RESOLVECTL(1)
Resolve names, addresses, DNS records and services. Static snapshot from Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS.
RESOLVECTL(1) resolvectl RESOLVECTL(1)
NAME
resolvectl, resolvconf - Resolve domain names, IPV4 and IPv6 addresses, DNS
resource records, and services; introspect and reconfigure the DNS resolver
SYNOPSIS
resolvectl [OPTIONS...] {COMMAND} [NAME...]
DESCRIPTION
resolvectl may be used to resolve domain names, IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, DNS
resource records and services with the systemd-resolved.service(8) resolver
service. By default, the specified list of parameters will be resolved as
hostnames, retrieving their IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. If the parameters
specified are formatted as IPv4 or IPv6 addresses the reverse operation is
done, and a hostname is retrieved for the specified addresses.
The program's output contains information about the protocol used for the
look-up and on which network interface the data was discovered. It also
contains information on whether the information could be authenticated. All
data for which local DNSSEC validation succeeds is considered authenticated.
Moreover all data originating from local, trusted sources is also reported
authenticated, including resolution of the local host name, the "localhost"
hostname or all data from /etc/hosts.
COMMANDS
query HOSTNAME|ADDRESS...
Resolve domain names, as well as IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. When used in
conjunction with --type= or --class= (see below), resolves low-level DNS
resource records.
If a single-label domain name is specified it is searched for according to
the configured search domains — unless --search=no or --type=/--class= are
specified, both of which turn this logic off.
If an international domain name is specified, it is automatically
translated according to IDNA rules when resolved via classic DNS — but not
for look-ups via MulticastDNS or LLMNR. If --type=/--class= is used IDNA
translation is turned off and domain names are processed as specified.
Added in version 239.
service [[NAME] TYPE] DOMAIN
Resolve RFC 6763 DNS-SD[1] and RFC 2782 SRV[2] services, depending on the
specified list of parameters. If three parameters are passed the first is
assumed to be the DNS-SD service name, the second the SRV service type,
and the third the domain to search in. In this case a full DNS-SD style
SRV and TXT lookup is executed. If only two parameters are specified, the
first is assumed to be the SRV service type, and the second the domain to
look in. In this case no TXT resource record is requested. Finally, if
only one parameter is specified, it is assumed to be a domain name, that
is already prefixed with an SRV type, and an SRV lookup is done (no TXT).
Added in version 239.
openpgp EMAIL@DOMAIN...
Query PGP keys stored as OPENPGPKEY resource records, see RFC 7929[3].
Specified e-mail addresses are converted to the corresponding DNS domain
name, and any OPENPGPKEY keys are printed.
Added in version 239.
tlsa [FAMILY] DOMAIN[:PORT]...
Query TLS public keys stored as TLSA resource records, see RFC 6698[4]. A
query will be performed for each of the specified names prefixed with the
port and family ("_port._family.domain"). The port number may be specified
after a colon (":"), otherwise 443 will be used by default. The family may
be specified as the first argument, otherwise tcp will be used.
Added in version 239.
status [LINK...]
Shows the global and per-link DNS settings currently in effect. If no
command is specified, this is the implied default.
Added in version 239.
statistics
Shows general resolver statistics, including information whether DNSSEC is
enabled and available, as well as resolution and validation statistics.
Added in version 239.
reset-statistics
Resets the statistics counters shown in statistics to zero. This operation
requires root privileges.
Added in version 239.
flush-caches
Flushes all DNS resource record caches the service maintains locally. This
is mostly equivalent to sending the SIGUSR2 to the systemd-resolved
service.
Added in version 239.
reset-server-features
Flushes all feature level information the resolver learnt about specific
servers, and ensures that the server feature probing logic is started from
the beginning with the next look-up request. This is mostly equivalent to
sending the SIGRTMIN+1 to the systemd-resolved service.
Added in version 239.
dns [LINK [SERVER...]], domain [LINK [DOMAIN...]], default-route [LINK
[BOOL...]], llmnr [LINK [MODE]], mdns [LINK [MODE]], dnssec [LINK [MODE]],
dnsovertls [LINK [MODE]], nta [LINK [DOMAIN...]]
Get/set per-interface DNS configuration. These commands may be used to
configure various DNS settings for network interfaces. These commands may
be used to inform systemd-resolved or systemd-networkd about per-interface
DNS configuration determined through external means. The dns command
expects IPv4 or IPv6 address specifications of DNS servers to use. Each
address can optionally take a port number separated with ":", a network
interface name or index separated with "%", and a Server Name Indication
(SNI) separated with "#". When IPv6 address is specified with a port
number, then the address must be in the square brackets. That is, the
acceptable full formats are "111.222.333.444:9953%ifname#example.com" for
IPv4 and "[1111:2222::3333]:9953%ifname#example.com" for IPv6. The domain
command expects valid DNS domains, possibly prefixed with "~", and
configures a per-interface search or route-only domain. The default-route
command expects a boolean parameter, and configures whether the link may
be used as default route for DNS lookups, i.e. if it is suitable for
lookups on domains no other link explicitly is configured for. The llmnr,
mdns, dnssec and dnsovertls commands may be used to configure the
per-interface LLMNR, MulticastDNS, DNSSEC and DNSOverTLS settings.
Finally, nta command may be used to configure additional per-interface
DNSSEC NTA domains.
Commands dns, domain and nta can take a single empty string argument to
clear their respective value lists.
For details about these settings, their possible values and their effect,
see the corresponding settings in systemd.network(5).
Added in version 239.
revert LINK
Revert the per-interface DNS configuration. If the DNS configuration is
reverted all per-interface DNS setting are reset to their defaults,
undoing all effects of dns, domain, default-route, llmnr, mdns, dnssec,
dnsovertls, nta. Note that when a network interface disappears all
configuration is lost automatically, an explicit reverting is not
necessary in that case.
Added in version 239.
monitor
Show a continuous stream of local client resolution queries and their
responses. Whenever a local query is completed the query's DNS resource
lookup key and resource records are shown. Note that this displays queries
issued locally only, and does not immediately relate to DNS requests
submitted to configured DNS servers or the LLMNR or MulticastDNS zones, as
lookups may be answered from the local cache, or might result in multiple
DNS transactions (for example to validate DNSSEC information). If
CNAME/CNAME redirection chains are followed, a separate query will be
displayed for each element of the chain. Use --json= to enable JSON
output.
Added in version 252.
show-cache
Show current cache content, per scope. Use --json= to enable JSON output.
Added in version 254.
show-server-state
Show detailed server state information, per DNS Server. Use --json= to
enable JSON output.
Added in version 255.
log-level [LEVEL]
If no argument is given, print the current log level of the manager. If an
optional argument LEVEL is provided, then the command changes the current
log level of the manager to LEVEL (accepts the same values as --log-level=
described in systemd(1)).
Added in version 244.
OPTIONS
-4, -6
By default, when resolving a hostname, both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are
acquired. By specifying -4 only IPv4 addresses are requested, by
specifying -6 only IPv6 addresses are requested.
Added in version 239.
-i INTERFACE, --interface=INTERFACE
Specifies the network interface to execute the query on. This may either
be specified as numeric interface index or as network interface string
(e.g. "en0"). Note that this option has no effect if system-wide DNS
configuration (as configured in /etc/resolv.conf or
/etc/systemd/resolved.conf) in place of per-link configuration is used.
Added in version 239.
-p PROTOCOL, --protocol=PROTOCOL
Specifies the network protocol for the query. May be one of "dns" (i.e.
classic unicast DNS), "llmnr" (Link-Local Multicast Name Resolution[5]),
"llmnr-ipv4", "llmnr-ipv6" (LLMNR via the indicated underlying IP
protocols), "mdns" (Multicast DNS[6]), "mdns-ipv4", "mdns-ipv6" (MDNS via
the indicated underlying IP protocols). By default the lookup is done via
all protocols suitable for the lookup. If used, limits the set of
protocols that may be used. Use this option multiple times to enable
resolving via multiple protocols at the same time. The setting "llmnr" is
identical to specifying this switch once with "llmnr-ipv4" and once via
"llmnr-ipv6". Note that this option does not force the service to resolve
the operation with the specified protocol, as that might require a
suitable network interface and configuration. The special value "help" may
be used to list known values.
Added in version 239.
-t TYPE, --type=TYPE, -c CLASS, --class=CLASS
When used in conjunction with the query command, specifies the DNS
resource record type (e.g. A, AAAA, MX, ...) and class (e.g. IN, ANY,
...) to look up. If these options are used a DNS resource record set
matching the specified class and type is requested. The class defaults to
IN if only a type is specified. The special value "help" may be used to
list known values.
Without these options resolvectl query provides high-level domain name to
address and address to domain name resolution. With these options it
provides low-level DNS resource record resolution. The search domain logic
is automatically turned off when these options are used, i.e. specified
domain names need to be fully qualified domain names. Moreover, IDNA
internal domain name translation is turned off as well, i.e. international
domain names should be specified in "xn--..." notation, unless look-up in
MulticastDNS/LLMNR is desired, in which case UTF-8 characters should be
used.
Added in version 239.
--service-address=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter. If true (the default), when doing a service
lookup with --service the hostnames contained in the SRV resource records
are resolved as well.
Added in version 239.
--service-txt=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter. If true (the default), when doing a DNS-SD
service lookup with --service the TXT service metadata record is resolved
as well.
Added in version 239.
--cname=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter. If true (the default), DNS CNAME or DNAME
redirections are followed. Otherwise, if a CNAME or DNAME record is
encountered while resolving, an error is returned.
Added in version 239.
--validate=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter; used in conjunction with query. If true (the
default), DNSSEC validation is applied as usual — under the condition that
it is enabled for the network and for systemd-resolved.service as a whole.
If false, DNSSEC validation is disabled for the specific query, regardless
of whether it is enabled for the network or in the service. Note that
setting this option to true does not force DNSSEC validation on
systems/networks where DNSSEC is turned off. This option is only suitable
to turn off such validation where otherwise enabled, not enable validation
where otherwise disabled.
Added in version 248.
--synthesize=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter; used in conjunction with query. If true (the
default), select domains are resolved on the local system, among them
"localhost", "_gateway", "_outbound", "_localdnsstub" and "_localdnsproxy"
or entries from /etc/hosts. If false these domains are not resolved
locally, and either fail (in case of "localhost", "_gateway" or
"_outbound" and suchlike) or go to the network via regular DNS/mDNS/LLMNR
lookups (in case of /etc/hosts entries).
Added in version 248.
--cache=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter; used in conjunction with query. If true (the
default), lookups use the local DNS resource record cache. If false,
lookups are routed to the network instead, regardless if already available
in the local cache.
Added in version 248.
--zone=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter; used in conjunction with query. If true (the
default), lookups are answered from locally registered LLMNR or mDNS
resource records, if defined. If false, locally registered LLMNR/mDNS
records are not considered for the lookup request.
Added in version 248.
--trust-anchor=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter; used in conjunction with query. If true (the
default), lookups for DS and DNSKEY are answered from the local DNSSEC
trust anchors if possible. If false, the local trust store is not
considered for the lookup request.
Added in version 248.
--network=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter; used in conjunction with query. If true (the
default), lookups are answered via DNS, LLMNR or mDNS network requests if
they cannot be synthesized locally, or be answered from the local cache,
zone or trust anchors (see above). If false, the request is not answered
from the network and will thus fail if none of the indicated sources can
answer them.
Added in version 248.
--search=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter. If true (the default), any specified
single-label hostnames will be searched in the domains configured in the
search domain list, if it is non-empty. Otherwise, the search domain logic
is disabled. Note that this option has no effect if --type= is used (see
above), in which case the search domain logic is unconditionally turned
off.
Added in version 239.
--raw[=payload|packet]
Dump the answer as binary data. If there is no argument or if the argument
is "payload", the payload of the packet is exported. If the argument is
"packet", the whole packet is dumped in wire format, prefixed by length
specified as a little-endian 64-bit number. This format allows multiple
packets to be dumped and unambiguously parsed.
Added in version 239.
--legend=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter. If true (the default), column headers and meta
information about the query response are shown. Otherwise, this output is
suppressed.
Added in version 239.
--stale-data=BOOL
Takes a boolean parameter; used in conjunction with query. If true (the
default), lookups are answered with stale data (expired resource records)
if possible. If false, the stale data is not considered for the lookup
request.
Added in version 254.
--json=MODE
Shows output formatted as JSON. Expects one of "short" (for the shortest
possible output without any redundant whitespace or line breaks), "pretty"
(for a pretty version of the same, with indentation and line breaks) or
"off" (to turn off JSON output, the default).
-j
Short for --json=auto
Added in version 252.
--no-pager
Do not pipe output into a pager.
-h, --help
Print a short help text and exit.
--version
Print a short version string and exit.
COMPATIBILITY WITH RESOLVCONF(8)
resolvectl is a multi-call binary. When invoked as "resolvconf" (generally
achieved by means of a symbolic link of this name to the resolvectl binary) it
is run in a limited resolvconf(8) compatibility mode. It accepts mostly the
same arguments and pushes all data into systemd-resolved.service(8), similar
to how dns and domain commands operate. Note that systemd-resolved.service is
the only supported backend, which is different from other implementations of
this command.
/etc/resolv.conf will only be updated with servers added with this command
when /etc/resolv.conf is a symlink to /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf, and
not a static file. See the discussion of /etc/resolv.conf handling in systemd-
resolved.service(8).
Not all operations supported by other implementations are supported natively.
Specifically:
-a
Registers per-interface DNS configuration data with systemd-resolved.
Expects a network interface name as only command line argument. Reads
resolv.conf(5)-compatible DNS configuration data from its standard input.
Relevant fields are "nameserver" and "domain"/"search". This command is
mostly identical to invoking resolvectl with a combination of dns and
domain commands.
Added in version 239.
-d
Unregisters per-interface DNS configuration data with systemd-resolved.
This command is mostly identical to invoking resolvectl revert.
Added in version 239.
-f
When specified -a and -d will not complain about missing network
interfaces and will silently execute no operation in that case.
Added in version 239.
-x
This switch for "exclusive" operation is supported only partially. It is
mapped to an additional configured search domain of "~." — i.e. ensures
that DNS traffic is preferably routed to the DNS servers on this
interface, unless there are other, more specific domains configured on
other interfaces.
Added in version 239.
-m, -p
These switches are not supported and are silently ignored.
Added in version 239.
-u, -I, -i, -l, -R, -r, -v, -V, --enable-updates, --disable-updates,
--are-updates-enabled
These switches are not supported and the command will fail if used.
Added in version 239.
See resolvconf(8) for details on those command line options.
EXAMPLES
Example 1. Retrieve the addresses of the "www.0pointer.net" domain (A and AAAA
resource records)
$ resolvectl query www.0pointer.net
www.0pointer.net: 2a01:238:43ed:c300:10c3:bcf3:3266:da74
85.214.157.71
-- Information acquired via protocol DNS in 611.6ms.
-- Data is authenticated: no
Example 2. Retrieve the domain of the "85.214.157.71" IP address (PTR resource
record)
$ resolvectl query 85.214.157.71
85.214.157.71: gardel.0pointer.net
-- Information acquired via protocol DNS in 1.2997s.
-- Data is authenticated: no
Example 3. Retrieve the MX record of the "yahoo.com" domain
$ resolvectl --legend=no -t MX query yahoo.com
yahoo.com. IN MX 1 mta7.am0.yahoodns.net
yahoo.com. IN MX 1 mta6.am0.yahoodns.net
yahoo.com. IN MX 1 mta5.am0.yahoodns.net
Example 4. Resolve an SRV service
$ resolvectl service _xmpp-server._tcp gmail.com
_xmpp-server._tcp/gmail.com: alt1.xmpp-server.l.google.com:5269 [priority=20, weight=0]
173.194.210.125
alt4.xmpp-server.l.google.com:5269 [priority=20, weight=0]
173.194.65.125
...
Example 5. Retrieve a PGP key (OPENPGP resource record)
$ resolvectl openpgp zbyszek@fedoraproject.org
d08ee310438ca124a6149ea5cc21b6313b390dce485576eff96f8722._openpgpkey.fedoraproject.org. IN OPENPGPKEY
mQINBFBHPMsBEACeInGYJCb+7TurKfb6wGyTottCDtiSJB310i37/6ZYoeIay/5soJjlMyf
MFQ9T2XNT/0LM6gTa0MpC1st9LnzYTMsT6tzRly1D1UbVI6xw0g0vE5y2Cjk3xUwAynCsSs
...
Example 6. Retrieve a TLS key (TLSA resource record)
$ resolvectl tlsa tcp fedoraproject.org:443
_443._tcp.fedoraproject.org IN TLSA 0 0 1 19400be5b7a31fb733917700789d2f0a2471c0c9d506c0e504c06c16d7cb17c0
-- Cert. usage: CA constraint
-- Selector: Full Certificate
-- Matching type: SHA-256
"tcp" and ":443" are optional and could be skipped.
SEE ALSO
systemd(1), systemd-resolved.service(8), systemd.dnssd(5), systemd-
networkd.service(8), resolvconf(8)
NOTES
1. RFC 6763 DNS-SD
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6763
2. RFC 2782 SRV
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2782
3. RFC 7929
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7929
4. RFC 6698
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6698
5. Link-Local Multicast Name Resolution
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4795
6. Multicast DNS
https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc6762.txt
systemd 255 RESOLVECTL(1)
Generated 2026-11-02 from the manual installed on node.spa-dev-dh.xyz. Original copyright and license terms apply.