Simple DNS Plus
Edit this page

Did you notice something wrong or unclear, or want to add something more to this page?

Great !!

You can edit the source text of this page on GitHub (click here to learn how).

After you submit your changes ("pull request"), we will review it and update the page.

JavaScript plug-in

Write your own custom logic for DNS query processing in JavaScript.

Your script code runs efficiently via Google's V8 JavaScript engine (the same that powers Chrome and Node.js).

There are 4 variations of the plug-in:

  • Host lookup
    Executes a custom JavaScript function to look up a (single) IP address for a host name.
  • Reverse lookup
    Executes a custom JavaScript function to look up the host name for an IP address.
  • TXT lookup
    Executes a custom JavaScript function look up a TXT-record value for a host name.
  • Answer lookup
    Executes a custom JavaScript function to do a DNS lookup returning multiple DNS records and/or special response properties (AA flag / RCode value).
    IMPORTANT: The "Answer lookup" variant requires an Unlimited Zones license for Simple DNS Plus.

User interface

On the "Plug-In Settings" tab, enter the following settings (explained below the image):

  • Where to store JavaScript code
    The first option "With the plug-in configuration in the Simple DNS Plus database" makes management and backup easier, while the second option "In a separate file" makes it possible to edit the file in another program - like Visual Studio Code to get JavaScript syntax highlighting etc.
  • Enable debugging
    Check this and specify a port number to enable debugging (see "Debugging" section below).

Writing scripts

The JavaScript code (that you write) must include a Lookup function, which is called by Simple DNS Plus for each DNS query. Your script may contain other functions as well, but the Lookup function is required.

Any script code outside functions (at the root of the script document) is executed at the first request. You can use this to initialize variables such as counters etc.

The signature of the Lookup function varies with each plug-in variation, as does the format of the return value.

If the plug-in does not have an answer for the request, it must return null.

Each Lookup function has a context parameter, which is an object with the following properties:

  • fromip (string)
    The IP address that the query originated from.
  • qname (string)
    The domain name requested.
  • qtype (string)
    The query / record type - such as "MX".
  • rd (boolean)
    The RD flag (recursion desired) from the query.
  • ra (boolean)
    Indicating if the server (Simple DNS Plus) will provide recursion to the client (ra=recursion available).
  • aa (boolean)
    Indicating if the server (Simple DNS Plus) is authoritative for qname - meaning that qname belongs to a local DNS zone.
    Note: This property is only set for plug-ins listed after [LOCAL DNS ZONES] in the Plug-in / query order list.

Host lookup

Function signature: Lookup(name, ipv6, context)
Where name (string) is the domain name queried, ipv6 (boolean) indicates if an IPv6 address was requested (request for AAAA-record) or not (IPv4 address / request for A-record).

Return value: May be either a string with the resulting IP address (TTL defaults to zero), or an object with a value (string) property representing the resulting IP address, and a ttl (number) property representing the TTL (Time To Live) value in seconds - for example { value: '1.2.3.4', ttl: 300 }.

Sample code:

function Lookup(name, ipv6, context) {
    if(name !== 'example.com') return null;
    return { value: ipv6 ? '1234::1234' : '1.2.3.4', ttl: 300 };
}

Reverse lookup

Function signature: Lookup(ip, context)
Where ip (string) is the IP address that was queried.

Return value: May be either a string with the resulting host name (TTL defaults to zero), or an object with a value (string) property representing the resulting host name, and a ttl (number) property representing the TTL (Time To Live) value in seconds - for example { value: 'server1.example.com', ttl: 300 }.

Sample code:

function Lookup(ip, context) {
   if(ip !== '1.2.3.4') return null;
   return { value: 'example.com', ttl: 300 };
}

TXT lookup

Function signature: Lookup(name, context)
Where name (string) is the domain name queried.

Return value: May be either a string with the resulting TXT-record value (TTL defaults to zero), or an object with a value (string) property representing the resulting TXT-record value, and a ttl (number) property representing the TTL (Time To Live) value in seconds - for example { value: 'This is an example', ttl: 300 }.

Sample code:

function Lookup(name, context) {
    if(name !== 'example.com') return null;
    return { value: 'Example text', ttl: 300 };
}

Answer lookup

Function signature: Lookup(context)

Return value: An object with the following properties (all optional):

  • aa (boolean)
    Sets response AA flag (authoritative answer). Defaults to server value (queried name belongs in local DNS zone or not).
  • rcode (number or string)
    Set response RCode value (response code). Defaults to zero / NoError.
    Valid string values are: "noerror" (=0), "formerr" (=1),"servfail" (=2), "nxdomain" (=3), "notimp" (=4), "refused" (=5), "ignore" (=255).
    The special value "ignore" / 255 indicates to Simple DNS Plus that the query should be ignored / not responded to.
  • answer (array)
    List of DNS records (see below) in the response Answer section.
  • authority (array)
    List of DNS records (see below) in the response Authority section.
  • additional (array)
    List of DNS records (see below) in the response Additional section.

DNS records in the answer, authority, additional array properties are objects with the following properties:

  • name (string)
    Domain name .
  • type (string or number)
    DNS record type - such as "MX".
  • ttl (number)
    TTL (Time to Live) value in seconds.
  • data (string)
    Record data in standard zone file format. For example for an MX record: "10 smtp.example.com.".

Sample code:

function Lookup(context) {
  if(context.qname !== 'example.com') return null;
  if(context.qtype !== 'MX') return null;
  return { aa: true,
           answer: [
             { name: context.qname, type: 'MX', ttl: 300, data: '10 server1.example.com.' },
             { name: context.qname, type: 'MX', ttl: 300, data: '20 server2.example.com.' }
           ]};
}

console.log

Just like in a browser, you may use console.log('some text') to output debugging information. The output will appear in the Simple DNS Plus log.

Debugging

When debugging is enabled (see "User interface" section above), you can connect a debugger which supports the "V8 Inspector Protocol". For example the Chrome browser developer tools.

In Chrome, open the address chrome://inspect, select the "Devices" section (should be selected by default), and look for "sdnsmain.exe", and click the "inspect" link after this.

Note that if you used a debugging port number other than 9222, then you need to add this ("localhost:<port>") using the "Configure..." button.

This will open a "DevTools" Window.

When a debugging event happens (like an exception), you can inspect the code, variable values, call stack etc. just like when debugging JavaScript in a web-page in the Chrome browser DevTools.

TIP: Insert a "debugger" statement in your JavaScript code to force the debugger to pause execution.

Note that when the plug-in is restarted, for example when the JavaScript code is updated, you will need to re-connect the DevTools.

How to obtain this plug-in

This plug-in is included with the Simple DNS Plus installation.

Open source

This source code for this plug-in is available at https://github.com/jhsoftware/sdnspi-javascript

Contributions are most welcome.

Related KB articles:

Comments

Simple DNS Plus

  • Home
  • Search
  • Product details

  • Features
  • Screen shots
  • Plug-ins
  • Tools & Add-ons
  • Testimonials
  • What's new
  • Release notes
  • Download

  • Download
  • Buy

  • Pricing
  • New license
  • Additional license
  • Upgrade
  • Support

  • Overview
  • Lost License Key
  • Knowledge Base
  • Online documentation
  • Contact us