dnsmasq

Man, coordinating host files on multiple computers sucks. I wish there was a way to map computer names to IP addresses and have the other computers just query a central one for the names and addresses so I can just update host names in one spot.

Sigh.

WAIT!

That’s what DNS is for! And since I’m running a Debian server, I can just install a DNS server!!

Oh man, that’s just another thing I have to learn. Now I have to figure out about MX records and zones and new config files. Plus, what do I need a full-blown DNS server for? I’ve got a network with like, 6 computers on it including the mobile ones. So I’m going to setup a full blown DNS server, to handle my local network of 6 or so computers? That seems like a touch overkill.

I wish there was a simple alternative that could be simply configured to handle a local network. I suppose it would be perfect if it could just serve up a version of a hosts file or something and then forward non-local names to a real nameserver.

Sigh.

What’s that you say? dnsmasq? A caching DNS server? It has just 3 dependencies? It reads the hosts file as well as other files if configured to do so? It has 1 config file? With all options documented? Plus it has a DHCP server that can handle multiple networks? It automatically adds host addresses assigned via DHCP? I can probably have it running in 5 minutes? No tutorials?

Really? Can it really be that simple?

Why, yes.

Yes it can.