lwres(3)

NAME

       lwres - introduction to the lightweight resolver library

SYNOPSIS

       #include <lwres/lwres.h>

DESCRIPTION

       The BIND 9 lightweight resolver library is a simple, name service
       independent stub resolver library. It provides hostname-to-address and
       address-to-hostname lookup services to applications by transmitting
       lookup requests to a resolver daemon lwresd running on the local host.
       The resolver daemon performs the lookup using the DNS or possibly other
       name service protocols, and returns the results to the application
       through the library. The library and resolver daemon communicate using
       a simple UDP-based protocol.

OVERVIEW

       The lwresd library implements multiple name service APIs. The standard
       gethostbyname(), gethostbyaddr(), gethostbyname_r(), gethostbyaddr_r(),
       getaddrinfo(), getipnodebyname(), and getipnodebyaddr() functions are
       all supported. To allow the lwres library to coexist with system
       libraries that define functions of the same name, the library defines
       these functions with names prefixed by lwres_. To define the standard
       names, applications must include the header file <lwres/netdb.h> which
       contains macro definitions mapping the standard function names into
       lwres_ prefixed ones. Operating system vendors who integrate the lwres
       library into their base distributions should rename the functions in
       the library proper so that the renaming macros are not needed.

       The library also provides a native API consisting of the functions
       lwres_getaddrsbyname() and lwres_getnamebyaddr(). These may be called
       by applications that require more detailed control over the lookup
       process than the standard functions provide.

       In addition to these name service independent address lookup functions,
       the library implements a new, experimental API for looking up arbitrary
       DNS resource records, using the lwres_getaddrsbyname() function.

       Finally, there is a low-level API for converting lookup requests and
       responses to and from raw lwres protocol packets. This API can be used
       by clients requiring nonblocking operation, and is also used when
       implementing the server side of the lwres protocol, for example in the
       lwresd resolver daemon. The use of this low-level API in clients and
       servers is outlined in the following sections.

CLIENT-SIDE LOW-LEVEL API CALL FLOW

       When a client program wishes to make an lwres request using the native
       low-level API, it typically performs the following sequence of actions.

       (1) Allocate or use an existing lwres_packet_t, called pkt below.

       (2) Set pkt.recvlength to the maximum length we will accept. This is
       done so the receiver of our packets knows how large our receive buffer
       is. The "default" is a constant in lwres.h: LWRES_RECVLENGTH = 4096.

       (3) Set pkt.serial to a unique serial number. This value is echoed back
       to the application by the remote server.

       (4) Set pkt.pktflags. Usually this is set to 0.

       (5) Set pkt.result to 0.

       (6) Call lwres_*request_render(), or marshall in the data using the
       primitives such as lwres_packet_render() and storing the packet data.

       (7) Transmit the resulting buffer.

       (8) Call lwres_*response_parse() to parse any packets received.

       (9) Verify that the opcode and serial match a request, and process the
       packet specific information contained in the body.

SERVER-SIDE LOW-LEVEL API CALL FLOW

       When implementing the server side of the lightweight resolver protocol
       using the lwres library, a sequence of actions like the following is
       typically involved in processing each request packet.

       Note that the same lwres_packet_t is used in both the _parse() and
       _render() calls, with only a few modifications made to the packet
       header's contents between uses. This method is recommended as it keeps
       the serial, opcode, and other fields correct.

       (1) When a packet is received, call lwres_*request_parse() to
       unmarshall it. This returns a lwres_packet_t (also called pkt, below)
       as well as a data specific type, such as lwres_gabnrequest_t.

       (2) Process the request in the data specific type.

       (3) Set the pkt.result, pkt.recvlength as above. All other fields can
       be left untouched since they were filled in by the *_parse() call
       above. If using lwres_*response_render(), pkt.pktflags will be set up
       properly. Otherwise, the LWRES_LWPACKETFLAG_RESPONSE bit should be set.

       (4) Call the data specific rendering function, such as
       lwres_gabnresponse_render().

       (5) Send the resulting packet to the client.

SEE ALSO

       lwres_gethostent(3), lwres_getipnode(3), lwres_getnameinfo(3),
       lwres_noop(3), lwres_gabn(3), lwres_gnba(3), lwres_context(3),
       lwres_config(3), resolver(5), lwresd(8).

AUTHOR

       Internet Systems Consortium, Inc.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2004, 2005, 2007, 2014-2016 Internet Systems Consortium,
       Inc. ("ISC")
       Copyright (C) 2000, 2001 Internet Software Consortium.

ISC                               2007-06-18                          LWRES(3)