Unbound

Description

This Ansible role deploys a central recursive/forwarding DNSSEC resolver (Unbound) in a Docker container using Docker Compose. It runs as a trivial single-service stack with a static IP on its own network, so consumer stacks can point their dns: at it instead of embedding their own resolver.

Overview

Built as a central engine (mirroring svc-db-postgres), this role:

  • Sets up a dedicated Docker network for Unbound with a fixed subnet.

  • Deploys an Unbound container at a static IP on that network.

  • Waits until the resolver answers before consumers are wired to it.

Cosmos

The diagram places Unbound in the Infinito.Nexus cosmos: the components it deploys (capabilities), the central services it consumes (dependencies), and its outward reach (federation and bridged external networks).

flowchart LR
    subgraph deps [Dependencies]
        dep_svc_bkp_volume_2_local["svc-bkp-volume-2-local 💻"]
    end
    subgraph role [svc-dns-unbound 🐳🐝]
        svc_unbound["unbound"]
        svc_container_backup["container_backup"]
    end
    dep_svc_bkp_volume_2_local -- "1:1" --> svc_container_backup

Solid 1:1 edges are fixed relationships; dashed 0..1 edges are conditional (enabled only in matching deployments); red 0..0 edges are turned off in this role. Node markers show the role’s deploy modes (💻 host, 🐳 compose, 🐝 swarm); ❌ marks a service that is explicitly turned off, and ⚙️ an Ansible role dependency declared in meta/main.yml.

Purpose

The purpose of this role is to externalise the static-IP DNS resolver out of large multi-service stacks (such as mail) into a single-service stack. Keeping the static-IP allocation in a trivial 1-service / 1-network stack avoids the swarm VIP-allocation deadlock that a 13-service / 4-network stack triggers, and lets consumer roles stay stateless and unpinned.

Features

  • Central Resolver: One shared recursive/forwarding DNSSEC resolver for many consumers.

  • Static IP: Exposes a fixed resolver address on its own network for dns: targeting.

  • DinD-aware: Forwards to public resolvers in nested-Docker/CI where iterative resolution via root-hints is unsupported.

  • Seamless Docker Integration: Works with Docker Compose and the central-engine deploy machinery.

Quick Setup

Development

Clone, set up the workstation, and deploy Unbound onto the local stack:

git clone https://github.com/infinito-nexus/core.git
cd core
make onboard
make compose-deploy mode=reinstall apps=svc-dns-unbound full_cycle=false

Production

Run the published image to provision the inventory and deploy Unbound to a managed server (the mounted volume persists the inventory):

APP=svc-dns-unbound
HOST=<your-server>
DOMAIN=<your-domain>
TLS_MODE=self_signed
SSH_PUBLIC_KEY="<your-ssh-public-key>"

docker run --rm -it \
  -v "$PWD/inventories:/etc/infinito.nexus/inventories" \
  -e APP="$APP" -e HOST="$HOST" -e DOMAIN="$DOMAIN" -e TLS_MODE="$TLS_MODE" -e SSH_PUBLIC_KEY="$SSH_PUBLIC_KEY" \
  ghcr.io/infinito-nexus/core/debian bash -c '
    INVENTORY=/etc/infinito.nexus/inventories/production
    infinito administration inventory provision "$INVENTORY" \
      --inventory-file "$INVENTORY/devices.yml" \
      --host "$HOST" \
      --include "$APP" \
      --vars "{\"TLS_MODE\": \"$TLS_MODE\", \"DOMAIN_PRIMARY\": \"$DOMAIN\", \"users\": {\"administrator\": {\"authorized_keys\": [\"$SSH_PUBLIC_KEY\"]}}}" &&
    infinito administration deploy dedicated "$INVENTORY/devices.yml" \
      --password-file "$INVENTORY/.password" \
      --diff -vv'

Credits

Implemented by Kevin Veen-Birkenbach. Part of the Infinito.Nexus Project and maintained by Kevin Veen-Birkenbach. Licensed under the Infinito.Nexus Community License (Non-Commercial).