Creating our own DNS from scratch in CPP

A Secure and Scalable Microservice Based DNS Server with DoH and DNSSEC Support

Objectives:

• Implementation of the DNS protocol using UDP sockets, packet parsers and writers
• Implementation of parsers and resolvers for various record types
• Implementation of recursive lookups
• Implementation of DOH and DNSSec Services
• Implementation of Cache Poisoning Prevention techniques
• Implementation of the Microservice architecture for effortless scalability
• Implementation of Load Balancing to balance the load across multiple servers

Pre-requisites:

• make

• CMake

• vcpkg

Steps to Install Pre-requisites:

• Installing make

Here’s how to install make on various operating systems:

Ubuntu/Debian-based Systems:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install make

Fedora/RHEL-based Systems:

sudo dnf install make

For RHEL/CentOS:

sudo yum install make

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S make

macOS:

make is included with Xcode Command Line Tools. Install it using:

xcode-select --install

Windows:

• Using Chocolatey:

  choco install make

• Using MSYS2:

  • First, install MSYS2 from MSYS2 website.
  • Open the MSYS2 shell and update the package database:

    pacman -Syu

  • Install make:

    pacman -S make

• Using WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux):

  If you have WSL installed, you can follow the Linux installation instructions for make within the WSL environment.

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• Installing CMake

Here's how to install CMake on various operating systems:

Ubuntu/Debian-based Systems:

• Using APT (default repository):

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install cmake

• Using APT for the latest version:

  • You might need to add a PPA (Personal Package Archive) for the latest version:

    sudo apt update
    sudo apt install software-properties-common
    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kitware/ppa
    sudo apt update
    sudo apt install cmake

Fedora/RHEL-based Systems:

• Using DNF:

  sudo dnf install cmake

• For RHEL/CentOS (EPEL repository may be needed):

  sudo yum install cmake

Arch Linux:

• Using Pacman:

  sudo pacman -S cmake

macOS

• Using Homebrew:

  • If you don’t have Homebrew, install it first:

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

  • Then install CMake:

    brew install cmake

• Using MacPorts:

  sudo port install cmake

Windows

• Using Chocolatey:

  choco install cmake

• Using the Official Installer:

  • Download the latest installer from the CMake website.
  • Run the installer and follow the setup instructions.

• Using MSYS2:

  • Install MSYS2 from the MSYS2 website.
  • Open the MSYS2 shell and install CMake:

    pacman -S cmake

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• Installing vcpkg

Here’s a comprehensive guide for installing vcpkg on various operating systems, including setting up the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable:

Ubuntu/Debian-based Systems:

• Install dependencies:

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install build-essential curl zip unzip

• Clone the vcpkg repository and bootstrap:

  git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git
  cd vcpkg
  ./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh

• Add vcpkg to your PATH (optional but recommended):

  export PATH="$PATH:/path/to/vcpkg"

• Set the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable:

  • Open the .bashrc or .zshrc file in a text editor:

    nano ~/.bashrc
    # or
    nano ~/.zshrc

  • Add the following line at the end of the file:

    export VCPKG_ROOT=/path/to/vcpkg

  • Apply the changes:

    source ~/.bashrc
    # or
    source ~/.zshrc

Fedora/RHEL-based Systems:

• Install dependencies:

  sudo dnf install gcc-c++ curl zip unzip git

• Clone the vcpkg repository and bootstrap:

  git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git
  cd vcpkg
  ./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh

• Add vcpkg to your PATH (optional but recommended):

  export PATH="$PATH:/path/to/vcpkg"

• Set the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable:

  • Open the .bashrc or .zshrc file in a text editor:

    nano ~/.bashrc
    # or
    nano ~/.zshrc

  • Add the following line at the end of the file:

    export VCPKG_ROOT=/path/to/vcpkg

  • Apply the changes:

    source ~/.bashrc
    # or
    source ~/.zshrc

Arch Linux:

• Install dependencies:

  sudo pacman -S base-devel git curl unzip

• Clone the vcpkg repository and bootstrap:

  git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git
  cd vcpkg
  ./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh

• Add vcpkg to your PATH (optional but recommended):

  export PATH="$PATH:/path/to/vcpkg"

• Set the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable:

  • Open the .bashrc or .zshrc file in a text editor:

    nano ~/.bashrc
    # or
    nano ~/.zshrc

  • Add the following line at the end of the file:

    export VCPKG_ROOT=/path/to/vcpkg

  • Apply the changes:

    source ~/.bashrc
    # or
    source ~/.zshrc

macOS:

• Install dependencies (Homebrew can be used to install curl and unzip):

  brew install git curl unzip

• Clone the vcpkg repository and bootstrap:

  git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git
  cd vcpkg
  ./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh

• Add vcpkg to your PATH (optional but recommended):

  export PATH="$PATH:/path/to/vcpkg"

• Set the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable:

  • Open the .bash_profile, .bashrc, or .zshrc file in a text editor (depending on your shell):

    nano ~/.bash_profile
    # or
    nano ~/.zshrc

  • Add the following line at the end of the file:

    export VCPKG_ROOT=/path/to/vcpkg

  • Apply the changes:

    source ~/.bash_profile
    # or
    source ~/.zshrc

Windows:

• Install Git (if not already installed): Download Git for Windows.

• Install vcpkg:

  • Open Command Prompt or PowerShell.
  • Clone the vcpkg repository:

    git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git

  • Navigate to the vcpkg directory and bootstrap:

    cd vcpkg
    .\bootstrap-vcpkg.bat

• Add vcpkg to your PATH (optional but recommended):

  • You can set the PATH variable in the system environment variables, or use the vcpkg integrate install command to integrate vcpkg with Visual Studio.

• Set the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable:

  • Open the System Properties:
    • Right-click on This PC or Computer on the desktop or in File Explorer.
    • Select Properties.
    • Click on Advanced system settings.
    • Click on Environment Variables.
  • Add the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable:
    • In the "System variables" section, click New.
    • Set the Variable name to VCPKG_ROOT.
    • Set the Variable value to the path of your vcpkg installation (e.g., C:\path\to\vcpkg).
    • Click OK to save.

• Apply the changes:

  • Click OK to close the Environment Variables window.
  • Click OK to close the System Properties window.

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Project Setup on Local Development Environment

• Move to the root directory of the project and execute the command

  ./your_program.sh

• For testing purposes: Execute the command

  ./test.sh