Thanks Mark for this lengthy response. I havent had the time recently to check the forums so apologies for the delay.
In my example, I have some network appliances (Radware Linkproofs) that connect our site to the internet over multiple Links and with different ISPs using different public address ranges. There is no BGP in this setup. When a customer makes a DNS request for one of our websites, our appliance makes a decision on the optimal route to and from the client using various algorithms such as hop count, latency etc, DNS forwarding etc. Should the best route be via ISP 1 then the first response in the DNS reply will be the public address from ISP 1 address space that is static natted to the web service. The second IP in the response will be the public address from the second ISP range that also nats to the same web server. i.e multiple nats. To cut a long story short we have to some degree the ability to manipulate how our clients get to us and visa versa. Our requirements change on a daily basis and I simply havent got, and cant make the time to conduct a packet trace and build a custom script each time a new domain is added or changed. In WUG the fields were already there that I personally would like to see for custom queries, they just werent editable and in WUP they are not there at all. If it was possible just to be able to build a custom DNS monitor with a clear text field for the domain name and the expected response(s)life would be so much easier. Eg. Domain name: www.mydomain.com. Response:x.x.x.1 and/or x.x.x.2. This would solve my problems and would be a welcome feature to all im sure. I presume that this is not difficult to implement as this feature is included in some budget/free tools out there. Our websites are monitored in great depth by an external source (site confidence) right down to purchases and in many variations. They constantly report problems and latency with our DNS responses so we have a definite need to be able to monitor this locally to rule out internet factors when problems occur. Thanks Heath -----Original Message----- From: Mark Symons [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 18 April 2005 01:44 To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [WhatsUp Forum] Custom DNS Query Tried and failed with the www.cisco.com example posted on the forum? Or with an adaptation specific to your circumstance? Capturing the query/response in a utility like Ethereal should reveal what it is that the server does not like. (For what it's worth, the djb server is especially picky about what it expects to see in a query.) This is an adaption of the basic idea: Network Type: UDP Port: 53 Timeout: 5 Script: Send=\x15\x80\x01\x00\x00\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x03com\x00\x00\x06\x00 \x01 Expect=\x15\x80\x81\x80 As in the cisco example, the first two bytes in the query is the transaction ID. The script parses the query response for this same transaction ID and the bytes that mean "Standard query response, no error". Note: Whilst this example is given using WhatsUp Professional Script syntax, WhatsUp Gold can be configured to perform the same function simply by using "%nnn" syntax instead of "\xnn". Returning to the original problem, if you can give a few more details about what you mean by requiring an either/or response then I am certain that an appropriate Send/Expect query can be constructed. It's valid to say "it's a bit harsh to have to build one from scratch in hex" but the flip side is that: a) Once it's done it's done b) Results can be shared here on the forums and via Knowledgebase articles. There is a Feature Request logged for implementing improvements to the DNS monitor. The challenge is to answer the question "exactly what problems are we trying to solve?". That's where Use Case examples from users such as yourself are so useful. If we seek to query whether the DNS server is active and answering simple queries sensibly then we already have the solution. Something that can be run on a standard WhatsUp poll cycle and which is appropriate for such a cycle (once a minute, once every five minutes, etc). If we are seeking to check that the server is correctly configured then perhaps we are looking at the sort of thing that would be more appropriate to run (say) once every 24 hours. Once upon a time I was responsible for maintaining some 200 domains (back in the day when it was *hard* to regsister a new domain) and I ran a cron job every night that used dnswalk, etc, and then emailed an exception report when anything was out of kilter. The point being.. I would run for months at a time without every getting such a report. The standard DNS check in WhatsUp Gold was thus fit for purpose. Was the scheduled task something that WhatsUp should do itself? After all, it was checking literally thousands of things.. lame delegation, matching A and PTR records, etc. Mark Symons Ipswitch, Inc Augusta GA PS: WhatsUp Pro 2005 Recurring Reports not supporting Program Actions (etc) is a logged issue. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 8:34 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [WhatsUp Forum] Custom DNS Query Thanks for this. I have tried and failed with this method. If I can make enough time I will work out the syntax and try again. We return multiple DNS responses based on proximity, so I need to create an either/or type reply. This functionality comes out of the box in plain text with some comparable and lesser products we trialled. Seems strange its not included in WUP. Is there a "feature request" service at Ipswitch that anybody knows about? The feature is already there to create a new DNS monitor, you just cant do anything with it. It seems a bit harsh to have to build one from scratch in hex. It kinda defeats the object of proactive monitoring if your'e going to be spending hours configuring everytime you change something. It seems a lot easier to build custom HTTP scripts for example, not so with DNS. Thanks anyway From: Lloyd Wheeler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 05 April 05 14:02 To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [WhatsUp Forum] Custom DNS Query Check out the following from the WUP forum: http://www.ipswitch.com/forums/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=14&MessageID=6200 Lloyd Wheeler Helmerich & Payne, Inc. [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2005 5:25 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [WhatsUp Forum] Custom DNS Query Is there any way to create a custom DNS query for a FQDN instead of the standard localhost reverse lookup. Reason I ask is that we monitoring a multi-homed site with appliances that don't employ full dns, but rather respond to particular A records in a way that relates to link performance, availability etc. We have occasion when the DNS service is obviously up at these appliances, but certain FQDN are unresponsive and renders the websites unavailable. I know this features in other products but we really want to centralise everything through a WUP front-end. Thanks in advance Heath Dickinson MBCS CCNA MCP IT Communications Administrator Goldmedal Travel Group plc Tel: 01772 835106 [EMAIL PROTECTED] * ********************************************************************* This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. www.clearswift.com ********************************************************************** Please visit http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html to be removed from this list. An Archive of this list is available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/whatsup_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Please visit http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html to be removed from this list. An Archive of this list is available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/whatsup_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/
