MaraDNS

Spec sheet

Purpose

MaraDNS is an open-source DNS server that provides DNS, the internet’s directory service for translating names into IP addresses.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Support

The project’s support forum is hosted on GitHub and requires a GitHub account.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Additional tools

The software includes the askmara DNS querying tool, plus assorted documentation, password-generation, Unicode-conversion, build, and test tools.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Components

MaraDNS 3.5 includes a UDP-only authoritative DNS server and Deadwood, a recursive DNS server that supports UDP and TCP.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Configuration

The maker describes MaraDNS as easy to configure for people comfortable editing text configuration files.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

IPv6

MaraDNS 3.5 has full, though not fully tested, IPv6 support.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Known issue

The security page says Deadwood DNS-over-TCP is disabled by default and describes denial-of-service issues affecting configurations where it is enabled.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Maintenance

The overview says MaraDNS is in deep freeze, with updates limited to serious security fixes.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Platform support

MaraDNS is a native UNIX program with a partial Windows port, while Deadwood has a full Windows port and is described as cross-platform.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Release and downloads

The download page lists UNIX and Windows source code and a Windows binary zipfile; it also says Deadwood is included with MaraDNS.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Security design

The maker says MaraDNS uses a string library designed to resist buffer overflows and requires the server to run as an unprivileged user.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Security limitation

Neither MaraDNS nor Deadwood supports DNSSEC.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Zone transfers

The separate zoneserver supports DNS-over-TCP and DNS zone transfers.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Zone update limitation

MaraDNS needs to be restarted to update its database of DNS records after zone data changes.Read 8 Oct 2026 · samboy.github.io

Plans and prices

Every MaraDNS plan and price →

Where Specifiction places it

• DNS Server Software#12 of 237.6