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    View DNS Registrations

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved DHCP and DNS
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    • B
      benjamintanner904
      last edited by

      I've been using PF Sense for a few years for home use. I have a fairly simple home network of cameras, APs, computers, etc. Recently, I noticed my internal DNS stopped working, all except for my synology. Before I delve too much into the details of my troubleshooting efforts, I would like to know where I can see DNS registrations on PF sense. Maybe that's not the correct terminology, but surely there is a list somewhere that can be viewed of name to IP records.

      I'm aware of the DNS look up tool. That's not what I'm looking for.

      I'm aware of the host overrides (the synology is not in that list)

      If there is not a list/table, how does pfsense do local DNS resolution? What does it reference?

      Thank you

      johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • JonathanLeeJ
        JonathanLee
        last edited by

        PfSense uses unbound DNS

        Make sure to upvote

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • johnpozJ
          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @benjamintanner904
          last edited by johnpoz

          @benjamintanner904 did you switch to kea for dhcp - it doesn't support dns registration, be it dynamic or reservations.. Kea is currently preview..

          Your nas could just be answering via a mdns query, which is multicast and the answer comes direct for what your looking for when it sees a query for its name.

          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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          • B
            benjamintanner904
            last edited by

            What does unbound DNS mean? How does it resolve local names?

            I did switch to kea dhcp, but switched back as part of troubleshooting.

            johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • johnpozJ
              johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @benjamintanner904
              last edited by johnpoz

              @benjamintanner904 huh? Unbound is the dns server that pfsense uses..

              https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/projects/unbound/about/

              Yes it can resolve your local names if you register either dynamic dhcp clients (this restarts unbound every lease).. Or register your static/reservations dhcp.. Only starts when when you add or change these, etc. Or it can resolve host overrides you create.

              It then resolves, or can forward for your external dns like www.google.com

              An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
              If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
              Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
              SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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              • B
                benjamintanner904
                last edited by

                So back to my question, where can I see a list of registrations?

                Are you saying it references DHCP leases directly for name resolution?

                If a client has a static IP, it would need to register it's name - where do I see this on pfsense?

                johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • johnpozJ
                  johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @benjamintanner904
                  last edited by johnpoz

                  @benjamintanner904 Not sure what part your not getting if you are using kea, there is no registrations?

                  But if you were using isc and set to register dynamic or your reservations you would see them here.

                  example here is mine.

                  [24.03-RELEASE][admin@sg4860.home.arpa]/var/unbound: cat host_entries.conf
local-zone: "home.arpa." transparent
local-data-ptr: "127.0.0.1 localhost.home.arpa"
local-data: "localhost. A 127.0.0.1"
local-data: "localhost.home.arpa. A 127.0.0.1"
local-data-ptr: "::1 localhost.home.arpa"
local-data: "localhost. AAAA ::1"
local-data: "localhost.home.arpa. AAAA ::1"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.9.253 sg4860.home.arpa"
local-data: "sg4860.home.arpa. A 192.168.9.253"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.9.10 nas.home.arpa"
local-data: "nas.home.arpa. A 192.168.9.10"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.9.100 i9-win.home.arpa"
local-data: "i9-win.home.arpa. A 192.168.9.100"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.2.5 FlexHD.home.arpa"
local-data: "FlexHD.home.arpa. A 192.168.2.5"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.2.9 n40l.home.arpa"
local-data: "n40l.home.arpa. A 192.168.2.9"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.2.12 NewUC.home.arpa"
local-data: "NewUC.home.arpa. A 192.168.2.12"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.2.13 UC.home.arpa"
local-data: "UC.home.arpa. A 192.168.2.13"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.2.198 Johns-13.home.arpa"
local-data: "Johns-13.home.arpa. A 192.168.2.198"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.2.200 New-Ipad.home.arpa"
local-data: "New-Ipad.home.arpa. A 192.168.2.200"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.2.203 Kims-iphone.home.arpa"
local-data: "Kims-iphone.home.arpa. A 192.168.2.203"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.3.10 pihole.home.arpa"
local-data: "pihole.home.arpa. A 192.168.3.10"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.3.32 ntp.home.arpa"
local-data: "ntp.home.arpa. A 192.168.3.32"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.3.99 Chamberlin-Hub.home.arpa"
local-data: "Chamberlin-Hub.home.arpa. A 192.168.3.99"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.4.49 iRobot.home.arpa"
local-data: "iRobot.home.arpa. A 192.168.4.49"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.4.50 chair-lamp.home.arpa"
local-data: "chair-lamp.home.arpa. A 192.168.4.50"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.4.51 D7.home.arpa"
local-data: "D7.home.arpa. A 192.168.4.51"
local-data-ptr: "192.168.4.52 D2.home.arpa"
local-data: "D2.home.arpa. A 192.168.4.52"

                  Data snipped for brevity..

                  The "client" doesn't register it, the dhpd lease does - be it a dynamic lease, or a static/reservation lease.

                  If you set a static on the client - then you would create a host override for that IP and name you want in the host override section of unbound.

                  An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                  If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                  Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                  SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

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                  • B
                    benjamintanner904
                    last edited by benjamintanner904

                    Perfect, thanks!
                    Although, is this seriously not available in the GUI?

                    All I've got is my one host override and the FW itself. I am assuming you are correct about my synology answering via mDNS.

                    I'm coming from Windows Server DNS, so it seems odd to me that pfsense doesn't respond to DNS registration requests (such as from ipconfig /registerdns on a windows client). In any case, you've answered my question.

                    Where do you think I should look from here as to why my DHCP leases aren't registering in DNS? For example, the desktop I'm on now has a static reservation in dhcp and is not listed in host_entries.conf

                    Appreciate your help! Sorry for the delays in responses.

                    johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • johnpozJ
                      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @benjamintanner904
                      last edited by

                      @benjamintanner904 Are you using kea as dhcp then that is not supported!

                      You sure your switched back? Do you have it set to register dynamic or static in unbound settings?

                      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

                      B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • B
                        benjamintanner904 @johnpoz
                        last edited by

                        It is switched back to ISC and thought I was sure it was set to register dynamic and static leases (I mean, it worked before, so it had to be set at some point). However, I realized I didn't do a full reboot since switching back to ISC, and after doing that, those were both unchecked... Either I'm crazy or it was a gui glitch resolved by the reboot.

                        Thank you very much for your time

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