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This gets DNZ running on your machine with Docker, the quickest way to try it. For a server install, see Install.
1

Start DNZ

DNS listens on port 53 (UDP and TCP) and the dashboard on 8080. Data is kept in the dnz-data volume. For a Compose file and every setting, see Docker.
On Ubuntu and Debian, systemd-resolved already uses port 53. If DNZ can’t bind it, see Port 53 and systemd-resolved.
2

Finish the setup page

Open http://localhost:8080. While there are no users yet, every page leads to /setup, which asks for:
  1. the admin account (a superadmin),
  2. the first division and, optionally, the first zone,
  3. forward DNS: a resolver preset (Cloudflare, Google, Quad9) or your own, and a strategy.
You’re signed in when it’s done. See First run for the other ways to create the first admin.
3

Add a zone and a record

Go to DNS → Zones, choose Create New → Zone, enter example.com, then add an A record named www with the value 192.0.2.10.
4

Query it

www.example.com is answered from your zone. Any other name, say dig @127.0.0.1 github.com, is forwarded to the upstreams you picked and shows up under DNS → Query Logs.
5

Point a device at it

Set a device’s DNS server (or your router’s DHCP DNS setting) to the IP address of the machine running DNZ. See Pointing clients at DNZ.

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Next steps

Concepts

Divisions, roles, local and forwarded names.

Deploy for real

systemd, port 53, HTTPS and backups.

Forwarding

Encrypted upstreams, strategies and conditional rules.

Filtering

Block ads and malware for the whole network.