Node.js | DNS Module

Hello folks! welcome back to a new edition of our tutorial on Node.js. In this section of our tutorial on Node.js, we will be studying about Node.js DNS Module.

Node.js dns module is used to perform DNS lookup and also to use underlying operating name resolution functionalities. The module provides an asynchronous network wrapper and can be imported via the below syntax -

var dns = require("dns")

Method

Following table below is the list of methods available in Node.js dns module -

Sr.No.	Method & Description
1	dns.lookup(hostname[, options], callback) Resolves a hostname (e.g. 'google.com') into the first found A (IPv4) or AAAA (IPv6) record. options can be an object or integer. If options is not provided, then IP v4 and v6 addresses are both valid. If options is an integer, then it must be 4 or 6.
2	dns.lookupService(address, port, callback) Resolves the given address and port into a hostname and service using getnameinfo.
3	dns.resolve(hostname[, rrtype], callback) Resolves a hostname (e.g. 'google.com') into an array of the record types specified by rrtype.
4	dns.resolve4(hostname, callback) The same as dns.resolve(), but only for IPv4 queries (A records). addresses is an array of IPv4 addresses (e.g. ['74.125.79.104', '74.125.79.105', '74.125.79.106']).
5	dns.resolve6(hostname, callback) The same as dns.resolve4() except for IPv6 queries (an AAAA query).
6	dns.resolveMx(hostname, callback) The same as dns.resolve(), but only for mail exchange queries (MX records).
7	dns.resolveTxt(hostname, callback) The same as dns.resolve(), but only for text queries (TXT records). addresses is an 2-d 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, they could be either joined together or treated separately.
8	dns.resolveSrv(hostname, callback) The same as dns.resolve(), but only for service records (SRV records). addresses is an array of the SRV records available for hostname. Properties of SRV records are priority, weight, port, and name (e.g., [{'priority': 10, 'weight': 5, 'port': 21223, 'name': 'service.example.com'}, ...]).
9	dns.resolveSoa(hostname, callback) The same as dns.resolve(), but only for start of authority record queries (SOA record).
10	dns.resolveNs(hostname, callback) The same as dns.resolve(), but only for name server records (NS records). addresses is an array of the name server records available for hostname (e.g., ['ns1.example.com', 'ns2.example.com']).
11	dns.resolveCname(hostname, callback) The same as dns.resolve(), but only for canonical name records (CNAME records). addresses is an array of the canonical name records available for hostname (e.g., ['bar.example.com']).
12	dns.reverse(ip, callback) Reverse resolves an ip address to an array of hostnames.
13	dns.getServers() Returns an array of IP addresses as strings that are currently being used for resolution.
14	dns.setServers(servers) Given an array of IP addresses as strings, set them as the servers to use for resolving.

READ: Node.js | Net Module

rrtypes

Following is the list of valid rrtypes used by dns.resolve() method -

• A - IPV4 addresses, default.

• AAAA - IPV6 addresses.

• MX - mail exchange records.

• TXT - text records.

• SRV - SRV records.

• PTR - used for reversed IP lookups.

• NS - name server records.

• CNAME - canonical name records.

• SOA - start of authority record.

Error Codes

Each DNS query can return one of the below error codes -

• dns.NODATA - DNS server returned answer with no data.

• dns.FORMERR - DNS server claims query was misformatted.

• dns.SERVFAIL - DNS server returned back a general failure.

• dns.NOTFOUND - Domain name not found.

• dns.NOTIMP - DNS doesn't implement the requested operation.

• dns.REFUSED - DNS server refused query.

• dns.BADQUERY - Misformatted DNS query

• dns.BADNAME - Misformatted hostname.

• 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.NOMEM - Out of memory.

• dns.DISTRUCTION - Channel is being distroyed.

• dns.BADSTR - Misformatted string.

• dns.BADFLAGS - Illegal flags specified.

• dns.NONAME - Given hostname is not numeric.

• dns.BADHINTS - Illegal hints flags specified.

• dns.NOTINITIALIZED - c-area library initialization not yet performed.

• dns.LOADIPHLPAPI - Error loading iphlpapi.dll.

• dns.ADDRGETNETWORKPARAMS - Could not find GetNetworkParams function.

• dns.CANCELLED - DNS query cancelled.

Example

Let us create a js file, main.js making use of the following code -

var dns = require('dns');

dns.lookup('www.google.com', function onLookup(err, address, family) {
   console.log('address:', address);
   dns.reverse(address, function (err, hostnames) {
      if (err) {
         console.log(err.stack);
      }

      console.log('reverse for ' + address + ': ' + JSON.stringify(hostnames));
   });  
});

Now run the main.js to see the result -

$ node main.js

Output

Verify the output.

address: 173.194.46.83
reverse for 173.194.46.83: ["ord08s11-in-f19.1e100.net"]

READ: Node.js | OS Module

Alright guys! This is where we are going to be rounding up for this tutorial. In our next tutorial, we will be studying about Node.js Domain Module.

Feel free to ask your questions where necessary and we will attend to them as soon as possible. If this tutorial was helpful to you, you can use the share button to share this tutorial.

Follow us on our various social media platforms to stay updated with our latest tutorials. You can also subscribe to our newsletter in order to get our tutorials delivered directly to your emails.

Thanks for reading and bye for now.