Route complete TLD (*.dev for example) to 127.0.0.1

For development purposes I want all DNS requests to the .dev TLD to forward to my own PC.

The hosts file does not suffice. I use multiple domains and also multiple subdomains. I would have to add a line for each combination.

I have read that a DNS forwarder like DNSmasq can be used to do the job (for example as described here). Also this software is already installed on Ubuntu 12.10.

The problem is that I fail to see how and where I should configure DNSmasq, i.e., where I should put this line:

address=/dev/127.0.0.1

In Ubuntu 12.10 or later you can do this with dnsmasq as run by NetworkManager.

1. Create the directory mkdir /etc/NetworkManager/dnsmasq.d if it doesn't already exist.

   sudo mkdir /etc/NetworkManager/dnsmasq.d
   

2. Toss the following line into /etc/NetworkManager/dnsmasq.d/dev-tld.

   address=/dev/127.0.0.1
   

3. (Ubuntu 12.10) Restart NetworkManager.

   sudo service network-manager restart
   

4. (Ubuntu > 13.04) Restart Dnsmasq.

   sudo service dnsmasq restart
   

5. Enjoy the awesomeness.

The complete standalone dnsmasq (DHCP and DNS server) is not installed by default in Ubuntu 12.04 and 12.10, but a package called dnsmasq-base is installed by default in Ubuntu Desktop 12.04 and 12.10. The dnsmasq-base package contains the dnsmasq binary and is used by NetworkManager.

To do what you want you will need to use dnsmasq as a caching DNS server. You need to:

• Install dnsmasq sudo apt-get install dnsmasq
• Change your network setting, so that your computer uses itself as it dns server.
• Make the changes to the config files:

Create /etc/dnsmasq.d/dev-tld with these contents:

local=/dev/

address=/dev/127.0.0.5

The first command says *.dev requests can't be forwarded to your real DNS server. The second says *.dev resolves to 127.0.0.5 which is localhost.

• Restart the dnsmasq service (not network-manager)

The following worked worked for me in Ubuntu 16.04:

1. Install dnsmasq

   sudo apt-get -y install dnsmasq
   

2. Edit dnsmasq.conf file:

   sudo nano /etc/dnsmasq.conf
   

3. Add your command:

   address=/dev/127.0.0.1
   

   For wild card (*) then you can use dot (.) then dnsmasq to resolve WHATEWER_YOU_PUT_HERE.yourmachine.yourdomain to the same ip. E.g., address=/.localhost.dev/127.0.0.1

4. Restart dnsmasq service:

   sudo /etc/init.d/dnsmasq restart
   

Just installed a fresh 19.04 and the only way I got it working was disabling systemd-resolved and have NetworkManager use dnsmasq instead for DNS. NetworkManager has built in support for dnsmasq and dnsmasq-base package is installed by default.

I am pointing multiple domains to different VMs like *.customerX.test to 192.168.33.10 and *.productY.test to 192.168.33.20 and so on. I would not use *.dev anymore but instead one of the reserved top level domains.

Solution

1. Disable systemd-resolved

    sudo systemctl disable systemd-resolved.service
    sudo systemctl stop systemd-resolved.service
    sudo rm /etc/resolv.conf
   

2. Edit /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf to use dnsmasq for DNS.

    [main]
    dns=dnsmasq
   

3. Put dnsmasq configuration in /etc/NetworkManager/dnsmasq.d/test-tld.conf

    address=/test/127.0.0.1
    address=/customerX.test/192.168.33.10
   

4. and finally restart NetworkManager which will generate a new /etc/resolv.conf

    sudo systemctl restart network-manager.service