Node.js v16.19.1 documentation

Class: dns.Resolver#

An independent resolver for DNS requests.

Creating a new resolver uses the default server settings. Setting the servers used for a resolver using resolver.setServers() does not affect other resolvers:

const { Resolver } = require('node:dns');
const resolver = new Resolver();
resolver.setServers(['4.4.4.4']);

// This request will use the server at 4.4.4.4, independent of global settings.
resolver.resolve4('example.org', (err, addresses) => {
  // ...
});

The following methods from the node:dns module are available:

• resolver.getServers()
• resolver.resolve()
• resolver.resolve4()
• resolver.resolve6()
• resolver.resolveAny()
• resolver.resolveCaa()
• resolver.resolveCname()
• resolver.resolveMx()
• resolver.resolveNaptr()
• resolver.resolveNs()
• resolver.resolvePtr()
• resolver.resolveSoa()
• resolver.resolveSrv()
• resolver.resolveTxt()
• resolver.reverse()
• resolver.setServers()

Resolver([options])#

Create a new resolver.

• options <Object>
  • timeout <integer> Query timeout in milliseconds, or -1 to use the default timeout.
  • tries <integer> The number of tries the resolver will try contacting each name server before giving up. Default: 4

resolver.cancel()#

Cancel all outstanding DNS queries made by this resolver. The corresponding callbacks will be called with an error with code ECANCELLED.

resolver.setLocalAddress([ipv4][, ipv6])#

• ipv4 <string> A string representation of an IPv4 address. Default: '0.0.0.0'
• ipv6 <string> A string representation of an IPv6 address. Default: '::0'

The resolver instance will send its requests from the specified IP address. This allows programs to specify outbound interfaces when used on multi-homed systems.

If a v4 or v6 address is not specified, it is set to the default and the operating system will choose a local address automatically.

The resolver will use the v4 local address when making requests to IPv4 DNS servers, and the v6 local address when making requests to IPv6 DNS servers. The rrtype of resolution requests has no impact on the local address used.

dns.getServers()#

• Returns: <string[]>

Returns an array of IP address strings, formatted according to RFC 5952, that are currently configured for DNS resolution. A string will include a port section if a custom port is used.

[
  '4.4.4.4',
  '2001:4860:4860::8888',
  '4.4.4.4:1053',
  '[2001:4860:4860::8888]:1053',
]

dns.lookup(hostname[, options], callback)#

• hostname <string>
• options <integer> | <Object>
  • family <integer> The record family. Must be 4, 6, or 0. The value 0 indicates that IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are both returned. Default: 0.
  • hints <number> One or more supported getaddrinfo flags. Multiple flags may be passed by bitwise ORing their values.
  • all <boolean> When true, the callback returns all resolved addresses in an array. Otherwise, returns a single address. Default: false.
  • verbatim <boolean> When true, the callback receives IPv4 and IPv6 addresses in the order the DNS resolver returned them. When false, IPv4 addresses are placed before IPv6 addresses. Default: currently false (addresses are reordered) but this is expected to change in the not too distant future. Default value is configurable using dns.setDefaultResultOrder() or --dns-result-order. New code should use { verbatim: true }.
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • address <string> A string representation of an IPv4 or IPv6 address.
  • family <integer> 4 or 6, denoting the family of address, or 0 if the address is not an IPv4 or IPv6 address. 0 is a likely indicator of a bug in the name resolution service used by the operating system.

Resolves a host name (e.g. 'nodejs.org') into the first found A (IPv4) or AAAA (IPv6) record. All option properties are optional. If options is an integer, then it must be 4 or 6 – if options is not provided, then IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are both returned if found.

With the all option set to true, the arguments for callback change to (err, addresses), with addresses being an array of objects with the properties address and family.

On error, err is an Error object, where err.code is the error code. Keep in mind that err.code will be set to 'ENOTFOUND' not only when the host name does not exist but also when the lookup fails in other ways such as no available file descriptors.

dns.lookup() does not necessarily have anything to do with the DNS protocol. The implementation uses an operating system facility that can associate names with addresses and vice versa. This implementation can have subtle but important consequences on the behavior of any Node.js program. Please take some time to consult the Implementation considerations section before using dns.lookup().

Example usage:

const dns = require('node:dns');
const options = {
  family: 6,
  hints: dns.ADDRCONFIG | dns.V4MAPPED,
};
dns.lookup('example.com', options, (err, address, family) =>
  console.log('address: %j family: IPv%s', address, family));
// address: "2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946" family: IPv6

// When options.all is true, the result will be an Array.
options.all = true;
dns.lookup('example.com', options, (err, addresses) =>
  console.log('addresses: %j', addresses));
// addresses: [{"address":"2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946","family":6}]

If this method is invoked as its util.promisify()ed version, and all is not set to true, it returns a Promise for an Object with address and family properties.

Supported getaddrinfo flags#

The following flags can be passed as hints to dns.lookup().

• dns.ADDRCONFIG: Limits returned address types to the types of non-loopback addresses configured on the system. For example, IPv4 addresses are only returned if the current system has at least one IPv4 address configured.
• dns.V4MAPPED: If the IPv6 family was specified, but no IPv6 addresses were found, then return IPv4 mapped IPv6 addresses. It is not supported on some operating systems (e.g. FreeBSD 10.1).
• dns.ALL: If dns.V4MAPPED is specified, return resolved IPv6 addresses as well as IPv4 mapped IPv6 addresses.

dns.lookupService(address, port, callback)#

• address <string>
• port <number>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • hostname <string> e.g. example.com
  • service <string> e.g. http

Resolves the given address and port into a host name and service using the operating system's underlying getnameinfo implementation.

If address is not a valid IP address, a TypeError will be thrown. The port will be coerced to a number. If it is not a legal port, a TypeError will be thrown.

On an error, err is an Error object, where err.code is the error code.

const dns = require('node:dns');
dns.lookupService('127.0.0.1', 22, (err, hostname, service) => {
  console.log(hostname, service);
  // Prints: localhost ssh
});

If this method is invoked as its util.promisify()ed version, it returns a Promise for an Object with hostname and service properties.

dns.resolve(hostname[, rrtype], callback)#

• hostname <string> Host name to resolve.
• rrtype <string> Resource record type. Default: 'A'.
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • records <string[]> | <Object[]> | <Object>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve a host name (e.g. 'nodejs.org') into an array of the resource records. The callback function has arguments (err, records). When successful, records will be an array of resource records. The type and structure of individual results varies based on rrtype:

On error, err is an Error object, where err.code is one of the DNS error codes.

dns.resolve4(hostname[, options], callback)#

• hostname <string> Host name to resolve.
• options <Object>
  • ttl <boolean> Retrieves the Time-To-Live value (TTL) of each record. When true, the callback receives an array of { address: '1.2.3.4', ttl: 60 } objects rather than an array of strings, with the TTL expressed in seconds.
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • addresses <string[]> | <Object[]>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve a IPv4 addresses (A records) for the hostname. The addresses argument passed to the callback function will contain an array of IPv4 addresses (e.g. ['74.125.79.104', '74.125.79.105', '74.125.79.106']).

dns.resolve6(hostname[, options], callback)#

• hostname <string> Host name to resolve.
• options <Object>
  • ttl <boolean> Retrieve the Time-To-Live value (TTL) of each record. When true, the callback receives an array of { address: '0:1:2:3:4:5:6:7', ttl: 60 } objects rather than an array of strings, with the TTL expressed in seconds.
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • addresses <string[]> | <Object[]>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve IPv6 addresses (AAAA records) for the hostname. The addresses argument passed to the callback function will contain an array of IPv6 addresses.

dns.resolveAny(hostname, callback)#

• hostname <string>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • ret <Object[]>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve all records (also known as ANY or * query). The ret argument passed to the callback function will be an array containing various types of records. Each object has a property type that indicates the type of the current record. And depending on the type, additional properties will be present on the object:

Here is an example of the ret object passed to the callback:

[ { type: 'A', address: '127.0.0.1', ttl: 299 },
  { type: 'CNAME', value: 'example.com' },
  { type: 'MX', exchange: 'alt4.aspmx.l.example.com', priority: 50 },
  { type: 'NS', value: 'ns1.example.com' },
  { type: 'TXT', entries: [ 'v=spf1 include:_spf.example.com ~all' ] },
  { type: 'SOA',
    nsname: 'ns1.example.com',
    hostmaster: 'admin.example.com',
    serial: 156696742,
    refresh: 900,
    retry: 900,
    expire: 1800,
    minttl: 60 } ]

DNS server operators may choose not to respond to ANY queries. It may be better to call individual methods like dns.resolve4(), dns.resolveMx(), and so on. For more details, see RFC 8482.

dns.resolveCname(hostname, callback)#

• hostname <string>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • addresses <string[]>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve CNAME records for the hostname. The addresses argument passed to the callback function will contain an array of canonical name records available for the hostname (e.g. ['bar.example.com']).

dns.resolveCaa(hostname, callback)#

• hostname <string>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • records <Object[]>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve CAA records for the hostname. The addresses argument passed to the callback function will contain an array of certification authority authorization records available for the hostname (e.g. [{critical: 0, iodef: 'mailto:[email protected]'}, {critical: 128, issue: 'pki.example.com'}]).

dns.resolveMx(hostname, callback)#

• hostname <string>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • addresses <Object[]>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve mail exchange records (MX records) for the hostname. The addresses argument passed to the callback function will contain an array of objects containing both a priority and exchange property (e.g. [{priority: 10, exchange: 'mx.example.com'}, ...]).

dns.resolveNaptr(hostname, callback)#

• hostname <string>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • addresses <Object[]>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve regular expression-based records (NAPTR records) for the hostname. The addresses argument passed to the callback function will contain an array of objects with the following properties:

• flags
• service
• regexp
• replacement
• order
• preference

{
  flags: 's',
  service: 'SIP+D2U',
  regexp: '',
  replacement: '_sip._udp.example.com',
  order: 30,
  preference: 100
}

dns.resolveNs(hostname, callback)#

• hostname <string>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • addresses <string[]>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve name server records (NS records) for the hostname. The addresses argument passed to the callback function will contain an array of name server records available for hostname (e.g. ['ns1.example.com', 'ns2.example.com']).

dns.resolvePtr(hostname, callback)#

• hostname <string>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • addresses <string[]>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve pointer records (PTR records) for the hostname. The addresses argument passed to the callback function will be an array of strings containing the reply records.

dns.resolveSoa(hostname, callback)#

• hostname <string>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • address <Object>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve a start of authority record (SOA record) for the hostname. The address argument passed to the callback function will be an object with the following properties:

• nsname
• hostmaster
• serial
• refresh
• retry
• expire
• minttl

{
  nsname: 'ns.example.com',
  hostmaster: 'root.example.com',
  serial: 2013101809,
  refresh: 10000,
  retry: 2400,
  expire: 604800,
  minttl: 3600
}

dns.resolveSrv(hostname, callback)#

• hostname <string>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • addresses <Object[]>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve service records (SRV records) for the hostname. The addresses argument passed to the callback function will be an array of objects with the following properties:

• priority
• weight
• port
• name

{
  priority: 10,
  weight: 5,
  port: 21223,
  name: 'service.example.com'
}

dns.resolveTxt(hostname, callback)#

• hostname <string>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • records <string[][]>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve text queries (TXT records) for the hostname. The records argument passed to the callback function is a two-dimensional array of the text records available for hostname (e.g. [ ['v=spf1 ip4:0.0.0.0 ', '~all' ] ]). Each sub-array contains TXT chunks of one record. Depending on the use case, these could be either joined together or treated separately.

dns.reverse(ip, callback)#

• ip <string>
• callback <Function>
  • err <Error>
  • hostnames <string[]>

Performs a reverse DNS query that resolves an IPv4 or IPv6 address to an array of host names.

On error, err is an Error object, where err.code is one of the DNS error codes.

dns.setDefaultResultOrder(order)#

• order <string> must be 'ipv4first' or 'verbatim'.

Set the default value of verbatim in dns.lookup() and dnsPromises.lookup(). The value could be:

• ipv4first: sets default verbatim false.
• verbatim: sets default verbatim true.

The default is ipv4first and dns.setDefaultResultOrder() have higher priority than --dns-result-order. When using worker threads, dns.setDefaultResultOrder() from the main thread won't affect the default dns orders in workers.

dns.setServers(servers)#

• servers <string[]> array of RFC 5952 formatted addresses

Sets the IP address and port of servers to be used when performing DNS resolution. The servers argument is an array of RFC 5952 formatted addresses. If the port is the IANA default DNS port (53) it can be omitted.

dns.setServers([
  '4.4.4.4',
  '[2001:4860:4860::8888]',
  '4.4.4.4:1053',
  '[2001:4860:4860::8888]:1053',
]);

An error will be thrown if an invalid address is provided.

The dns.setServers() method must not be called while a DNS query is in progress.

The dns.setServers() method affects only dns.resolve(), dns.resolve*() and dns.reverse() (and specifically not dns.lookup()).

This method works much like resolve.conf. That is, if attempting to resolve with the first server provided results in a NOTFOUND error, the resolve() method will not attempt to resolve with subsequent servers provided. Fallback DNS servers will only be used if the earlier ones time out or result in some other error.

DNS promises API#

The dns.promises API provides an alternative set of asynchronous DNS methods that return Promise objects rather than using callbacks. The API is accessible via require('node:dns').promises or require('node:dns/promises').

Class: dnsPromises.Resolver#

An independent resolver for DNS requests.

Creating a new resolver uses the default server settings. Setting the servers used for a resolver using resolver.setServers() does not affect other resolvers:

const { Resolver } = require('node:dns').promises;
const resolver = new Resolver();
resolver.setServers(['4.4.4.4']);

// This request will use the server at 4.4.4.4, independent of global settings.
resolver.resolve4('example.org').then((addresses) => {
  // ...
});

// Alternatively, the same code can be written using async-await style.
(async function() {
  const addresses = await resolver.resolve4('example.org');
})();

The following methods from the dnsPromises API are available:

• resolver.getServers()
• resolver.resolve()
• resolver.resolve4()
• resolver.resolve6()
• resolver.resolveAny()
• resolver.resolveCaa()
• resolver.resolveCname()
• resolver.resolveMx()
• resolver.resolveNaptr()
• resolver.resolveNs()
• resolver.resolvePtr()
• resolver.resolveSoa()
• resolver.resolveSrv()
• resolver.resolveTxt()
• resolver.reverse()
• resolver.setServers()

resolver.cancel()#

Cancel all outstanding DNS queries made by this resolver. The corresponding promises will be rejected with an error with the code ECANCELLED.

dnsPromises.getServers()#

• Returns: <string[]>

Returns an array of IP address strings, formatted according to RFC 5952, that are currently configured for DNS resolution. A string will include a port section if a custom port is used.

[
  '4.4.4.4',
  '2001:4860:4860::8888',
  '4.4.4.4:1053',
  '[2001:4860:4860::8888]:1053',
]

dnsPromises.lookup(hostname[, options])#

• hostname <string>
• options <integer> | <Object>
  • family <integer> The record family. Must be 4, 6, or 0. The value 0 indicates that IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are both returned. Default: 0.
  • hints <number> One or more supported getaddrinfo flags. Multiple flags may be passed by bitwise ORing their values.
  • all <boolean> When true, the Promise is resolved with all addresses in an array. Otherwise, returns a single address. Default: false.
  • verbatim <boolean> When true, the Promise is resolved with IPv4 and IPv6 addresses in the order the DNS resolver returned them. When false, IPv4 addresses are placed before IPv6 addresses. Default: currently false (addresses are reordered) but this is expected to change in the not too distant future. Default value is configurable using dns.setDefaultResultOrder() or --dns-result-order. New code should use { verbatim: true }.

Resolves a host name (e.g. 'nodejs.org') into the first found A (IPv4) or AAAA (IPv6) record. All option properties are optional. If options is an integer, then it must be 4 or 6 – if options is not provided, then IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are both returned if found.

With the all option set to true, the Promise is resolved with addresses being an array of objects with the properties address and family.

On error, the Promise is rejected with an Error object, where err.code is the error code. Keep in mind that err.code will be set to 'ENOTFOUND' not only when the host name does not exist but also when the lookup fails in other ways such as no available file descriptors.

dnsPromises.lookup() does not necessarily have anything to do with the DNS protocol. The implementation uses an operating system facility that can associate names with addresses and vice versa. This implementation can have subtle but important consequences on the behavior of any Node.js program. Please take some time to consult the Implementation considerations section before using dnsPromises.lookup().

Example usage:

const dns = require('node:dns');
const dnsPromises = dns.promises;
const options = {
  family: 6,
  hints: dns.ADDRCONFIG | dns.V4MAPPED,
};

dnsPromises.lookup('example.com', options).then((result) => {
  console.log('address: %j family: IPv%s', result.address, result.family);
  // address: "2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946" family: IPv6
});

// When options.all is true, the result will be an Array.
options.all = true;
dnsPromises.lookup('example.com', options).then((result) => {
  console.log('addresses: %j', result);
  // addresses: [{"address":"2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946","family":6}]
});

dnsPromises.lookupService(address, port)#

• address <string>
• port <number>

Resolves the given address and port into a host name and service using the operating system's underlying getnameinfo implementation.

If address is not a valid IP address, a TypeError will be thrown. The port will be coerced to a number. If it is not a legal port, a TypeError will be thrown.

On error, the Promise is rejected with an Error object, where err.code is the error code.

const dnsPromises = require('node:dns').promises;
dnsPromises.lookupService('127.0.0.1', 22).then((result) => {
  console.log(result.hostname, result.service);
  // Prints: localhost ssh
});

dnsPromises.resolve(hostname[, rrtype])#

• hostname <string> Host name to resolve.
• rrtype <string> Resource record type. Default: 'A'.

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve a host name (e.g. 'nodejs.org') into an array of the resource records. When successful, the Promise is resolved with an array of resource records. The type and structure of individual results vary based on rrtype:

On error, the Promise is rejected with an Error object, where err.code is one of the DNS error codes.

dnsPromises.resolve4(hostname[, options])#

• hostname <string> Host name to resolve.
• options <Object>
  • ttl <boolean> Retrieve the Time-To-Live value (TTL) of each record. When true, the Promise is resolved with an array of { address: '1.2.3.4', ttl: 60 } objects rather than an array of strings, with the TTL expressed in seconds.

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve IPv4 addresses (A records) for the hostname. On success, the Promise is resolved with an array of IPv4 addresses (e.g. ['74.125.79.104', '74.125.79.105', '74.125.79.106']).

dnsPromises.resolve6(hostname[, options])#

• hostname <string> Host name to resolve.
• options <Object>
  • ttl <boolean> Retrieve the Time-To-Live value (TTL) of each record. When true, the Promise is resolved with an array of { address: '0:1:2:3:4:5:6:7', ttl: 60 } objects rather than an array of strings, with the TTL expressed in seconds.

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve IPv6 addresses (AAAA records) for the hostname. On success, the Promise is resolved with an array of IPv6 addresses.

dnsPromises.resolveAny(hostname)#

• hostname <string>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve all records (also known as ANY or * query). On success, the Promise is resolved with an array containing various types of records. Each object has a property type that indicates the type of the current record. And depending on the type, additional properties will be present on the object:

Here is an example of the result object:

[ { type: 'A', address: '127.0.0.1', ttl: 299 },
  { type: 'CNAME', value: 'example.com' },
  { type: 'MX', exchange: 'alt4.aspmx.l.example.com', priority: 50 },
  { type: 'NS', value: 'ns1.example.com' },
  { type: 'TXT', entries: [ 'v=spf1 include:_spf.example.com ~all' ] },
  { type: 'SOA',
    nsname: 'ns1.example.com',
    hostmaster: 'admin.example.com',
    serial: 156696742,
    refresh: 900,
    retry: 900,
    expire: 1800,
    minttl: 60 } ]

dnsPromises.resolveCaa(hostname)#

• hostname <string>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve CAA records for the hostname. On success, the Promise is resolved with an array of objects containing available certification authority authorization records available for the hostname (e.g. [{critical: 0, iodef: 'mailto:[email protected]'},{critical: 128, issue: 'pki.example.com'}]).

dnsPromises.resolveCname(hostname)#

• hostname <string>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve CNAME records for the hostname. On success, the Promise is resolved with an array of canonical name records available for the hostname (e.g. ['bar.example.com']).

dnsPromises.resolveMx(hostname)#

• hostname <string>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve mail exchange records (MX records) for the hostname. On success, the Promise is resolved with an array of objects containing both a priority and exchange property (e.g. [{priority: 10, exchange: 'mx.example.com'}, ...]).

dnsPromises.resolveNaptr(hostname)#

• hostname <string>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve regular expression-based records (NAPTR records) for the hostname. On success, the Promise is resolved with an array of objects with the following properties:

• flags
• service
• regexp
• replacement
• order
• preference

{
  flags: 's',
  service: 'SIP+D2U',
  regexp: '',
  replacement: '_sip._udp.example.com',
  order: 30,
  preference: 100
}

dnsPromises.resolveNs(hostname)#

• hostname <string>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve name server records (NS records) for the hostname. On success, the Promise is resolved with an array of name server records available for hostname (e.g. ['ns1.example.com', 'ns2.example.com']).

dnsPromises.resolvePtr(hostname)#

• hostname <string>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve pointer records (PTR records) for the hostname. On success, the Promise is resolved with an array of strings containing the reply records.

dnsPromises.resolveSoa(hostname)#

• hostname <string>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve a start of authority record (SOA record) for the hostname. On success, the Promise is resolved with an object with the following properties:

• nsname
• hostmaster
• serial
• refresh
• retry
• expire
• minttl

{
  nsname: 'ns.example.com',
  hostmaster: 'root.example.com',
  serial: 2013101809,
  refresh: 10000,
  retry: 2400,
  expire: 604800,
  minttl: 3600
}

dnsPromises.resolveSrv(hostname)#

• hostname <string>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve service records (SRV records) for the hostname. On success, the Promise is resolved with an array of objects with the following properties:

• priority
• weight
• port
• name

{
  priority: 10,
  weight: 5,
  port: 21223,
  name: 'service.example.com'
}

dnsPromises.resolveTxt(hostname)#

• hostname <string>

Uses the DNS protocol to resolve text queries (TXT records) for the hostname. On success, the Promise is resolved with a two-dimensional array of the text records available for hostname (e.g. [ ['v=spf1 ip4:0.0.0.0 ', '~all' ] ]). Each sub-array contains TXT chunks of one record. Depending on the use case, these could be either joined together or treated separately.

dnsPromises.reverse(ip)#

• ip <string>

Performs a reverse DNS query that resolves an IPv4 or IPv6 address to an array of host names.

On error, the Promise is rejected with an Error object, where err.code is one of the DNS error codes.

dnsPromises.setDefaultResultOrder(order)#

• order <string> must be 'ipv4first' or 'verbatim'.

Set the default value of verbatim in dns.lookup() and dnsPromises.lookup(). The value could be:

• ipv4first: sets default verbatim false.
• verbatim: sets default verbatim true.

The default is ipv4first and dnsPromises.setDefaultResultOrder() have higher priority than --dns-result-order. When using worker threads, dnsPromises.setDefaultResultOrder() from the main thread won't affect the default dns orders in workers.

dnsPromises.setServers(servers)#

• servers <string[]> array of RFC 5952 formatted addresses

Sets the IP address and port of servers to be used when performing DNS resolution. The servers argument is an array of RFC 5952 formatted addresses. If the port is the IANA default DNS port (53) it can be omitted.

dnsPromises.setServers([
  '4.4.4.4',
  '[2001:4860:4860::8888]',
  '4.4.4.4:1053',
  '[2001:4860:4860::8888]:1053',
]);

An error will be thrown if an invalid address is provided.

The dnsPromises.setServers() method must not be called while a DNS query is in progress.

This method works much like resolve.conf. That is, if attempting to resolve with the first server provided results in a NOTFOUND error, the resolve() method will not attempt to resolve with subsequent servers provided. Fallback DNS servers will only be used if the earlier ones time out or result in some other error.

Error codes#

Each DNS query can return one of the following error codes:

• dns.NODATA: DNS server returned an answer with no data.
• dns.FORMERR: DNS server claims query was misformatted.
• dns.SERVFAIL: DNS server returned general failure.
• dns.NOTFOUND: Domain name not found.
• dns.NOTIMP: DNS server does not implement the requested operation.
• dns.REFUSED: DNS server refused query.
• dns.BADQUERY: Misformatted DNS query.
• dns.BADNAME: Misformatted host name.
• dns.BADFAMILY: Unsupported address family.
• dns.BADRESP: Misformatted DNS reply.
• dns.CONNREFUSED: Could not contact DNS servers.
• dns.TIMEOUT: Timeout while contacting DNS servers.
• dns.EOF: End of file.
• dns.FILE: Error reading file.
• dns.NOMEM: Out of memory.
• dns.DESTRUCTION: Channel is being destroyed.
• dns.BADSTR: Misformatted string.
• dns.BADFLAGS: Illegal flags specified.
• dns.NONAME: Given host name is not numeric.
• dns.BADHINTS: Illegal hints flags specified.
• dns.NOTINITIALIZED: c-ares library initialization not yet performed.
• dns.LOADIPHLPAPI: Error loading iphlpapi.dll.
• dns.ADDRGETNETWORKPARAMS: Could not find GetNetworkParams function.
• dns.CANCELLED: DNS query cancelled.

The dnsPromises API also exports the above error codes, e.g., dnsPromises.NODATA.

Implementation considerations#

Although dns.lookup() and the various dns.resolve*()/dns.reverse() functions have the same goal of associating a network name with a network address (or vice versa), their behavior is quite different. These differences can have subtle but significant consequences on the behavior of Node.js programs.

dns.lookup()#

Under the hood, dns.lookup() uses the same operating system facilities as most other programs. For instance, dns.lookup() will almost always resolve a given name the same way as the ping command. On most POSIX-like operating systems, the behavior of the dns.lookup() function can be modified by changing settings in nsswitch.conf(5) and/or resolv.conf(5), but changing these files will change the behavior of all other programs running on the same operating system.

Though the call to dns.lookup() will be asynchronous from JavaScript's perspective, it is implemented as a synchronous call to getaddrinfo(3) that runs on libuv's threadpool. This can have surprising negative performance implications for some applications, see the UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE documentation for more information.

Various networking APIs will call dns.lookup() internally to resolve host names. If that is an issue, consider resolving the host name to an address using dns.resolve() and using the address instead of a host name. Also, some networking APIs (such as socket.connect() and dgram.createSocket()) allow the default resolver, dns.lookup(), to be replaced.

dns.resolve(), dns.resolve*(), and dns.reverse()#

These functions are implemented quite differently than dns.lookup(). They do not use getaddrinfo(3) and they always perform a DNS query on the network. This network communication is always done asynchronously and does not use libuv's threadpool.

As a result, these functions cannot have the same negative impact on other processing that happens on libuv's threadpool that dns.lookup() can have.

They do not use the same set of configuration files than what dns.lookup() uses. For instance, they do not use the configuration from /etc/hosts.