Install PowerDNS on Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, & 22.04

Introduction

PowerDNS is an open-source DNS server solution that helps resolve namespaces. PowerDNS supports high availability, data redundancy, and various backends, which makes it a flexible and robust solution.

This guide shows how to install PowerDNS and the PowerDNS Admin interface on Ubuntu.

Prerequisites

• Access to the terminal.
• Access to the root user.
• A text editor, such as nano.
• A web browser to access PowerDNS Admin.

Why Use PowerDNS?

PowerDNS provides two nameserver solutions:

• The Authoritative Server, which uses the database to resolve queries about domains.
• The Recursor, which consults with other authoritative servers to resolve queries.

Other nameservers combine the two functions automatically. PowerDNS offers them separately, and allows the mix of the two solutions seamlessly for a modular setup.

Additionally, PowerDNS is open source, works equally well for small and large query volumes, and offers many possibilities for backend solutions.

Installing PowerDNS on Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, & 22.04

Follow the steps below to install and configure PowerDNS with the MariaDB server as a backend database. Additionally, the steps guide users through the setup of the PowerDNS Admin web interface and API.

Step 1: Install and Configure MariaDB Server

To install and configure MariaDB, do the following:

1. Update and upgrade system packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

2. Install the MariaDB server and client with:

sudo apt install mariadb-server mariadb-client

Wait for the installation to finish before continuing.

3. Connect to MariaDB with:

sudo mysql

The terminal connects to a database session.

4. Create a database for the PowerDNS nameserver:

create database pda;

5. Grant all privileges to the pda user and provide the user password:

grant all privileges on pda.* TO 'pda'@'localhost' identified by 'YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE';
flush privileges;

6. Connect to the database:

use pda;

7. Use the following SQL queries to create tables for the pda database:

CREATE TABLE domains (
  id                    INT AUTO_INCREMENT,
  name                  VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  master                VARCHAR(128) DEFAULT NULL,
  last_check            INT DEFAULT NULL,
  type                  VARCHAR(6) NOT NULL,
  notified_serial       INT UNSIGNED DEFAULT NULL,
  account               VARCHAR(40) CHARACTER SET 'utf8' DEFAULT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (id)
) Engine=InnoDB CHARACTER SET 'latin1';

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX name_index ON domains(name);


CREATE TABLE records (
  id                    BIGINT AUTO_INCREMENT,
  domain_id             INT DEFAULT NULL,
  name                  VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL,
  type                  VARCHAR(10) DEFAULT NULL,
  content               VARCHAR(64000) DEFAULT NULL,
  ttl                   INT DEFAULT NULL,
  prio                  INT DEFAULT NULL,
  change_date           INT DEFAULT NULL,
  disabled              TINYINT(1) DEFAULT 0,
  ordername             VARCHAR(255) BINARY DEFAULT NULL,
  auth                  TINYINT(1) DEFAULT 1,
  PRIMARY KEY (id)
) Engine=InnoDB CHARACTER SET 'latin1';

CREATE INDEX nametype_index ON records(name,type);
CREATE INDEX domain_id ON records(domain_id);
CREATE INDEX ordername ON records (ordername);


CREATE TABLE supermasters (
  ip                    VARCHAR(64) NOT NULL,
  nameserver            VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  account               VARCHAR(40) CHARACTER SET 'utf8' NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (ip, nameserver)
) Engine=InnoDB CHARACTER SET 'latin1';


CREATE TABLE comments (
  id                    INT AUTO_INCREMENT,
  domain_id             INT NOT NULL,
  name                  VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  type                  VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL,
  modified_at           INT NOT NULL,
  account               VARCHAR(40) CHARACTER SET 'utf8' DEFAULT NULL,
  comment               TEXT CHARACTER SET 'utf8' NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (id)
) Engine=InnoDB CHARACTER SET 'latin1';

CREATE INDEX comments_name_type_idx ON comments (name, type);
CREATE INDEX comments_order_idx ON comments (domain_id, modified_at);


CREATE TABLE domainmetadata (
  id                    INT AUTO_INCREMENT,
  domain_id             INT NOT NULL,
  kind                  VARCHAR(32),
  content               TEXT,
  PRIMARY KEY (id)
) Engine=InnoDB CHARACTER SET 'latin1';

CREATE INDEX domainmetadata_idx ON domainmetadata (domain_id, kind);


CREATE TABLE cryptokeys (
  id                    INT AUTO_INCREMENT,
  domain_id             INT NOT NULL,
  flags                 INT NOT NULL,
  active                BOOL,
  content               TEXT,
  PRIMARY KEY(id)
) Engine=InnoDB CHARACTER SET 'latin1';

CREATE INDEX domainidindex ON cryptokeys(domain_id);


CREATE TABLE tsigkeys (
  id                    INT AUTO_INCREMENT,
  name                  VARCHAR(255),
  algorithm             VARCHAR(50),
  secret                VARCHAR(255),
  PRIMARY KEY (id)
) Engine=InnoDB CHARACTER SET 'latin1';

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX namealgoindex ON tsigkeys(name, algorithm);

8. Confirm the tables have been created with:

show tables;

The output lists the available tables.

9. Exit the database connection:

exit;

The command returns the session to the terminal.

Step 2: Install PowerDNS

To install PowerDNS on Ubuntu, do the following:

1. Switch to the root user:

sudo su -

The terminal session changes to the root user.

2. The systemd-resolved service provides the name resolutions to local applications. PowerDNS uses its own service for name resolutions.

Disable the systemd-resolved service with:

systemctl disable --now systemd-resolved

The output confirms the service removal.

3. Delete the system service configuration file with:

rm -rf /etc/resolv.conf

4. Create the new resolv.conf file:

echo "nameserver 8.8.8.8" | sudo tee /etc/resolv.conf

Appending the Google nameserver ensures DNS resolution.

5. Install the PowerDNS server and database backend packages with:

apt-get install pdns-server pdns-backend-mysql -y

Wait for the installation to complete before continuing.

Step 3: Configure PowerDNS

Configure the local PowerDNS file to connect to the database:

1. Open the configuration file for editing:

nano /etc/powerdns/pdns.d/pdns.local.gmysql.conf

2. Add the following information to the file:

# MySQL Configuration
#
# Launch gmysql backend
launch+=gmysql

# gmysql parameters
gmysql-host=127.0.0.1
gmysql-port=3306
gmysql-dbname=pda
gmysql-user=pda
gmysql-password=YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE
gmysql-dnssec=yes
# gmysql-socket=

Exchange the database name, user, and password with the correct parameters if using different ones. Save and close the file.

3. Change the file permissions:

chmod 777 /etc/powerdns/pdns.d/pdns.local.gmysql.conf

4. Stop the pdns service:

systemctl stop pdns

5. Test the connection to the database:

pdns_server --daemon=no --guardian=no --loglevel=9

The output shows a successful connection. Press CTRL+C to exit the test.

6. Start the service:

systemctl start pdns

7. Check the connection with the ss command:

ss -alnp4 | grep pdns

Verify the TCP/UDP port 53 is open and in LISTEN/UCONN state.

Step 4: Install PowerDNS Admin Dependencies

The PowerDNS Admin helps manage PowerDNS through a web interface. To install the dashboard locally, do the following:

1. Install the Python development package:

apt install python3-dev

2. Install dependencies:

apt install -y git libmysqlclient-dev libsasl2-dev libldap2-dev libssl-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev libxmlsec1-dev libffi-dev pkg-config apt-transport-https python3-venv build-essential curl

3. Fetch the Node.js setup:

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_14.x | sudo bash -

4. Install Node.js with:

apt install -y nodejs

5. Next, install the Yarn package manager. Fetch the Yarn public key and add it to apt:

curl -sS https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/pubkey.gpg | apt-key add -

Yarn helps build the asset files.

6. Add Yarn to the list of sources:

echo "deb https://dl.yarnpkg.com/debian/ stable main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yarn.list

7. Update the apt sources list:

apt update -y

8. Install Yarn with:

apt install yarn -y

9. Clone the PowerDNS Admin Git repository to /opt/web/powerdns-admin:

git clone https://github.com/ngoduykhanh/PowerDNS-Admin.git /opt/web/powerdns-admin

If using a different directory, exchange the destination directory in the command and in all subsequent appearances.

10. Navigate to the cloned Git directory:

cd /opt/web/powerdns-admin

11. Create a Python virtual environment:

python3 -mvenv ./venv

12. Activate the virtual environment with:

source ./venv/bin/activate

13. Upgrade pip to the latest version:

pip install --upgrade pip

The pip package manager helps install additional Python requirements.

14. Install the requirements from the requirements.txt file:

pip install -r requirements.txt

After installing all the requirements, the PowerDNS Admin requires additional configuration before running.

Step 5: Configure and Run PowerDNS Admin

To configure and start PowerDNS Admin on a local instance, do the following:

1. Use the cp command to copy the example development.py Python file to production.py:

cp /opt/web/powerdns-admin/configs/development.py /opt/web/powerdns-admin/configs/production.py

2. Open the production.py file for editing:

nano /opt/web/powerdns-admin/configs/production.py

3. Edit the following lines:

#import urllib.parse

SECRET_KEY = 'e951e5a1f4b94151b360f47edf596dd2'

SQLA_DB_PASSWORD = 'changeme'

4. Uncomment the library import, provide a randomly generated secret key, and provide the correct database password.

import urllib.parse

SECRET_KEY = '\x19\xc7\xd8\xa7$\xb6P*\xc6\xb8\xa1E\x90P\x12\x95'

SQLA_DB_PASSWORD = 'YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE'

python3 -c "import os; print(os.urandom(16))"

Save and close the file.

5. Export the production app configuration variable:

export FLASK_CONF=../configs/production.py

6. Export the flask application variable:

export FLASK_APP=powerdnsadmin/__init__.py

7. Upgrade the database schema:

flask db upgrade

8. Install project dependencies:

yarn install --pure-lockfile

9. Build flask app assets:

flask assets build

Wait for the build to complete.

10. Run the application with:

./run.py

Leave the application running.

11. The application currently runs on localhost on port 9191. Visit the following address:

http://localhost:9191

The login screen for PowerDNS Admin shows. Currently, there are no users, and the first user you register shall be the administrator account.

12. In the terminal, exit the virtual environment and log out of the root user with:

exit

The terminal returns to a regular state.

Step 6: Create PowerDNS Admin Service

Configure PowerDNS Admin to run on startup:

1. Create a systemd service file for PowerDNS Admin:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/powerdns-admin.service

2. Add the following contents:

[Unit]
Description=PowerDNS-Admin
Requires=powerdns-admin.socket
After=network.target

[Service]
User=root
Group=root
PIDFile=/run/powerdns-admin/pid
WorkingDirectory=/opt/web/powerdns-admin
ExecStartPre=/bin/bash -c '$$(mkdir -p /run/powerdns-admin/)'
ExecStart=/opt/web/powerdns-admin/venv/bin/gunicorn --pid /run/powerdns-admin/pid --bind unix:/run/powerdns-admin/socket 'powerdnsadmin:create_app()'
ExecReload=/bin/kill -s HUP $MAINPID
ExecStop=/bin/kill -s TERM $MAINPID
PrivateTmp=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

3. Create a unit file:

sudo systemctl edit --force powerdns-admin.service

4. Append the following:

[Service]
Environment="FLASK_CONF=../configs/production.py"

5. Create a socket file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/powerdns-admin.socket

6. Insert the following information:

[Unit]
Description=PowerDNS-Admin socket

[Socket]
ListenStream=/run/powerdns-admin/socket

[Install]
WantedBy=sockets.target

7. Create an environment file:

sudo nano /etc/tmpfiles.d/powerdns-admin.conf

8. Add the following information:

d /run/powerdns-admin 0755 pdns pdns -

9. Reload the daemon:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

10. Start and enable the service and socket:

sudo systemctl start powerdns-admin.service powerdns-admin.socket

sudo systemctl enable powerdns-admin.service powerdns-admin.socket

11. Check the status with:

sudo systemctl status powerdns-admin.service powerdns-admin.socket

The services show as running without any errors.

Step 7: Install and Configure Nginx

To configure PowerDNS Admin to run on Nginx, do the following:

1. Install Nginx with:

sudo apt install nginx -y

2. Edit the Nginx configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/pdns-admin.conf

3. Add the following information:

server {
  listen *:80;
  server_name               localhost;

  index                     index.html index.htm index.php;
  root                      /opt/web/powerdns-admin;
  access_log                /var/log/nginx/powerdns-admin.local.access.log combined;
  error_log                 /var/log/nginx/powerdns-admin.local.error.log;

  client_max_body_size              10m;
  client_body_buffer_size           128k;
  proxy_redirect                    off;
  proxy_connect_timeout             90;
  proxy_send_timeout                90;
  proxy_read_timeout                90;
  proxy_buffers                     32 4k;
  proxy_buffer_size                 8k;
  proxy_set_header                  Host $host;
  proxy_set_header                  X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
  proxy_set_header                  X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
  proxy_headers_hash_bucket_size    64;

  location ~ ^/static/  {
    include  /etc/nginx/mime.types;
    root /opt/web/powerdns-admin/powerdnsadmin;

    location ~*  \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif)$ {
      expires 365d;
    }

    location ~* ^.+.(css|js)$ {
      expires 7d;
    }
  }

  location / {
    proxy_pass            http://unix:/run/powerdns-admin/socket;
    proxy_read_timeout    120;
    proxy_connect_timeout 120;
    proxy_redirect        off;
  }

}

If using a different server name, change localhost to your server address.

4. Confirm the file has no syntax errors:

nginx -t

5. Change the ownership of powerdns-admin to www-data:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /opt/web/powerdns-admin

6. Restart the Nginx service:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

7. Access the PowerDNS admin page through the browser:

localhost

If linking to a different address, use the address provided in the Nginx configuration file.

Step 8: Configure PowerDNS API

To configure the PowerDNS API, do the following:

1. Log into the PowerDNS Admin via the browser. If running for the first time, create a new user first. The first user is automatically the administrator.

2. Open the API Keys tab on the left menu.

3. Click the Add Key+ button.

4. The Role field defaults to the Administrator user. Add an optional description for the key.

5. Click Create Key to generate an API key.

6. A popup window prints the key. Copy the key and press Confirm to continue.

7. Navigate to the Dashboard page.

8. Enter the domain and API key. Save the changes.

9. Enable the API in the PowerDNS configuration. Open the configuration file in the terminal:

nano /etc/powerdns/pdns.conf

10. Uncomment and change the following lines:

api=yes
api-key=yoursecretekey
webserver=yes

11. Save the changes and close nano. The API is set up and ready to use.

Conclusion

After going through the steps in this guide, you’ve set up PowerDNS, the PowerDNS Admin web interface on Nginx, and connected the PowerDNS API.

Next, learn about the different DNS record types or DNS security best practices.