# Install nxdns with Docker

Runs the published nxdns image with Docker Compose. At the end a container
answers DNS on port 53 and keeps its data in a named volume.

The image is multi-architecture — `linux/amd64` and `linux/arm64` — so the same
tag works on a PC and on a Raspberry Pi 5. Building the image yourself is still
supported and is the last section of this page.

For what each configuration field means, see
[the configuration reference](../reference/configuration.md).

> Verification: the seed-file failure modes, the run and the two checks in
> step 3 were run on the machine that wrote this page, against an image built
> from this checkout rather than pulled from the registry — no release is
> published yet, so nothing on this page could be run against a pulled image,
> and step 1 could not be run at all. One command was run in altered form:
> host port 8080 was occupied here, so the run and the verification commands
> in step 3 were executed with the host side of the port mappings moved to
> 25353 and 28088 rather than the 53 and 8080 printed below. The container
> side was unchanged. See the note in step 3. The `chown` to uid 65532 needs
> root and was not run.

## 1. Pull and verify the image

```sh
BASE=https://git.mial.net/mokhtar/nxdns
VERSION=$(curl -fsS -o /dev/null -w '%{redirect_url}' "$BASE/releases/latest" |
  sed 's#.*/releases/tag/v##')
docker pull git.mial.net/mokhtar/nxdns:$VERSION
```

Pin a version. `:latest` exists and moves, which is what you want when you are
trying it out and not what you want on a machine your household's DNS depends
on. The lookup above asks the server for the current release rather than
hardcoding a number that goes stale one release later — Gitea redirects
`releases/latest` to the newest published release's tag page. To take a
particular version instead, set `VERSION=<version>` yourself.

Verify what you pulled before you run it. The release publishes an
`IMAGE-DIGEST.txt` asset naming the digest of the image index, and that file is
covered by the signed `SHA256SUMS.txt`:

```sh
curl -fLO "$BASE/releases/download/v$VERSION/IMAGE-DIGEST.txt"
curl -fLO "$BASE/releases/download/v$VERSION/SHA256SUMS.txt"
curl -fLO "$BASE/releases/download/v$VERSION/SHA256SUMS.txt.asc"
gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.txt.asc SHA256SUMS.txt
sha256sum -c --ignore-missing SHA256SUMS.txt
docker buildx imagetools inspect git.mial.net/mokhtar/nxdns:$VERSION \
  --format '{{.Manifest.Digest}}'
cut -d@ -f2 IMAGE-DIGEST.txt
```

The last two have to print the same string — `IMAGE-DIGEST.txt` holds a whole
pinned reference, `name:tag@sha256:…`, so the `cut` is what reduces it to the
digest `imagetools` prints. [Verify a release](verify-a-release.md)
covers the key, the fingerprint, every failure message, and what the signature
does and does not prove.

> Not verified on this host: no image and no release are published yet, so
> `docker pull` and every URL here fail today, and the `releases/latest` lookup
> returns 404 and leaves `VERSION` empty. That lookup was run against
> `gitea.com/gitea/tea` on Gitea `1.27.0+dev` and printed `0.15.1`. The
> `docker buildx imagetools inspect --format` shape was run here against
> `alpine:3.22` on Docker Hub and printed that image's index digest.

## 2. Get the compose file and write the seed configuration

Every path on this page is relative to a checkout of the repository, because
that is how it was verified. Running the published image needs no checkout,
though — one file is enough. Fetch it for the version you pulled and work in
its directory instead, dropping `deploy/docker/` from the paths below:

```sh
mkdir -p ~/nxdns && cd ~/nxdns
curl -fLO "$BASE/raw/tag/v$VERSION/deploy/docker/compose.yaml"
```

> Not verified against nxdns: there is no tag yet. The Gitea raw-file URL shape
> `<repo>/raw/tag/<tag>/<path>` was run here against `gitea.com/gitea/tea` on
> Gitea `1.27.0+dev` and returned the file with a 200.

Compose bind-mounts `deploy/docker/etc-nxdns` read-only at `/etc/nxdns`. Create
it and put the seed file in it:

```sh
mkdir -p deploy/docker/etc-nxdns
$EDITOR deploy/docker/etc-nxdns/config.zon
```

The smallest file that starts is one group named `default` and one enabled
upstream:

```zon
.{
    .groups = .{ .{ .name = "default" } },
    .upstreams = .{ .{ .url = "https://cloudflare-dns.com/dns-query" } },
    .web = .{ .password = "choose-a-real-password" },
}
```

Without that file the container exits with code 2 on a fresh volume: an empty
database has nothing to forward to. The log is
`no configuration file at '/etc/nxdns/config.zon'; using the database as it is`
followed by `nxdns run failed: NoUsableUpstreams`.

A file that is present but rejected is a different failure with the same exit
code. No `default` group, no enabled upstream, a syntax error — `run` prints the
diagnostic and exits 2 as well. Both were run here against a locally built
image. A seed file whose only group was named `other`:

```
FAIL groups: no group named 'default'; every unknown client is assigned to it
nxdns run failed: MissingDefaultGroup
run `nxdns check` to see the configuration in full
```

and an empty `/etc/nxdns`:

```
info(config_bootstrap): no configuration file at '/etc/nxdns/config.zon'; using the database as it is
nxdns run failed: NoUsableUpstreams
run `nxdns check` to see the configuration in full
```

Under `restart: unless-stopped` either one is a restart loop, and the exit code
alone no longer tells them apart: read the lines above the failure, which either
name the diagnostic in the file or say there was no file at all. See
[Troubleshoot nxdns](troubleshoot.md).

The container runs as uid 65532, and the mount is read-only, so the container
cannot repair permissions itself. Mode 0644 works and was used here. If the
file carries a secret — `web.password`, or a `web.password_hash` from a
restored export — give it to that uid instead:

```sh
chown 65532:65532 deploy/docker/etc-nxdns/config.zon
chmod 0600 deploy/docker/etc-nxdns/config.zon
```

> Not verified on this host: `chown` to a uid you do not own needs root. What
> was verified is the failure it prevents — a seed file at 0600 owned by
> another uid makes the container log `nxdns run failed: AccessDenied` and
> restart in a loop. See [Troubleshoot nxdns](troubleshoot.md).

## 3. Run it

```sh
NXDNS_VERSION=$VERSION docker compose -f deploy/docker/compose.yaml up -d
docker compose -f deploy/docker/compose.yaml logs -f
```

`compose.yaml` reads the image from two variables:
`${NXDNS_IMAGE:-git.mial.net/mokhtar/nxdns:${NXDNS_VERSION:-latest}}`. Set
`NXDNS_VERSION` to pin a release; set `NXDNS_IMAGE` to run something else
entirely, which is what the build-from-source section at the bottom does.

> Verified on this host with `docker compose -f deploy/docker/compose.yaml
> config`, which resolves the variables without contacting a registry: no
> variables gives `git.mial.net/mokhtar/nxdns:latest`, `NXDNS_VERSION=0.0.1`
> gives `git.mial.net/mokhtar/nxdns:0.0.1`, and `NXDNS_IMAGE=nxdns` gives
> `nxdns`.

Every block on this page runs from the repository root, and none of them change
directory, so they can be pasted in order. `-f` is what makes that work:
Compose resolves the relative paths inside `compose.yaml` — the `etc-nxdns`
bind mount — against the directory holding the file, not against your shell,
and it takes the project name `docker` from that directory either way, which is
why the container is `docker-nxdns-1`.

A healthy first start logs the seeding and the bound sockets:

```
info(config_bootstrap): seeded the database from '/etc/nxdns/config.zon'
info(nxdns): nxdns <version> serving on udp [::]:53 tcp [::]:53 tcp 0.0.0.0:53; 1 upstream(s); blocklist generation 1
info(web_server): web interface listening on 0.0.0.0:8080
```

Confirm it answers and that the admin interface is up:

```sh
dig @127.0.0.1 example.com A +short
curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' http://127.0.0.1:8080/
```

> On the machine that wrote this page, host port 8080 was already taken by an
> unrelated process, so the container was verified with the host side of the
> port mappings moved to 25353 and 28088 — everything inside the container was
> unchanged, and the log still reads `serving on udp [::]:53`. Against those
> ports `dig` returned the A records for `example.com` and `curl` returned 200.
> `docker compose up -d` fails with
> `failed to bind host port 0.0.0.0:8080/tcp: address already in use` when a
> host port is occupied; free the port or edit the `ports:` list. The image
> under test was built locally, not pulled: there is nothing published to pull.

The compose file publishes 53/udp, 53/tcp and 8080, keeps `/var/lib/nxdns` in
the named volume `nxdns-data`, and sets the per-namespace sysctl
`net.ipv4.ip_unprivileged_port_start=0` so uid 65532 can bind port 53 without
any capability. Uncomment the 443 and 853 mappings when you enable the DoH or
DoT listener; see [Enable DoH and DoT](enable-doh-and-dot.md).

## 4. Do not point the host at the container

The container resolves its own upstream DoH and DoT hostnames through the
host's DNS configuration. If you set the host's `/etc/resolv.conf` to the nxdns
container, the container's startup lookups depend on the service that is trying
to start. Point LAN clients at nxdns; leave the container's host on its own
resolver.

## Raspberry Pi 5

Nothing changes. The published tag is a multi-architecture index, so
`docker pull` on the Pi selects the `linux/arm64` image on its own. The
platform list is one of the things
[Verify a release](verify-a-release.md) has you check.

To pull the arm64 image from an x86_64 machine — to inspect it, or to save and
copy it — name the platform:

```sh
docker pull --platform linux/arm64 git.mial.net/mokhtar/nxdns:$VERSION
```

> Not verified on this host: nothing is published to pull, and this host is
> x86_64 with no emulation, so an arm64 image could not be started here even
> if it were.

## Build the image from source instead

The Dockerfile does not compile anything. It assembles a filesystem around
binaries you build first, so build the admin interface and the release
artifacts from the repository root:

```sh
(cd web && npm ci && npm run build)
VERSION=$(sed -n 's/^[[:space:]]*\.version[[:space:]]*=[[:space:]]*"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p' build.zig.zon)
zig build dist -Dversion-string="$VERSION" -Dgit-commit="$(git rev-parse HEAD)" \
    -Dweb-dist=web/dist -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe
DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build -t nxdns -f deploy/docker/Dockerfile .
```

Take the version from `build.zig.zon` rather than inventing one: `verify-dist`
asserts the two agree, so a made-up string builds but fails verification.
BuildKit is required — the Dockerfile pins its builder stage to
`$BUILDPLATFORM`, which the classic builder does not define.

Build `web/dist` every time, before the binaries. A stale bundle is embedded
silently and ships an admin interface that does not match its API — which is
why `dist` refuses to build against the `web/dist-placeholder` default at all.

The context has to be the repository root, because the Dockerfile copies
`zig-out/dist/bin` and `zig-out/dist/stage`. The result is a `scratch` image
holding the binary, a CA bundle, `/LICENSE`, `/THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES` and two
empty directories.

Run that image instead of the published one by naming it:

```sh
NXDNS_IMAGE=nxdns docker compose -f deploy/docker/compose.yaml up -d
```

For an arm64 image on an x86_64 machine, use buildx. The Dockerfile's builder
stage is pinned to `$BUILDPLATFORM` and only copies files, so no emulation is
involved:

```sh
docker buildx build --platform linux/arm64 -t nxdns:arm64 -f deploy/docker/Dockerfile .
```

Add `--push` or `--load` to keep the result; the default buildx driver leaves
it in the build cache.

> Verified on this host, except the two buildx lines. `zig build dist` was run
> to completion with the version read out of `build.zig.zon` and exited 0, and
> the `DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build` above was then run against that
> `zig-out/dist` tree and exited 0. The binary copied out of the resulting
> image with `docker cp` hashed identically to
> `zig-out/dist/stage/nxdns-<version>-x86_64-linux-musl/nxdns`. The
> `NXDNS_IMAGE=nxdns docker compose ... up -d` line was verified as described in
> step 3, with the host ports moved. `docker buildx build --platform
> linux/arm64` was run here too and exited 0 on an x86_64 host with no
> emulation available — the builder stage is pinned to `$BUILDPLATFORM` and the
> final stage is `FROM scratch`, so nothing arm64 ever executes during the
> build. It printed the driver's `No output specified` warning, which is the
> reason the paragraph above tells you to add `--push` or `--load`. See
> [Install with systemd](install-with-systemd.md#build-from-source-instead) for
> the `dist` and `verify-dist` detail.
