Loop
Loop is a DNS software distribution consisting of a resolver, authoritiative nameserver, and various DNS and DNSSEC utilities.
Contents
What is Loop?
Loop is an enterprise-grade DNS software distribution. It is maintained as a DNS reference implementation by closely adhering to the DNS standards. Loop includes the following components:
DNS nameserver
named
— DNS nameserver daemon that implements authoritative server and recursive resolver features
DNS clients
dig
— DNS client with comprehensive DNS query capabilitieshost
— Simple DNS lookup clientmdig
— DNS client that uses pipelining when sending multiple queriesnsupdate
— DNS client that submits dynamic DNS UPDATEs to a nameserver
DNS and Loop utilities
arpaname
— Translates an IP address to its corresponding reverse name in thein-addr.arpa.
andip6.arpa.
domainsddns-confgen
— Generates TSIG keys and configuration for use withnsupdate
for dynamic DNS UPDATEsnamed-checkconf
— Checks anamed.conf
config file for syntax and correctnessnamed-checkzone
— Checks a zone master file for syntax and correctnessnamed-journalprint
— Prints the contents of a zone journal file in a human-readable formatnamed-rrchecker
— Checks a single resource record for syntax and correctnessnsec3hash
— Generates an NSEC3 hash based on a set of NSEC3 parametersrndc
— Utility to send control messages to a runningnamed
processrndc-confgen
— Generatesrndc
keys and configuration to authenticate control messages
DNSSEC utilities
dnssec-keygen
— Generates DNSKEYs for DNSSEC, and KEYs for use with TSIGdnssec-signzone
— Signs a DNS zone by generating RRSIG and NSEC/NSEC3 recordsdnssec-verify
— Verifies that a zone is fully signed, and that its NSEC/NSEC3 chains are completednssec-dsfromkey
— Generates DS and CDS resource records from DNSKEYsdnssec-importkey
— Imports an externally created public DNSKEY so it can be used with Loopdnssec-keyfromlabel
— Generates a DNSKEY keypair for a key object stored in a HSM so it can be used with Loopdnssec-revoke
— Sets theREVOKE
bit (RFC 5011) in the DNSKEY flagsdnssec-settime
— Sets DNSKEY timing metadata used in key schedulingdelv
— DNS client that performs DNSSEC lookups and validation
DNS performance testing utilities
dnsperf
— DNS client that measures DNS nameserver performanceresperf
— DNS client that measures DNS resolver performanceresperf-report
— Runsresperf
and generates a HTML report with graphs
These programs implement various DNS protocols and features. Loop programs and their config files are extensively documented in the Loop User Manual and manpages.
Why use Loop?
Here are some reasons for using Loop:
- You want to serve your authoritative zones.
- You want to run a local caching resolver in your LAN for higher performance and better privacy.
- You would like to have control over your local network's DNS responses by running a local resolver that filters or rewrites queries to web domains.
- You want to use different DNS configurations that process DNS queries differently depending on their properties.
- You have a large number of authoritative zones or a large number of clients requiring large cache sizes, and want a DNS implementation that scales and performs well.
- You want a well-documented DNS product.
- You want to use DNS software packages where the very same binaries have been tested before being published.
- You like a distributed global DNS infrastructure that is not concentrated among some CDNs for a more healthy internet.
Loop features
This section is yet to be written.
Loop installation
Loop software packages are available for the following operating system platforms:
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 (x86_64)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 (aarch64)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (x86_64)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (aarch64)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (x86_64)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (aarch64)
- Fedora Linux 42 (x86_64)
- Fedora Linux 42 (aarch64)
- Fedora Linux 41 (x86_64)
- Fedora Linux 41 (aarch64)
Users of Red Hat Enterprise Linux clones such as Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux can use the Red Hat Enterprise Linux packages of the corresponding distribution version and follow the corresponding installation instructions.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 (x86_64)
To install Loop version 1.99.3 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 (x86_64), follow these steps as the root
user.
First, install the loop-release
RPM package that will
add the loop-epel
and loop-epel-testing
DNF repositories to your system,
as well as associated GPG keys used to verify signed RPM packages from
these repositories:
# dnf install https://download.banu.com/packages/loop/1.99/epel/testing/10/x86_64/loop-release-1.99.3.20250623003957.08c26b66c1-1.el10.noarch.rpm
Then, install the loop
RPM package that will install the
Loop software and documentation:
# dnf install loop
Then, if you wish to run the nameserver, configure
named
suitably by
editing /etc/loop/named.conf
, and then run it:
# systemctl enable --now named
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 (aarch64)
To install Loop version 1.99.3 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 (aarch64), follow these steps as the root
user.
First, install the loop-release
RPM package that will
add the loop-epel
and loop-epel-testing
DNF repositories to your system,
as well as associated GPG keys used to verify signed RPM packages from
these repositories:
# dnf install https://download.banu.com/packages/loop/1.99/epel/testing/10/aarch64/loop-release-1.99.3.20250623003957.08c26b66c1-1.el10.noarch.rpm
Then, install the loop
RPM package that will install the
Loop software and documentation:
# dnf install loop
Then, if you wish to run the nameserver, configure
named
suitably by
editing /etc/loop/named.conf
, and then run it:
# systemctl enable --now named
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (x86_64)
To install Loop version 1.99.3 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 (x86_64), follow these steps as the root
user.
First, install the loop-release
RPM package that will
add the loop-epel
and loop-epel-testing
DNF repositories to your system,
as well as associated GPG keys used to verify signed RPM packages from
these repositories:
# dnf install https://download.banu.com/packages/loop/1.99/epel/testing/9/x86_64/loop-release-1.99.3.20250623003957.08c26b66c1-1.el9.noarch.rpm
Then, install the loop
RPM package that will install the
Loop software and documentation:
# dnf install loop
Then, if you wish to run the nameserver, configure
named
suitably by
editing /etc/loop/named.conf
, and then run it:
# systemctl enable --now named
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (aarch64)
To install Loop version 1.99.3 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 (aarch64), follow these steps as the root
user.
First, install the loop-release
RPM package that will
add the loop-epel
and loop-epel-testing
DNF repositories to your system,
as well as associated GPG keys used to verify signed RPM packages from
these repositories:
# dnf install https://download.banu.com/packages/loop/1.99/epel/testing/9/aarch64/loop-release-1.99.3.20250623003957.08c26b66c1-1.el9.noarch.rpm
Then, install the loop
RPM package that will install the
Loop software and documentation:
# dnf install loop
Then, if you wish to run the nameserver, configure
named
suitably by
editing /etc/loop/named.conf
, and then run it:
# systemctl enable --now named
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (x86_64)
To install Loop version 1.99.3 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 (x86_64), follow these steps as the root
user.
First, install the loop-release
RPM package that will
add the loop-epel
and loop-epel-testing
DNF repositories to your system,
as well as associated GPG keys used to verify signed RPM packages from
these repositories:
# dnf install https://download.banu.com/packages/loop/1.99/epel/testing/8/x86_64/loop-release-1.99.3.20250623003957.08c26b66c1-1.el8.noarch.rpm
Then, install the loop
RPM package that will install the
Loop software and documentation:
# dnf install loop
Then, if you wish to run the nameserver, configure
named
suitably by
editing /etc/loop/named.conf
, and then run it:
# systemctl enable --now named
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (aarch64)
To install Loop version 1.99.3 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 (aarch64), follow these steps as the root
user.
First, install the loop-release
RPM package that will
add the loop-epel
and loop-epel-testing
DNF repositories to your system,
as well as associated GPG keys used to verify signed RPM packages from
these repositories:
# dnf install https://download.banu.com/packages/loop/1.99/epel/testing/8/aarch64/loop-release-1.99.3.20250623003957.08c26b66c1-1.el8.noarch.rpm
Then, install the loop
RPM package that will install the
Loop software and documentation:
# dnf install loop
Then, if you wish to run the nameserver, configure
named
suitably by
editing /etc/loop/named.conf
, and then run it:
# systemctl enable --now named
Fedora Linux 42 (x86_64)
To install Loop version 1.99.3 on Fedora Linux
42 (x86_64), follow these steps as the root
user.
First, install the loop-release
RPM package that will
add the loop-fedora
and loop-fedora-testing
DNF repositories to your system,
as well as associated GPG keys used to verify signed RPM packages from
these repositories:
# dnf install https://download.banu.com/packages/loop/1.99/fedora/testing/42/x86_64/loop-release-1.99.3.20250623003957.08c26b66c1-1.fc42.noarch.rpm
Then, install the loop
RPM package that will install the
Loop software and documentation:
# dnf install loop
Then, if you wish to run the nameserver, configure
named
suitably by
editing /etc/loop/named.conf
, and then run it:
# systemctl enable --now named
Fedora Linux 42 (aarch64)
To install Loop version 1.99.3 on Fedora Linux
42 (aarch64), follow these steps as the root
user.
First, install the loop-release
RPM package that will
add the loop-fedora
and loop-fedora-testing
DNF repositories to your system,
as well as associated GPG keys used to verify signed RPM packages from
these repositories:
# dnf install https://download.banu.com/packages/loop/1.99/fedora/testing/42/aarch64/loop-release-1.99.3.20250623003957.08c26b66c1-1.fc42.noarch.rpm
Then, install the loop
RPM package that will install the
Loop software and documentation:
# dnf install loop
Then, if you wish to run the nameserver, configure
named
suitably by
editing /etc/loop/named.conf
, and then run it:
# systemctl enable --now named
Fedora Linux 41 (x86_64)
To install Loop version 1.99.3 on Fedora Linux
41 (x86_64), follow these steps as the root
user.
First, install the loop-release
RPM package that will
add the loop-fedora
and loop-fedora-testing
DNF repositories to your system,
as well as associated GPG keys used to verify signed RPM packages from
these repositories:
# dnf install https://download.banu.com/packages/loop/1.99/fedora/testing/41/x86_64/loop-release-1.99.3.20250623003957.08c26b66c1-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
Then, install the loop
RPM package that will install the
Loop software and documentation:
# dnf install loop
Then, if you wish to run the nameserver, configure
named
suitably by
editing /etc/loop/named.conf
, and then run it:
# systemctl enable --now named
Fedora Linux 41 (aarch64)
To install Loop version 1.99.3 on Fedora Linux
41 (aarch64), follow these steps as the root
user.
First, install the loop-release
RPM package that will
add the loop-fedora
and loop-fedora-testing
DNF repositories to your system,
as well as associated GPG keys used to verify signed RPM packages from
these repositories:
# dnf install https://download.banu.com/packages/loop/1.99/fedora/testing/41/aarch64/loop-release-1.99.3.20250623003957.08c26b66c1-1.fc41.noarch.rpm
Then, install the loop
RPM package that will install the
Loop software and documentation:
# dnf install loop
Then, if you wish to run the nameserver, configure
named
suitably by
editing /etc/loop/named.conf
, and then run it:
# systemctl enable --now named
Loop documentation
Loop is documented in the Loop User Manual, and manpages are provided for the Loop programs and their config files. They are also installed as part of the software packages.
Branch | Type | User Manual | User Manual | Download HTML | README | License |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.99 | Development | View PDF | View HTML | Download HTML ZIP | View README | View license |
Loop support
- Personal users of Loop may email the public loop-list mailing list for support. To subscribe, please send email to <loop-list+subscribe@banu.com>. To post a question, please send email to <loop-list@banu.com>. Please note that this is a public discussions mailing list, and the email archive is available for viewing to the general public.
- Commercial users of Loop should follow the instructions provided to them for creating support tickets.
Loop support plansThree different Loop support plans are offered. Paid plans have annual contract periods. |
Personal
Free
Install Loop
|
Business
US $5,000/month
Contact us
|
Large operator
US $20,000/month
Contact us
|
Contract period | Not applicable | 12 months | 12 months |
Supported instances | Not applicable | 4 | 32 |
Support hours | Not applicable | Business hours (9 AM—5 PM) | 24x7 throughout the year |
Response time | Not applicable | Within 1 business day | Immediate |
Public discussion forum & mailing lists | |||
Support by email | |||
Support by voice/video | |||
Advance information about vulnerabilities |