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technitiumsoftware/dnsserver

8,381C#Audience · ops devopsComplexity · 3/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A free self-hosted DNS server that encrypts your browsing lookups to keep them private from your ISP, blocks ads and malware across every device on your network, and can act as an authoritative DNS host for your own domain.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Translates domain names
      Blocks ads and malware
      Encrypts DNS queries
    Privacy features
      DNS-over-HTTPS
      DNS-over-TLS
      DNS-over-QUIC
    Use cases
      Home privacy
      Network ad blocking
      Authoritative DNS host
    Setup
      Windows Linux macOS
      Raspberry Pi support
      Docker image
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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Block ads and tracking domains on every phone, smart TV, and device at home without installing anything on each device.

USE CASE 2

Encrypt your DNS queries using DNS-over-HTTPS so your internet provider cannot see which websites you visit.

USE CASE 3

Host authoritative DNS records for a domain you own, with DNSSEC signing and zone management.

USE CASE 4

Replace your ISP's default DNS with a private resolver that forwards to Cloudflare or Google over an encrypted connection.

Tech stack

C#.NETDocker

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and Raspberry Pi, a Docker image makes it a single-command install with no initial configuration needed.

Open-source, free to use, run, and modify under open-source terms.

In plain English

Technitium DNS Server is a free, open-source DNS server you can run on your own computer or home server. DNS is the system that translates website names like example.com into the numerical addresses computers actually use to connect. Normally your internet provider handles this for you automatically, but running your own DNS server gives you control over how that translation happens and who can see it. The most practical reason people run this is privacy. When you use your internet provider's default DNS service, your provider can see every website name you look up. Technitium supports sending DNS queries over encrypted connections using protocols called DNS-over-TLS, DNS-over-HTTPS, and DNS-over-QUIC, which prevent your provider from seeing or manipulating those lookups. These encrypted protocols can also point to external providers like Cloudflare or Google if you prefer, keeping your traffic private even from the upstream resolver. A second common use is network-wide ad and malware blocking. You can point the server at one or more block lists of known ad or tracking domains, and any device on your network that tries to reach those domains gets blocked automatically without installing anything on the device. This works for phones, smart TVs, and other devices that do not support browser extensions. The server comes with a web-based admin panel accessible from a browser. It runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and Raspberry Pi, and a Docker image is available. Setup is described as taking about a minute with no configuration required to get basic operation running. Beyond home use, it can also function as an authoritative DNS server for organizations that host their own domain names, with support for zone management, DNSSEC security signing, clustering multiple server instances, and integration with DHCP. The feature list is extensive and covers advanced topics used in enterprise networking environments. The project is developed by Technitium Software and is licensed under open-source terms.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I just installed Technitium DNS Server on a Raspberry Pi. Give me step-by-step instructions to point my home router's DNS at it so every device on my network uses it automatically.
Prompt 2
Using the Technitium DNS Server web admin panel, walk me through adding a blocklist URL to block ads network-wide. Include a recommended free blocklist source.
Prompt 3
Show me how to configure Technitium DNS Server to forward all DNS queries to Cloudflare over DNS-over-HTTPS, with the exact upstream server address to use.
Prompt 4
How do I set up Technitium DNS Server as the authoritative DNS for my domain example.com? Include adding an A record and enabling DNSSEC signing.
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