NTK_RFC 0004

Subject: Mail Exchange request


This text describes how the MX DNS query are resolved by ANDNA. It will be included in the final documentation, so feel free to correct it. But if you want to change the system here described, please contact us first.


In the DNS the resolution of the MX field is handled directly by the DNS servers, in ANDNA, instead, the resolution of an MX hostname is a redirect request. In short it means that the request, instead of being sent to a hash_node, is sent to the register_node itself,

hname MX resolution

The resolution of a MX hostnames in ANDNA works in this way:

hname MX registration

Since the IP of the MX node can change during the time, the register_node must be aware of its current IP. It is the MX node itself that tells the register_node its current IP each time it changes. The MX node to contact the register_node has to simply resolve its hname. The register_node has to verify the authenticity of the IP update request, therefore the MX node will sign the request with the private key of the register_node.

This system is necessary because the MX node and the register node have to be synced. In this way when the register_node dies or can't be reached anymore, the MX node can't be contacted too. Moreover this system prevents the spoofing of the MX node.

The steps necessary to register a hname MX are:

register_node# scp /usr/share/netsukuku/andna_lcl_keyring mx_node:/etc/netsukuku/mx/<HNAME_MX>
# <HNAME_MX> is the hname relative to the MX node

register_node# ssh mx_node killall -SIGHUP netsukuku_d

If no MX is associated to an hostname, the register_node will use its own IP as the default MX IP.


related: [Netsukuku_RFC]