DNSResolutionMonitor

The DNS resolution monitor, tests if the node label of an Horizon node can be resolved. This monitor uses the name resolver configuration from the poller configuration or from the operating system where Horizon is running on. It can be used to test a client behavior for a given host name. For example: Create a node with the node label www.google.com and an IP interface. Assigning the DNS resolution monitor on the IP interface will test if www.google.com can be resolved using the DNS configuration defined by the poller. The response from the A record lookup can be any address, it is not verified with the IP address on the Horizon IP interface where the monitor is assigned to. This monitor implements placeholder substitution in parameter values.

Monitor Facts

Class Name

org.opennms.netmgt.poller.monitors.DNSResolutionMonitor

Remote Enabled

true

Configuration and Use

Table 1. Monitor specific parameters for the DNSResolutionMonitor
Parameter	Description	Required	Default value	Placeholder substitution
`resolution-type`	Type of record for the node label test. Allowed values `v4` for A records, `v6` for AAAA record, `both` A and AAAA record must be available, `either` A or AAAA record must be available.	optional	`either`	No
`record-types`	Alternate DNS record types to search for. The comma separated list can contain `A`, `AAAA`, `CNAME`, `NS`, `MX`, `PTR`, `SOA`, `SRV`, or `TXT`.	optional	``	No
`lookup`	Alternate DNS record to lookup	optional	The node label.	Yes
`nameserver`	The DNS server to query for the records. The string can be in the form of hostname, hostname:port, or [ipv6address]:port.	optional	Use name server from host system running Horizon	Yes

This monitor implements the Common Configuration Parameters.

Examples

The following example shows the possibilities monitoring IPv4 and/or IPv6 for the service configuration:

<!-- Assigned service test if the node label is resolved for an A record -->
<service name="DNS-Resolution-v4" interval="300000" user-defined="false" status="on">
    <parameter key="retry" value="2"/>
    <parameter key="timeout" value="2000"/>
    <parameter key="resolution-type" value="v4"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-repository" value="/opt/opennms/share/rrd/response"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-base-name" value="dns-res-v4"/>
    <parameter key="ds-name" value="dns-res-v4"/>
</service>

<!-- Assigned service test if www.google.com is resolved for an A record -->
<service name="DNS-Resolution-v4-lookup" interval="300000" user-defined="false" status="on">
    <parameter key="retry" value="2"/>
    <parameter key="timeout" value="2000"/>
    <parameter key="resolution-type" value="v4"/>
    <parameter key="lookup" value="www.google.com"/>
</service>

<!-- Assigned service test if the node label is resolved for an AAAA record using a specific DNS server -->
<service name="DNS-Resolution-v6" interval="300000" user-defined="false" status="on">
    <parameter key="retry" value="2"/>
    <parameter key="timeout" value="2000"/>
    <parameter key="resolution-type" value="v6"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-repository" value="/opt/opennms/share/rrd/response"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-base-name" value="dns-res-v6"/>
    <parameter key="ds-name" value="dns-res-v6"/>
    <parameter key="nameserver" value="8.8.8.8"/>
</service>

<!-- Use parameter substitution for nameserver and lookup parameter values -->
<service name="DNS-Resolution-Sub" interval="300000" user-defined="false" status="on">
    <parameter key="retry" value="2"/>
    <parameter key="timeout" value="2000"/>
    <parameter key="resolution-type" value="v6"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-repository" value="/opt/opennms/share/rrd/response"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-base-name" value="dns-res-v6"/>
    <parameter key="ds-name" value="dns-res-v6"/>
    <parameter key="nameserver" value="{ipAddr}"/>
    <parameter key="lookup" value="\{nodelabel}"/>
</service>

<!-- Assigned service test if the node label is resolved for an AAAA record AND A record -->
<service name="DNS-Resolution-v4-and-v6" interval="300000" user-defined="false" status="on">
    <parameter key="retry" value="2"/>
    <parameter key="timeout" value="2000"/>
    <parameter key="resolution-type" value="both"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-repository" value="/opt/opennms/share/rrd/response"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-base-name" value="dns-res-both"/>
    <parameter key="ds-name" value="dns-res-both"/>
</service>

<!-- Assigned service test if the node label is resolved for an AAAA record OR A record -->
<service name="DNS-Resolution-v4-or-v6" interval="300000" user-defined="false" status="on">
    <parameter key="retry" value="2"/>
    <parameter key="timeout" value="2000"/>
    <parameter key="resolution-type" value="either"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-repository" value="/opt/opennms/share/rrd/response"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-base-name" value="dns-res-either"/>
    <parameter key="ds-name" value="dns-res-either"/>
</service>

<!-- Assigned service test if the node label is resolved for an CNAME record AND MX record -->
<service name="DNS-Resolution-CNAME-and-MX" interval="300000" user-defined="false" status="on">
    <parameter key="retry" value="2"/>
    <parameter key="timeout" value="2000"/>
    <parameter key="record-types" value="CNAME,MX"/>
    <parameter key="lookup" value="www.google.comm"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-repository" value="/opt/opennms/share/rrd/response"/>
    <parameter key="rrd-base-name" value="dns-res-cname-mx"/>
    <parameter key="ds-name" value="dns-res-cname-mx"/>
</service>

<monitor service="DNS-Resolution-v4" class-name="org.opennms.netmgt.poller.monitors.DNSResolutionMonitor" />
<monitor service="DNS-Resolution-v4-lookup" class-name="org.opennms.netmgt.poller.monitors.DNSResolutionMonitor" />
<monitor service="DNS-Resolution-v6" class-name="org.opennms.netmgt.poller.monitors.DNSResolutionMonitor" />
<monitor service="DNS-Resolution-Sub" class-name="org.opennms.netmgt.poller.monitors.DNSResolutionMonitor" />
<monitor service="DNS-Resolution-v4-and-v6" class-name="org.opennms.netmgt.poller.monitors.DNSResolutionMonitor" />
<monitor service="DNS-Resolution-v4-or-v6" class-name="org.opennms.netmgt.poller.monitors.DNSResolutionMonitor" />
<monitor service="DNS-Resolution-CNAME-and-MX" class-name="org.opennms.netmgt.poller.monitors.DNSResolutionMonitor" />

To have response time graphs for the name resolution you have to configure RRD graphs for the given ds-names (dns-res-v4, dns-res-v6, dns-res-both, dns-res-either, dns-res-cname-mx) in '${OPENNMS_HOME}/etc/response-graph.properties'.

DNSResolutionMonitor vs. DnsMonitor

The DNSResolutionMonitor is used to measure the availability and record outages of a name resolution from client perspective. The service is mainly used for websites or similar public available resources. It can be used in combination with the Page Sequence Monitor to give a hint if a website isn’t available for DNS reasons.

The DnsMonitor on the other hand is a test against a specific DNS server. In Horizon the DNS server is the node and the DnsMonitor will send a lookup request for a given A record to the DNS server IP address. The service goes down if the DNS server doesn’t have a valid A record in his zone database or as some other issues resolving A records.