DNS — Designate

Designate is the OpenStack DNS as a Service (DNSaaS) component. It exposes a REST API for creating and managing DNS zones and record sets, and propagates changes to one or more back-end DNS servers (BIND9, PowerDNS, Infoblox, Akamai, and others) through a pool-based driver framework. Designate integrates with Neutron to automatically create PTR records for floating IPs and forward DNS records for instance ports.

When to Read This Skill

• Deploying Designate and configuring the first DNS pool and backend driver
• Creating zones and record sets via CLI or API
• Configuring reverse DNS (PTR records) for floating IPs and fixed IPs
• Setting up Neutron integration for automatic DNS record creation
• Implementing zone transfers between projects or to external nameservers
• Troubleshooting record propagation to BIND9 or PowerDNS backends
• Configuring TSIG keys for zone transfer security
• Understanding the mini-DNS (mdns) internal zone transfer mechanism
• Managing DNS pools and backend selection

Sub-Files

File	What It Covers
architecture.md	designate-api, designate-central, designate-worker, designate-producer, designate-mdns, designate-sink; zone model (primary/secondary); Neutron integration; pool architecture
operations.md	CLI and API: zones, record sets (A, AAAA, MX, CNAME, TXT, SRV, PTR), zone transfers, zone import/export, TSIG keys, quotas
internals.md	Backend driver framework (BIND9 agent, PowerDNS, Infoblox, Akamai); pool configuration; serial number management; SOA records; sink notification handling; mini-DNS AXFR

Quick Reference

# Create a zone
openstack zone create --email admin@example.com example.com.

# Add an A record
openstack recordset create --type A --record 203.0.113.10 example.com. www

# Add an MX record
openstack recordset create \
  --type MX \
  --record "10 mail.example.com." \
  example.com. ""

# Add an AAAA record
openstack recordset create \
  --type AAAA \
  --record "2001:db8::1" \
  example.com. ipv6

# List record sets in a zone
openstack recordset list example.com.

# Show zone status and serial
openstack zone show example.com.

Dependencies

Dependency	Purpose	Notes
Keystone	Authentication and service catalog	All Designate API calls require Keystone tokens
MariaDB / PostgreSQL	Designate database	Stores zones, recordsets, pools, backend state
RabbitMQ	RPC between Designate services	oslo.messaging; used for worker tasks and sink events
BIND9 / PowerDNS	Actual DNS serving	At least one backend required; configurable per pool
Neutron	Floating IP and port DNS integration	Optional; enables automatic record creation
python-openstackclient	Unified CLI (openstack zone …, openstack recordset …)	Wraps the Designate v2 REST API
python-designateclient	Python bindings	Used by automation and other services

Releases Covered

This skill covers OpenStack 2025.1 (Epoxy), 2025.2, and 2026.1.

Designate release notes: https://docs.openstack.org/releasenotes/designate/