Install PowerDNS with recursor and MySQL backend

PowerDNS is not designed to provide recursive results. It is intended to act only as an authoritative server for the domains it serves. This implies it will be serving domain data to other hosts.

Install pdns and pdns-recursor

sudo apt-get install pdns-server pdns-recursor

• edit recursor settings in /etc/powerdns/recursor.conf

local-port=53

forward-zones=mydomain.local=127.0.0.1:54 # change ‘mydomain.local’ to your domain that you’ll be hosting in PowerDNS 

• edit pdns settings in /etc/powerdns/pdns.conf

local-port=54

launch=gmysql
gmysql-host=127.0.0.1
gmysql-user=root
gmysql-dbname=pdns
gmysql-password=mysecretpassword

MySQL

• install mysql server
• install module for pdns

sudo apt-get install pdns-backend-mysql

• add data to mysql

INSERT INTO domains (name, type) values ('my.local', 'NATIVE');

INSERT INTO records (domain_id, name, content, type,ttl,prio)
VALUES (1,'my.local','51.0.1.21','A',120,NULL);


INSERT INTO records (domain_id, name, content, type,ttl,prio)
VALUES (1,'my.local','localhost ahu@ds9a.nl 1','SOA',86400,NULL);

INSERT INTO records (domain_id, name, content, type,ttl,prio)
VALUES (1,'my.local','dns-us1.powerdns.net','NS',86400,NULL);

INSERT INTO records (domain_id, name, content, type,ttl,prio)
VALUES (1,'my.local','dns-eu1.powerdns.net','NS',86400,NULL);


INSERT INTO records (domain_id, name, content, type,ttl,prio)
VALUES (1,'mail.my.local','192.0.2.12','A',120,NULL);

INSERT INTO records (domain_id, name, content, type,ttl,prio)
VALUES (1,'my.local','mail.my.local','MX',120,25);

Start

• start pdns and pdns-recursor

sudo /etc/init.d/pdns-recursor start
sudo /etc/init.d/pdns start

• check

nslookup linode.com 127.0.0.1

This should work, if it doesn’t, check /var/log/syslog for messages from the recursor

dig mydomain.local @127.0.0.1 -p 54