DNS Query Code in C with linux sockets

The Linux version has some changes. On Linux the dns server ips are stored in a file called /etc/resolv.conf.
So the get_dns_servers function will open this file and pickup the dns server ip addresses.

A typical /etc/resolv.conf file can look like this :

# Generated by NetworkManager
nameserver 208.67.222.222
nameserver 208.67.220.220

So the lines starting with nameserver can be picked up and broken into parts using strtok.

Rest of the code is very much similar to the winsock version. A udp socket is used to send a UDP packet and the response is analysed.

Code :

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//DNS Query Program on Linux //Author : Silver Moon (m00n.silv3r@gmail.com) //Dated : 29/4/2009   //Header Files #include<stdio.h> //printf #include<string.h>    //strlen #include<stdlib.h>    //malloc #include<sys/socket.h>    //you know what this is for #include<arpa/inet.h> //inet_addr , inet_ntoa , ntohs etc #include<netinet/in.h> #include<unistd.h>    //getpid   //List of DNS Servers registered on the system char dns_servers[10][100]; int dns_server_count = 0; //Types of DNS resource records :)   #define T_A 1 //Ipv4 address #define T_NS 2 //Nameserver #define T_CNAME 5 // canonical name #define T_SOA 6 /* start of authority zone */ #define T_PTR 12 /* domain name pointer */ #define T_MX 15 //Mail server   //Function Prototypes void ngethostbyname (unsigned char * , int ); void ChangetoDnsNameFormat (unsigned char *,unsigned char *); unsigned char * ReadName (unsigned char *,unsigned char *, int *); void get_dns_servers();   //DNS header structure struct DNS_HEADER {      unsigned short id; // identification number        unsigned char rd :1; // recursion desired      unsigned char tc :1; // truncated message      unsigned char aa :1; // authoritive answer      unsigned char opcode :4; // purpose of message      unsigned char qr :1; // query/response flag        unsigned char rcode :4; // response code      unsigned char cd :1; // checking disabled      unsigned char ad :1; // authenticated data      unsigned char z :1; // its z! reserved      unsigned char ra :1; // recursion available        unsigned short q_count; // number of question entries      unsigned short ans_count; // number of answer entries      unsigned short auth_count; // number of authority entries      unsigned short add_count; // number of resource entries };   //Constant sized fields of query structure struct QUESTION {      unsigned short qtype;      unsigned short qclass; };   //Constant sized fields of the resource record structure #pragma pack(push, 1) struct R_DATA {      unsigned short type;      unsigned short _class;      unsigned int ttl;      unsigned short data_len; }; #pragma pack(pop)   //Pointers to resource record contents struct RES_RECORD {      unsigned char *name;      struct R_DATA *resource;      unsigned char *rdata; };   //Structure of a Query typedef struct {      unsigned char *name;      struct QUESTION *ques; } QUERY;   int main( int argc , char *argv[]) {      unsigned char hostname[100];        //Get the DNS servers from the resolv.conf file      get_dns_servers();            //Get the hostname from the terminal      printf ( "Enter Hostname to Lookup : " );      scanf ( "%s" , hostname);            //Now get the ip of this hostname , A record      ngethostbyname(hostname , T_A);        return 0; }   /*   * Perform a DNS query by sending a packet   * */ void ngethostbyname(unsigned char *host , int query_type) {      unsigned char buf[65536],*qname,*reader;      int i , j , stop , s;        struct sockaddr_in a;        struct RES_RECORD answers[20],auth[20],addit[20]; //the replies from the DNS server      struct sockaddr_in dest;        struct DNS_HEADER *dns = NULL;      struct QUESTION *qinfo = NULL;        printf ( "Resolving %s" , host);        s = socket(AF_INET , SOCK_DGRAM , IPPROTO_UDP); //UDP packet for DNS queries        dest.sin_family = AF_INET;      dest.sin_port = htons(53);      dest.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(dns_servers[0]); //dns servers        //Set the DNS structure to standard queries      dns = ( struct DNS_HEADER *)&buf;        dns->id = (unsigned short ) htons(getpid());      dns->qr = 0; //This is a query      dns->opcode = 0; //This is a standard query      dns->aa = 0; //Not Authoritative      dns->tc = 0; //This message is not truncated      dns->rd = 1; //Recursion Desired      dns->ra = 0; //Recursion not available! hey we dont have it (lol)      dns->z = 0;      dns->ad = 0;      dns->cd = 0;      dns->rcode = 0;      dns->q_count = htons(1); //we have only 1 question      dns->ans_count = 0;      dns->auth_count = 0;      dns->add_count = 0;        //point to the query portion      qname =(unsigned char *)&buf[ sizeof ( struct DNS_HEADER)];        ChangetoDnsNameFormat(qname , host);      qinfo =( struct QUESTION*)&buf[ sizeof ( struct DNS_HEADER) + ( strlen (( const char *)qname) + 1)]; //fill it        qinfo->qtype = htons( query_type ); //type of the query , A , MX , CNAME , NS etc      qinfo->qclass = htons(1); //its internet (lol)        printf ( "\nSending Packet..." );      if ( sendto(s,( char *)buf, sizeof ( struct DNS_HEADER) + ( strlen (( const char *)qname)+1) + sizeof ( struct QUESTION),0,( struct sockaddr*)&dest, sizeof (dest)) < 0)      {          perror ( "sendto failed" );      }      printf ( "Done" );            //Receive the answer      i = sizeof dest;      printf ( "\nReceiving answer..." );      if (recvfrom (s,( char *)buf , 65536 , 0 , ( struct sockaddr*)&dest , (socklen_t*)&i ) < 0)      {          perror ( "recvfrom failed" );      }      printf ( "Done" );        dns = ( struct DNS_HEADER*) buf;        //move ahead of the dns header and the query field      reader = &buf[ sizeof ( struct DNS_HEADER) + ( strlen (( const char *)qname)+1) + sizeof ( struct QUESTION)];        printf ( "\nThe response contains : " );      printf ( "\n %d Questions." ,ntohs(dns->q_count));      printf ( "\n %d Answers." ,ntohs(dns->ans_count));      printf ( "\n %d Authoritative Servers." ,ntohs(dns->auth_count));      printf ( "\n %d Additional records.\n\n" ,ntohs(dns->add_count));        //Start reading answers      stop=0;        for (i=0;i<ntohs(dns->ans_count);i++)      {          answers[i].name=ReadName(reader,buf,&stop);          reader = reader + stop;            answers[i].resource = ( struct R_DATA*)(reader);          reader = reader + sizeof ( struct R_DATA);            if (ntohs(answers[i].resource->type) == 1) //if its an ipv4 address          {              answers[i].rdata = (unsigned char *) malloc (ntohs(answers[i].resource->data_len));                for (j=0 ; j<ntohs(answers[i].resource->data_len) ; j++)              {                  answers[i].rdata[j]=reader[j];              }                answers[i].rdata[ntohs(answers[i].resource->data_len)] = '\0' ;                reader = reader + ntohs(answers[i].resource->data_len);          }          else          {              answers[i].rdata = ReadName(reader,buf,&stop);              reader = reader + stop;          }      }        //read authorities      for (i=0;i<ntohs(dns->auth_count);i++)      {          auth[i].name=ReadName(reader,buf,&stop);          reader+=stop;            auth[i].resource=( struct R_DATA*)(reader);          reader+= sizeof ( struct R_DATA);            auth[i].rdata=ReadName(reader,buf,&stop);          reader+=stop;      }        //read additional      for (i=0;i<ntohs(dns->add_count);i++)      {          addit[i].name=ReadName(reader,buf,&stop);          reader+=stop;            addit[i].resource=( struct R_DATA*)(reader);          reader+= sizeof ( struct R_DATA);            if (ntohs(addit[i].resource->type)==1)          {              addit[i].rdata = (unsigned char *) malloc (ntohs(addit[i].resource->data_len));              for (j=0;j<ntohs(addit[i].resource->data_len);j++)              addit[i].rdata[j]=reader[j];                addit[i].rdata[ntohs(addit[i].resource->data_len)]= '\0' ;              reader+=ntohs(addit[i].resource->data_len);          }          else          {              addit[i].rdata=ReadName(reader,buf,&stop);              reader+=stop;          }      }        //print answers      printf ( "\nAnswer Records : %d \n" , ntohs(dns->ans_count) );      for (i=0 ; i < ntohs(dns->ans_count) ; i++)      {          printf ( "Name : %s " ,answers[i].name);            if ( ntohs(answers[i].resource->type) == T_A) //IPv4 address          {              long *p;              p=( long *)answers[i].rdata;              a.sin_addr.s_addr=(*p); //working without ntohl              printf ( "has IPv4 address : %s" ,inet_ntoa(a.sin_addr));          }                    if (ntohs(answers[i].resource->type)==5)          {              //Canonical name for an alias              printf ( "has alias name : %s" ,answers[i].rdata);          }            printf ( "\n" );      }        //print authorities      printf ( "\nAuthoritive Records : %d \n" , ntohs(dns->auth_count) );      for ( i=0 ; i < ntohs(dns->auth_count) ; i++)      {                    printf ( "Name : %s " ,auth[i].name);          if (ntohs(auth[i].resource->type)==2)          {              printf ( "has nameserver : %s" ,auth[i].rdata);          }          printf ( "\n" );      }        //print additional resource records      printf ( "\nAdditional Records : %d \n" , ntohs(dns->add_count) );      for (i=0; i < ntohs(dns->add_count) ; i++)      {          printf ( "Name : %s " ,addit[i].name);          if (ntohs(addit[i].resource->type)==1)          {              long *p;              p=( long *)addit[i].rdata;              a.sin_addr.s_addr=(*p);              printf ( "has IPv4 address : %s" ,inet_ntoa(a.sin_addr));          }          printf ( "\n" );      }      return ; }   /*   *   * */ u_char* ReadName(unsigned char * reader,unsigned char * buffer, int * count) {      unsigned char *name;      unsigned int p=0,jumped=0,offset;      int i , j;        *count = 1;      name = (unsigned char *) malloc (256);        name[0]= '\0' ;        //read the names in 3www6google3com format      while (*reader!=0)      {          if (*reader>=192)          {              offset = (*reader)*256 + *(reader+1) - 49152; //49152 = 11000000 00000000 ;)              reader = buffer + offset - 1;              jumped = 1; //we have jumped to another location so counting wont go up!          }          else          {              name[p++]=*reader;          }            reader = reader+1;            if (jumped==0)          {              *count = *count + 1; //if we havent jumped to another location then we can count up          }      }        name[p]= '\0' ; //string complete      if (jumped==1)      {          *count = *count + 1; //number of steps we actually moved forward in the packet      }        //now convert 3www6google3com0 to www.google.com      for (i=0;i<( int ) strlen (( const char *)name);i++)      {          p=name[i];          for (j=0;j<( int )p;j++)          {              name[i]=name[i+1];              i=i+1;          }          name[i]= '.' ;      }      name[i-1]= '\0' ; //remove the last dot      return name; }   /*   * Get the DNS servers from /etc/resolv.conf file on Linux   * */ void get_dns_servers() {      FILE *fp;      char line[200] , *p;      if ((fp = fopen ( "/etc/resolv.conf" , "r" )) == NULL)      {          printf ( "Failed opening /etc/resolv.conf file \n" );      }            while ( fgets (line , 200 , fp))      {          if (line[0] == '#' )          {              continue ;          }          if ( strncmp (line , "nameserver" , 10) == 0)          {              p = strtok (line , " " );              p = strtok (NULL , " " );                            //p now is the dns ip :)              //????          }      }            strcpy (dns_servers[0] , "208.67.222.222" );      strcpy (dns_servers[1] , "208.67.220.220" ); }   /*   * This will convert www.google.com to 3www6google3com   * got it :)   * */ void ChangetoDnsNameFormat(unsigned char * dns,unsigned char * host) {      int lock = 0 , i;      strcat (( char *)host, "." );            for (i = 0 ; i < strlen (( char *)host) ; i++)      {          if (host[i]== '.' )          {              *dns++ = i-lock;              for (;lock<i;lock++)              {                  *dns++=host[lock];              }              lock++; //or lock=i+1;          }      }      *dns++= '\0' ; } Compile $ gcc dns.c Output $ ./a.out Enter Hostname to Lookup : www.google.com Resolving www.google.com Sending Packet...Done Receiving answer...Done The response contains : 1 Questions. 6 Answers. 4 Authoritative Servers. 4 Additional records. Answer Records : 6 Name : www.google.com has alias name : www.l.google.com Name : www.l.google.com has IPv4 address : 74.125.235.16 Name : www.l.google.com has IPv4 address : 74.125.235.17 Name : www.l.google.com has IPv4 address : 74.125.235.18 Name : www.l.google.com has IPv4 address : 74.125.235.19 Name : www.l.google.com has IPv4 address : 74.125.235.20 Authoritive Records : 4 Name : google.com has nameserver : ns2.google.com Name : google.com has nameserver : ns1.google.com Name : google.com has nameserver : ns3.google.com Name : google.com has nameserver : ns4.google.com Additional Records : 4 Name : ns1.google.com has IPv4 address : 216.239.32.10 Name : ns2.google.com has IPv4 address : 216.239.34.10 Name : ns3.google.com has IPv4 address : 216.239.36.10 Name : ns4.google.com has IPv4 address : 216.239.38.10 The same code can be used to fetch different kinds of dns records like Nameserver , MX , CNAME , SOA etc.