Maintained by: NLnet Labs
unbound-control(8)               unbound 1.1.1              unbound-control(8)



NAME
       unbound-control - Unbound remote server control utility.

SYNOPSIS
       unbound-control [-h] [-c cfgfile] [-s server] command

DESCRIPTION
       Unbound-control  performs  remote  administration on the unbound(8) DNS
       server.  It reads the configuration file, contacts the  unbound  server
       over SSL sends the command and displays the result.

       The available options are:

       -h     Show the version and commandline option help.

       -c cfgfile
              The config file to read with settings.  If not given the default
              config file /usr/local/etc/unbound/unbound.conf is used.

       -s server[@port]
              IPv4 or IPv6 address of the server to contact.   If  not  given,
              the address is read from the config file.

COMMANDS
       There are several commands that the server understands.

       start  Start  the  server.  Simply  execs unbound(8).  The unbound exe-
              cutable is searched for in the PATH set in the environment.   It
              is  started  with  the  config  file  specified  using -c or the
              default config file.

       stop   Stop the server. The server daemon exits.

       reload Reload the server. This flushes the cache and reads  the  config
              file fresh.

       verbosity number
              Change  verbosity  value  for  logging. Same values as verbosity
              keyword in unbound.conf(5).  This new setting  lasts  until  the
              server is issued a reload (taken from config file again), or the
              next verbosity control command.

       stats  Print statistics. Resets the internal counters to zero, this can
              be  controlled using the statistics-cumulative config statement.
              Statistics are printed with one [name]: [value] per line.

       local_zone name type
              Add new local zone with name and type.  Like  local-zone  config
              statement.   If  the zone already exists, the type is changed to
              the given argument.

       local_zone_remove name
              Remove the local zone with the given name.   Removes  all  local
              data  inside  it.   If the zone does not exist, the command suc-
              ceeds.

       local_data RR data...
              Add new local data, the given resource record.  Like  local-data
              config  statement,  except for when no covering zone exists.  In
              that case this remote control command creates a transparent zone
              with  the same name as this record.  This command is not good at
              returning detailed syntax errors.

       local_data_remove name
              Remove all RR data from local name.  If the name already has  no
              items,  nothing happens.  Often results in NXDOMAIN for the name
              (in a static zone), but if the name has become an empty  nonter-
              minal  (there  is  still  data in domain names below the removed
              name), NOERROR nodata answers are the result for that name.

       dump_cache
              The contents of the cache is printed in a text format to stdout.
              You can redirect it to a file to store the cache in a file.

       load_cache
              The  contents  of the cache is loaded from stdin.  Uses the same
              format as dump_cache uses.  Loading the cache with old, or wrong
              data can result in old or wrong data returned to clients.

       lookup name
              Print  to  stdout the name servers that would be used to look up
              the name specified.

       flush name
              Remove the name from the cache. Removes the types A,  AAAA,  NS,
              SOA, CNAME, DNAME, MX, PTR, SRV and NAPTR.  Because that is fast
              to do. Other record types can be  removed  using  flush_type  or
              flush_zone.

       flush_type name type
              Remove the name, type information from the cache.

       flush_zone name
              Remove all information at or below the name from the cache.  The
              rrsets and key entries are removed so that new lookups  will  be
              performed.  This needs to walk and inspect the entire cache, and
              is a slow operation.

EXIT CODE
       The unbound-control program exits with status code 1  on  error,  0  on
       success.

SET UP
       The  setup requires a self-signed certificate and private keys for both
       the server and  client.   The  script  unbound-control-setup  generates
       these  in  the  default run directory, or with -d in another directory.
       The script preserves private keys present in the directory.  After run-
       ning the script as root, turn on control-enable in unbound.conf.

STATISTIC COUNTERS
       The stats command shows a number of statistic counters.

       threadX.num.queries
              number of queries received by thread

       threadX.num.cachehits
              number  of queries that were successfully answered using a cache
              lookup

       threadX.num.cachemiss
              number of queries that needed recursive processing

       threadX.num.recursivereplies
              The number of replies sent to queries that needed recursive pro-
              cessing.  Could  be smaller than threadX.num.cachemiss if due to
              timeouts no replies were sent for some queries.

       threadX.requestlist.avg
              The average number of requests in the  internal  recursive  pro-
              cessing  request list on insert of a new incoming recursive pro-
              cessing query.

       threadX.requestlist.max
              Maximum size  attained  by  the  internal  recursive  processing
              request list.

       threadX.requestlist.overwritten
              Number  of requests in the request list that were overwritten by
              newer entries. This happens if there is a flood of queries  that
              recursive processing and the server has a hard time.

       threadX.requestlist.exceeded
              Queries  that  were  dropped  because the request list was full.
              This happens if a flood of queries  need  recursive  processing,
              and the server can not keep up.

       threadX.requestlist.current.all
              Current  size of the request list, includes internally generated
              queries (such as priming queries and glue lookups).

       threadX.requestlist.current.user
              Current size of the request list, only the requests from  client
              queries.

       threadX.recursion.time.avg
              Average  time  it  took  to answer queries that needed recursive
              processing. Note that queries that were answered from the  cache
              are not in this average.

       threadX.recursion.time.median
              The  median  of  the  time it took to answer queries that needed
              recursive processing.  The median means that  50%  of  the  user
              queries  were  answered  in less than this time.  Because of big
              outliers (usually queries to non responsive servers), the  aver-
              age  can be bigger than the median.  This median has been calcu-
              lated by interpolation from a histogram.

       total.num.queries
              summed over threads.

       total.num.cachehits
              summed over threads.

       total.num.cachemiss
              summed over threads.

       total.num.recursivereplies
              summed over threads.

       total.requestlist.avg
              averaged over threads.

       total.requestlist.max
              the maximum of the thread requestlist.max values.

       total.requestlist.overwritten
              summed over threads.

       total.requestlist.exceeded
              summed over threads.

       total.requestlist.current.all
              summed over threads.

       total.recursion.time.median
              averaged over threads.

       time.now
              current time in seconds since 1970.

       time.up
              uptime since server boot in seconds.

       time.elapsed
              time since last statistics printout, in seconds.

EXTENDED STATISTICS
       mem.total.sbrk
              If sbrk(2) is available, an estimate of the  heap  size  of  the
              program  in  number  of bytes. Close to the total memory used by
              the program, as reported by top and ps.  Could be wrong  if  the
              OS allocates memory non-contiguously.

       mem.cache.rrset
              Memory in bytes in use by the RRset cache.

       mem.cache.message
              Memory in bytes in use by the message cache.

       mem.mod.iterator
              Memory in bytes in use by the iterator module.

       mem.mod.validator
              Memory in bytes in use by the validator module. Includes the key
              cache and negative cache.

       histogram.<sec>.<usec>.to.<sec>.<usec>
              Shows a histogram, summed over all threads. Every element counts
              the recursive queries whose reply time fit between the lower and
              upper bound.  Times larger  or  equal  to  the  lowerbound,  and
              smaller than the upper bound.  There are 40 buckets, with bucket
              sizes doubling.

       num.query.type.A
              The total number of queries over all threads with query type  A.
              Printed  for  the  other  query  types as well, but only for the
              types for which queries were received, thus =0 entries are omit-
              ted for brevity.

       num.query.type.other
              Number of queries with query types 256-65535.

       num.query.class.IN
              The total number of queries over all threads with query class IN
              (internet).  Also printed for other classes (such as CH  (CHAOS)
              sometimes  used  for  debugging),  or NONE, ANY, used by dynamic
              update.  num.query.class.other is printed for classes 256-65535.

       num.query.opcode.QUERY
              The  total  number of queries over all threads with query opcode
              QUERY.  Also printed for other opcodes, UPDATE, ...

       num.query.tcp
              Number of queries that were made using TCP towards  the  unbound
              server.

       num.query.flags.RD
              The  number  of  queries that had the RD flag set in the header.
              Also printed for flags QR, AA, TC, RA, Z,  AD,  CD.   Note  that
              queries  with  flags QR, AA or TC may have been rejected because
              of that.

       num.query.edns.present
              number of queries that had an EDNS OPT record present.

       num.query.edns.DO
              number of queries that had  an  EDNS  OPT  record  with  the  DO
              (DNSSEC  OK)  bit  set.   These queries are also included in the
              num.query.edns.present number.

       num.answer.rcode.NXDOMAIN
              The number of answers to queries, from cache or from  recursion,
              that  had  the  return code NXDOMAIN. Also printed for the other
              return codes.

       num.answer.rcode.nodata
              The number of answers to queries that had the pseudo return code
              nodata.   This  means  the  actual  return code was NOERROR, but
              additionally, no data was carried in the answer (making what  is
              called   a  NOERROR/NODATA  answer).   These  queries  are  also
              included in the  num.answer.rcode.NOERROR  number.   Common  for
              AAAA lookups when an A record exists, and no AAAA.

       num.answer.secure
              Number  of  answers that were secure.  The answer validated cor-
              rectly.  The AD bit  might  have  been  set  in  some  of  these
              answers,  where  the  client signalled (with DO or AD bit in the
              query) that they were ready to accept the AD bit in the  answer.

       num.answer.bogus
              Number  of  answers  that were bogus.  These answers resulted in
              SERVFAIL to the client because the answer failed validation.

       num.rrset.bogus
              The number of rrsets marked bogus by the  validator.   Increased
              for every RRset inspection that fails.

       unwanted.queries
              Number  of  queries  that  were  refused or dropped because they
              failed the access control settings.

       unwanted.replies
              Replies that were unwanted or unsolicited.  Could have been ran-
              dom  traffic, delayed duplicates, very late answers, or could be
              spoofing attempts.  Some low level of late answers  and  delayed
              duplicates  are to be expected with the UDP protocol.  Very high
              values could indicate a threat (spoofing).

FILES
       /usr/local/etc/unbound/unbound.conf
              unbound configuration file.

       /usr/local/etc/unbound
              directory with private keys (unbound_server.key and unbound_con-
              trol.key)  and  self-signed certificates (unbound_server.pem and
              unbound_control.pem).

SEE ALSO
       unbound.conf(5), unbound(8).



NLnet Labs                       Nov 20, 2008               unbound-control(8)