UNBOUND(8)                       Local-unbound                      UNBOUND(8)

NAME

     local-unbound - Local-unbound DNS validating resolver 1.25.1.

SYNOPSIS

     unbound [-hdpVv] [-c <cfgfile>]

DESCRIPTION

     unbound is a caching DNS resolver.

     It uses a built in list of authoritative nameservers for the root zone
     (.), the so called root hints.  On receiving a DNS query it will ask the
     root nameservers for an answer and will in almost all cases receive a
     delegation to a top level domain (TLD) authoritative nameserver.  It will
     then ask that nameserver for an answer.  It will recursively continue
     until an answer is found or no answer is available (NXDOMAIN).  For
     performance and efficiency reasons that answer is cached for a certain
     time (the answer's time-to-live or TTL).  A second query for the same
     name will then be answered from the cache.  Local-unbound can also do
     DNSSEC validation.

     To use a locally running Local-unbound for resolving put:

        nameserver 127.0.0.1

     into resolv.conf(5).

     If authoritative DNS is needed as well using nsd(8), careful setup is
     required because authoritative nameservers and resolvers are using the
     same port number (53).

     The available options are:

     -h     Show the version number and commandline option help, and exit.

     -c <cfgfile>
            Set the config file with settings for local-unbound to read
            instead of reading the file at the default location,
            /var/unbound/unbound.conf.  The syntax is described in
            unbound.conf(5).

     -d     Debug flag: do not fork into the background, but stay attached to
            the console.  This flag will also delay writing to the log file
            until the thread-spawn time, so that most config and setup errors
            appear on stderr.  If given twice or more, logging does not switch
            to the log file or to syslog, but the log messages are printed to
            stderr all the time.

     -p     Don't use a pidfile.  This argument should only be used by
            supervision systems which can ensure that only one instance of
            Local-unbound will run concurrently.

     -v     Increase verbosity.  If given multiple times, more information is
            logged.  This is in addition to the verbosity (if any) from the
            config file.

     -V     Show the version number and build options, and exit.

SEE ALSO

     unbound.conf(5), local-unbound-checkconf(8), nsd(8).

AUTHOR

     Local-unbound developers are mentioned in the CREDITS file in the
     distribution.

COPYRIGHT

     1999-2026, NLnet Labs

1.25.1                           May 20, 2026                       UNBOUND(8)