RESOLVCONF(8)

NAME
resolvconf - manage nameserver information

SYNOPSIS
cat FILE | resolvconf -a INTERFACE

resolvconf -d INTERFACE

resolvconf -u

DESCRIPTION
Overwrite (-a) or delete (-d) the nameserver information record for network interface INTERFACE and run the update scripts in /etc/resolvconf/update.d/ if the nameserver information has changed.

With -u, just run the update scripts.

PUBLICATION
Normally resolvconf is run only by hook scripts attached to network interface configurers such as pppd(8) (for ppp interfaces), to DHCP clients such as dhclient(8), to ifup(8) and ifdown, and to DNS caches such as dnsmasq(8) (for the loopback interface). These hook scripts furnish resolvconf with information about nameservers. For example, dhclient receives one or more nameserver addresses during its negotiation with the DHCP server; its hook script /etc/dhcp3/dhclient-enter-hooks.d/resolvconf publishes this information to resolvconf.

The ifup(8) program can be used to configure network interfaces according to settings in /etc/network/interfaces(5). To make ifup publish nameserver information to resolvconf when it configures an interface, add dns- lines to the relevant iface stanza in /etc/network/interfaces. To add nameserver addresses add a line beginning with dns-nameservers.

        dns-nameservers 11.22.33.44 55.66.77.88

Note that one or more addresses can be given, and note the `s' at the end of the option name. (Contrast with the resolv.conf(5) option nameserver.) For each other valid resolv.conf(5) configuration option, you can include, in the stanza, one line beginning with that option name with a dns- prefix. The resulting stanza might look like the following example.

        iface eth0 inet static
            address 192.168.3.3
            netmask 255.255.255.0
            gateway 192.168.3.1
            dns-nameservers 192.168.3.45 192.168.8.10
            dns-search foo.org bar.com

See the resolvconf package's README file for more detailed information. For more information about the dns-* options, e.g., dns-search, see resolv.conf(5).

The administrator can run resolvconf from the command line to add or delete nameserver information, but this is not normally necessary.

SUBSCRIPTION
Nameserver information provided to resolvconf is stored for use by subscribers to resolvconf's notification service. Subscribers that need to know when nameserver information has changed should install a script in /etc/resolvconf/update.d/ (... or in /etc/resolvconf/update-libc.d/: see below). For example, DNS caches such as dnsmasq(8) and pdnsd(8) subscribe to the notification service so that they know whither to forward queries.

The most important piece of software that subscribes to the notification service is the set of functions that make up the GNU C Library resolver(3). When nameserver information is updated the script /etc/resolvconf/update.d/libc writes a new resolver configuration file to /etc/resolvconf/run/resolv.conf and then runs the scripts in /etc/resolvconf/update-libc.d/. To make the resolver use the dynamically generated resolver configuration file the administrator should ensure that /etc/resolv.conf is a symbolic link to /etc/resolvconf/run/resolv.conf. This link is never modified by /sbin/resolvconf. If you find that /etc/resolv.conf is not being updated, check to see that the link is intact.

The GNU C Library resolver library isn't the only resolver library available. However, any resolver library that reads /etc/resolv.conf (and most of them do, in order to be compatible with the GNU C Library resolver) should work with resolvconf.

Subscribers that need to know only when the resolver configuration file has changed should install a script in /etc/resolvconf/update-libc.d/ rather than in /etc/resolvconf/update.d/. This is important for synchronization purposes: scripts in update-libc.d/ are run after resolv.conf has been updated; the same is not necessarily true of scripts in update.d/. Examples of packages that do this are fetchmail(1) and squid(8).

Client hook scripts will find the files containing nameserver information in the current directory.

OPTIONS

-a INTERFACE
    Add or overwrite the record for network interface INTERFACE. When this option is used the information must be provided to resolvconf on its standard input in the format of the resolv.conf(5) file. Each line in the file must be terminated by a newline.

-d INTERFACE
    Delete the record for network interface INTERFACE.

The INTERFACE name may not contain spaces, slashes or initial dots, hyphens or tildes.

Following the addition or deletion of the record, resolvconf runs the update scripts as described in the CLIENTS section.

-u  Just run the update scripts.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following variables can be set in /etc/default/resolvconf.

REPORT_ABSENT_SYMLINK
    If set to "yes" then resolvconf will print a message when /etc/resolv.conf is not a symbolic link to the resolvconf-generated resolv.conf file. Set to "no" to prevent the printing of this message. The default is "yes".

TRUNCATE_NAMESERVER_LIST_AFTER_127
    If set to "yes" then the update.d/libc script will include no more nameserver addresses after the first address that starts with "127." This is usually the preferable behavior if the nameserver at 127.* is a local caching nameserver since it inhibits unnecessary changes to resolv.conf. When an interface is brought up the local caching nameserver is informed by resolvconf of any new nameserver addresses and the additional name service is made available to applications that make use of the resolver and the local caching nameserver; the applications themselves do not need to be notified of the change. A disadvantage of this mode of operation is that applications have no secondary or tertiary nameserver address to fall back on should the local caching nameserver crash. Insofar as a local nameserver crash can be regarded as an unlikely event, this is a relatively minor disadvantage. Set to "no" to disable this truncation feature. The default is "yes".

FILES

/etc/default/resolvconf
    See the ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES section. /etc/resolvconf/run This is either a directory where nameserver information can be stored or a symbolic link to such a directory. Clients should not make any assumptions about the canonical location of this directory or the hierarchy that is constructed under it.

/etc/resolvconf/interface-order
    Determines the order in which nameserver information records are processed. See interface-order(5).

/etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/base
    File containing basic resolver information. The lines in this file are included in the resolver configuration file even when no interfaces are configured.

/etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/head
    File to be prepended to the dynamically generated resolver configuration file. Normally this is just a comment line.

/etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/tail
    File to be appended to the dynamically generated resolver configuration file. To append nothing, make this an empty file. This file is a good place to put a resolver options line if one is needed, e.g.,

            options inet6

BUGS
Currently resolvconf does not check the sanity of the information provided to it.

AUTHOR
Written by Thomas Hood <jdthood@yahoo.co.uk>.

COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2008 Thomas Hood
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO
interface-order(5), resolv.conf(5), resolver(3).