[linux] DNS caching in linux

I am confused about DNS caching. I am writing a small forward proxy server and want to use OS DNS cache on a Linux system.

If I understand correctly, then there is DNS caching at the browser level. Then there is DNS caching at OS level (Windows has it. I am not sure if Linux distros have it by default).

So, how does a browser/proxy_server use OS DNS caching? I am trying to find if I can rely on Linux for DNS caching instead of doing it on my own inside my proxy.

Thanks

You have here available an example of DNS Caching in Debian using dnsmasq.

Configuration summary:

/etc/default/dnsmasq

# Ensure you add this line
DNSMASQ_OPTS="-r /etc/resolv.dnsmasq"

/etc/resolv.dnsmasq

# Your preferred servers
nameserver 1.1.1.1
nameserver 8.8.8.8
nameserver 2001:4860:4860::8888

/etc/resolv.conf

nameserver 127.0.0.1

Then just restart dnsmasq.

Benchmark test using DNS 1.1.1.1:

for i in {1..100}; do time dig slashdot.org @1.1.1.1; done 2>&1 | grep ^real | sed -e s/.*m// | awk '{sum += $1} END {print sum / NR}'

Benchmark test using you local cached DNS:

for i in {1..100}; do time dig slashdot.org; done 2>&1 | grep ^real | sed -e s/.*m// | awk '{sum += $1} END {print sum / NR}'

Here are two other software packages which can be used for DNS caching on Linux:

• dnsmasq
• bind

After configuring the software for DNS forwarding and caching, you then set the system's DNS resolver to 127.0.0.1 in /etc/resolv.conf.

If your system is using NetworkManager you can either try using the dns=dnsmasq option in /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf or you can change your connection settings to Automatic (Address Only) and then use a script in the /etc/NetworkManager/dispatcher.d directory to get the DHCP nameserver, set it as the DNS forwarding server in your DNS cache software and then trigger a configuration reload.

Firefox contains a dns cache. To disable the DNS cache:

1. Open your browser
2. Type in about:config in the address bar
3. Right click on the list of Properties and select New > Integer in the Context menu
4. Enter 'network.dnsCacheExpiration' as the preference name and 0 as the integer value

When disabled, Firefox will use the DNS cache provided by the OS.