ctrld

A highly configurable DNS forwarding proxy with support for:

• Multiple listeners for incoming queries
• Multiple upstreams with fallbacks
• Multiple network policy driven DNS query steering
• Policy driven domain based "split horizon" DNS with wildcard support

All DNS protocols are supported, including:

• UDP 53
• DNS-over-HTTPS
• DNS-over-TLS
• DNS-over-HTTP/3 (DOH3)
• DNS-over-QUIC

Use Cases

1. Use secure DNS protocols on networks and devices that don't natively support them (legacy routers, legacy OSes, TVs, smart toasters).
2. Create source IP based DNS routing policies with variable secure DNS upstreams. Subnet 1 (admin) uses upstream resolver A, while Subnet 2 (employee) uses upstream resolver B.
3. Create destination IP based DNS routing policies with variable secure DNS upstreams. Listener 1 uses upstream resolver C, while Listener 2 uses upstream resolver D.
4. Create domain level "split horizon" DNS routing policies to send internal domains (*.company.int) to a local DNS server, while everything else goes to another upstream.

OS Support

• Windows (386, amd64, arm)
• Mac (amd64, arm64)
• Linux (386, amd64, arm, mips)

Download

Download pre-compiled binaries from the Releases section.

Build

ctrld requires go1.19+:

$ go build ./cmd/ctrld

or

$ go install github.com/Control-D-Inc/ctrld/cmd/ctrld@latest

Arguments

        __         .__       .___
  _____/  |________|  |    __| _/
_/ ___\   __\_  __ \  |   / __ |
\  \___|  |  |  | \/  |__/ /_/ |
 \___  >__|  |__|  |____/\____ |
     \/ dns forwarding proxy  \/

Usage:
  ctrld [command]

Available Commands:
  run         Run the DNS proxy server
  service     Manage ctrld service
  start       Quick start service and configure DNS on default interface
  stop        Quick stop service and remove DNS from default interface

Flags:
  -h, --help            help for ctrld
  -v, --verbose count   verbose log output, "-v" basic logging, "-vv" debug level logging
      --version         version for ctrld

Use "ctrld [command] --help" for more information about a command.

Usage

To start the server with default configuration, simply run: ./ctrld run. This will create a generic ctrld.toml file in the working directory and start the application in foreground.

1. Start the server

$ sudo ./ctrld run

2. Run a test query using a DNS client, for example, dig:

$ dig verify.controld.com @127.0.0.1 +short
api.controld.com.
147.185.34.1

If verify.controld.com resolves, you're successfully using the default Control D upstream.

Service Mode

To run the application in service mode, simply run: ./ctrld start as system/root user. This will create a generic ctrld.toml file in the user home directory, start the system service, and configure the listener on the default interface. Service will start on OS boot.

In order to stop the service, and restore your DNS to original state, simply run ./ctrld stop.

For granular control of the service, run the service command. Each sub-command has its own help section so you can see what arguments you can supply.

  Manage ctrld service

  Usage:
    ctrld service [command]

  Available Commands:
    interfaces  Manage network interfaces
    restart     Restart the ctrld service
    start       Start the ctrld service
    status      Show status of the ctrld service
    stop        Stop the ctrld service
    uninstall   Uninstall the ctrld service

  Flags:
    -h, --help   help for service

  Global Flags:
    -v, --verbose count   verbose log output, "-v" basic logging, "-vv" debug level logging

  Use "ctrld service [command] --help" for more information about a command.

Control D Auto Configuration

Application can be started with a specific resolver config, instead of the default one. Simply supply your resolver ID with a --cd flag, when using the run (foreground) or start (service) modes.

The following command will start the application in foreground mode, using the free "p2" resolver, which blocks Ads & Trackers.

./ctrld run --cd p2

Alternatively, you can use your own personal Control D Device resolver, and start the application in service mode. Your resolver ID is the part after the slash of your DNS-over-HTTPS resolver. ie. https://dns.controld.com/abcd1234

./ctrld start --cd abcd1234

Once you run the above command, the following things will happen:

• You resolver configuration will be fetched from the API, and config file templated with the resolver data
• Application will start as a service, and keep running (even after reboot) until you run the stop or service uninstall sub-commands
• Your default network interface will be updated to use the listener started by the service
• All OS DNS queries will be sent to the listener

Configuration

See Configuration Docs.

Example

• Start listener.0 on 127.0.0.1:53
• Accept queries from any source address
• Send all queries to upstream.0 via DoH protocol

Default Config

[listener]

  [listener.0]
    ip = "127.0.0.1"
    port = 53
    restricted = false

[network]

  [network.0]
    cidrs = ["0.0.0.0/0"]
    name = "Network 0"

[service]
  log_level = "info"
  log_path = ""

[upstream]

  [upstream.0]
    bootstrap_ip = "76.76.2.11"
    endpoint = "https://freedns.controld.com/p1"
    name = "Control D - Anti-Malware"
    timeout = 5000
    type = "doh"

  [upstream.1]
    bootstrap_ip = "76.76.2.11"
    endpoint = "p2.freedns.controld.com"
    name = "Control D - No Ads"
    timeout = 3000
    type = "doq"

Advanced

The above is the most basic example, which will work out of the box. If you're looking to do advanced configurations using policies, see Configuration Docs for complete documentation of the config file.

You can also supply configuration via launch argeuments, in Ephemeral Mode.

Contributing

See Contribution Guideline

Roadmap

The following functionality is on the roadmap and will be available in future releases.

• Router self-installation
• Client hostname/MAC passthrough
• Prometheus metrics exporter