remove-zone-key ZONE KEY-ID

Remove a key with id KEY-ID from a zone called ZONE.

set-nsec3 ZONE [’HASH-ALGORITHM FLAGS ITERATIONS SALT’] [narrow]

Sets NSEC3 parameters for this zone. The quoted parameters are 4 values that are used for the the NSEC3PARAM record and decide how NSEC3 records are created. The NSEC3 parameters must be quoted on the command line. HASH-ALGORITHM must be 1 (SHA-1). Setting FLAGS to 1 enables NSEC3 opt-out operation. Only do this if you know you need it. For ITERATIONS, please consult RFC 5155, section 10.3. And be aware that a high number might overload validating resolvers and that a limit can be set with max-nsec3-iterations in pdns.conf. The SALT is a hexadecimal string encoding the bits for the salt, or - to use no salt. Setting narrow will make PowerDNS send out “white lies” (RFC 7129) about the next secure record to prevent zone enumeration. Instead of looking it up in the database, it will send out the hash + 1 as the next secure record. Narrow mode requires online signing capabilities by the nameserver and therefore zone transfers are denied. If only the zone is provided as argument, the 4-parameter quoted string defaults to '1 0 1 ab'. A sample commandline is: pdnsutil set-nsec3 powerdnssec.org '1 1 1 ab' narrow. WARNING: If running in RSASHA1 mode (algorithm 5 or 7), switching from NSEC to NSEC3 will require a DS update in the parent zone.

unpublish-zone-key ZONE KEY-ID

Unpublish the key with id KEY-ID within a zone called ZONE.

unset-nsec3 ZONE

Converts ZONE to NSEC operations. WARNING: If running in RSASHA1 mode (algorithm 5 or 7), switching from NSEC to NSEC3 will require a DS update at the parent zone!

set-publish-cds ZONE [DIGESTALGOS]

Set ZONE to respond to queries for its CDS records. the optional argument DIGESTALGOS should be a comma-separated list of DS algorithms to use. By default, this is 2 (SHA-256). 0 will publish a CDS with a DNSSEC delete algorithm.

set-publish-cdnskey ZONE [delete]

Set ZONE to publish CDNSKEY records. Add ‘delete’ to publish a CDNSKEY with a DNSSEC delete algorithm.

unset-publish-cds ZONE

Set ZONE to stop responding to queries for its CDS records.

unset-publish-cdnskey ZONE

Set ZONE to stop publishing CDNSKEY records.

TSIG RELATED COMMANDS

These commands manipulate TSIG key information in the database. Some commands require an ALGORITHM, the following are available:

• hmac-md5
• hmac-sha1
• hmac-sha224
• hmac-sha256
• hmac-sha384
• hmac-sha512

activate-tsig-key ZONE NAME {primary,secondary}

Enable TSIG authenticated AXFR using the key NAME for zone ZONE. This sets the TSIG-ALLOW-AXFR (primary) or AXFR-MASTER-TSIG (secondary) zone metadata.

deactivate-tsig-key ZONE NAME {primary,secondary}

Disable TSIG authenticated AXFR using the key NAME for zone ZONE.

delete-tsig-key NAME

Delete the TSIG key NAME. Warning, this does not deactivate said key.

generate-tsig-key NAME ALGORITHM

Generate new TSIG key with name NAME and the specified algorithm.

import-tsig-key NAME ALGORITHM KEY

Import KEY of the specified algorithm as NAME.

list-tsig-keys

Show a list of all configured TSIG keys.

ZONE MANIPULATION COMMANDS

add-record ZONE NAME TYPE [TTL] CONTENT

Add one or more records of NAME and TYPE to ZONE with CONTENT and optional TTL. If TTL is not set, default will be used.

add-autoprimary IP NAMESERVER [ACCOUNT]

Add a autoprimary entry into the backend. This enables receiving zone updates from other servers.

create-zone ZONE

Create an empty zone named ZONE.

create-secondary-zone ZONE PRIMARY [PRIMARY]..

Create a new secondary zone ZONE with primaries PRIMARY. All PRIMARYs need to to be space-separated IP addresses with an optional port.

change-secondary-zone-primary ZONE PRIMARY [PRIMARY]..

Change the primaries for secondary zone ZONE to new primaries PRIMARY. All PRIMARYs need to to be space-separated IP addresses with an optional port.

check-all-zones

Check all zones for correctness.

check-zone ZONE

Check zone ZONE for correctness.

clear-zone ZONE

Clear the records in zone ZONE, but leave actual zone and settings unchanged

delete-rrset ZONE NAME TYPE

Delete named RRSET from zone.

delete-zone ZONE:

Delete the zone named ZONE.

edit-zone ZONE

Opens ZONE in zonefile format (regardless of backend it was loaded from) in the editor set in the environment variable EDITOR. if EDITOR is empty, pdnsutil falls back to using editor.

get-meta ZONE [ATTRIBUTE]…

Get zone metadata. If no ATTRIBUTE given, lists all known.

hash-zone-record ZONE RNAME

This convenience command hashes the name RNAME according to the NSEC3 settings of ZONE. Refuses to hash for zones with no NSEC3 settings.

increase-serial ZONE

Increases the SOA-serial by 1. Uses SOA-EDIT.

list-keys [ZONE]

List DNSSEC information for all keys or for ZONE. –verbose or -v will also include the keys for disabled or empty zones.

list-all-zones:

List all active zone names. –verbose or -v will also include disabled or empty zones.

list-zone ZONE

Show all records for ZONE.

load-zone ZONE FILE

Load records for ZONE from FILE. If ZONE already exists, all records are overwritten, this operation is atomic. If ZONE doesn’t exist, it is created.

rectify-zone ZONE

Calculates the ‘ordername’ and ‘auth’ fields for a zone called ZONE so they comply with DNSSEC settings. Can be used to fix up migrated data. Can always safely be run, it does no harm.

rectify-all-zones

Calculates the ‘ordername’ and ‘auth’ fields for all zones so they comply with DNSSEC settings. Can be used to fix up migrated data. Can always safely be run, it does no harm.

replace-rrset ZONE NAME TYPE [TTL] CONTENT [CONTENT..]

Replace existing NAME in zone ZONE with a new set.

secure-zone ZONE

Configures a zone called ZONE with reasonable DNSSEC settings. You should manually run ‘pdnsutil rectify-zone’ afterwards.

secure-all-zones [increase-serial]

Configures all zones that are not currently signed with reasonable DNSSEC settings. Setting increase-serial will increase the serial of those zones too. You should manually run ‘pdnsutil rectify-all-zones’ afterwards.

set-kind ZONE KIND

Change the kind of ZONE to KIND (primary, secondary, native).

set-account ZONE ACCOUNT

Change the account (owner) of ZONE to ACCOUNT.

add-meta ZONE ATTRIBUTE VALUE [VALUE]…

Append VALUE to the existing ATTRIBUTE metadata for ZONE. Will return an error if ATTRIBUTE does not support multiple values, use set-meta for these values.

set-meta ZONE ATTRIBUTE [VALUE]…

Set zonemetadata ATTRIBUTE for ZONE to VALUE. An empty value clears it.

set-presigned ZONE

Switches ZONE to presigned operation, utilizing in-zone RRSIGs.

show-zone ZONE

Shows all DNSSEC related settings of a zone called ZONE.

test-schema ZONE

Test database schema, this creates the zone ZONE

unset-presigned ZONE

Disables presigned operation for ZONE.

raw-lua-from-content TYPE CONTENT

Display record contents in a form suitable for dnsdist’s SpoofRawAction.

DEBUGGING TOOLS

backend-cmd BACKEND CMD [CMD..]

Send a text command to a backend for execution. GSQL backends will take SQL commands, other backends may take different things. Be careful!

bench-db [FILE]

Perform a benchmark of the backend-database. FILE can be a file with a list, one per line, of zone names to use for this. If FILE is not specified, powerdns.com is used.

OTHER TOOLS

ipencrypt IP-ADDRESS password

Encrypt an IP address according to the ‘ipcipher’ standard

ipdecrypt IP-ADDRESS password

Encrypt an IP address according to the ‘ipcipher’ standard

See also

pdns_server (1), pdns_control (1)