jarl/README.md

<p align="center"><img src="artwork/banner.svg" width="260" alt="Jarl: a bearded Viking jarl in a crown holding a DNS tree, above the JARL wordmark"></p>

# Jarl

*A Jarl rules a Hold; this one rules your zones.*

Jarl manages a BIND 9 (named) server: zones, records of every type, views,
ACLs, TSIG keys and any named.conf option. It has a web UI, a REST API and
a command line client. All three go through the same validated, audited,
all-or-nothing change pipeline, and nothing reaches named before BIND's own
checkers have accepted it.

```
$ jarl record add adbraun.lol nas A 192.168.1.20 --ptr
add nas.adbraun.lol. IN A 192.168.1.20
add 20.1.168.192.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR nas.adbraun.lol.
zone 1.168.192.in-addr.arpa serial 2026100700 -> 2026100701
zone adbraun.lol serial 2026100701 -> 2026100702
applied (changeset 12)

$ jarl record add adbraun.lol www A 192.168.1.99
error: www.adbraun.lol has a CNAME, so it can't have any other records (found A); a CNAME must be the only record at its name (RFC 1034) [zone adbraun.lol]
```

## Features

* **Everything in one place**: primary, secondary, forward, stub, mirror,
  hint, redirect and in-view zones, reverse zones from a CIDR, split DNS with
  views, ACLs, TSIG keys, and every BIND 9.20 option at server, view, zone
  and top level, with the ARM's description and grammar built in.
* **Safe changes.** Every change is validated as a whole (CNAME rules,
  glue, delegations, RRset TTLs, references, option syntax, open-resolver
  and open-transfer lints), checked with `named-checkconf -z`, installed
  atomically, reloaded, and verified with `rndc zonestatus`. If named
  doesn't load it, the previous files are put back.
* **Changesets**: apply edits one at a time, or bundle them, review the
  diff, and apply them together. Every applied changeset can be reverted.
  Serials are bumped automatically.
* **Users and API tokens with granular permissions**, e.g. a token that may
  only write `_acme-challenge` TXT records in one zone. Tokens can be
  rotated (a new secret, same grants), with an optional grace period.
  Passwords use argon2id, sessions have CSRF protection, logins are rate
  limited.
* **Audit log** of every login, change and token, with user, token, IP and
  outcome.
* **No token needed on the server**: root's `sudo jarl ...` talks to jarld
  over a local unix socket, so a lost token or password never locks you
  out.
* **Query statistics** (optional, off by default): queries over time,
  busiest hours of the week, top names and clients, NXDOMAIN and refused
  queries, record types, cache hit rate. Shown in the web UI and the CLI,
  and exportable as JSON. Stored as aggregates in a separate database with
  retention you set.
* **Let's Encrypt DNS-01** built in: `jarl acme` plus certbot, acme.sh and lego
  hooks, an HTTPS-only endpoint for lego's and Traefik's `httpreq` provider,
  and CNAME delegation to a dedicated ACME zone.
* **Adopts an existing server**: imports named.conf and zone files
  (comments included), then switches named over with an automatic
  fallback.
* One static Go binary for the daemon (web UI embedded, SQLite built in) and
  one for the CLI, run by a sandboxed systemd service as an unprivileged
  user. `make deb` builds a Debian package, and both come with bash
  completion.

## Quick start

On a Debian/Ubuntu BIND 9.20 server ([install.md](docs/install.md) has the
details):

```sh
make deb && sudo apt install ./dist/jarl_*.deb   # or: make && sudo make install, see install.md
sudo -u jarl jarld init                    # database + first administrator
sudo -u jarl jarld import                  # read the current named.conf and zones
sudo jarld adopt                           # switch named over (keeps a backup, rolls back on failure)
sudo systemctl enable --now jarl

sudo jarl status                           # root on the server needs no token (local socket)
```

Then open the web UI at `http://127.0.0.1:8053/`, or set `listen` and `tls`
in `/etc/jarl/jarl.yaml` to reach it from your management network.

## Documentation

| | |
|-|-|
| [docs/concepts.md](docs/concepts.md) | How Jarl works: source of truth, changesets, the apply pipeline, authentication. Read this first |
| [docs/install.md](docs/install.md) | Installing, importing and adopting an existing server, TLS, upgrading |
| [docs/configuration.md](docs/configuration.md) | `/etc/jarl/jarl.yaml` reference |
| [docs/cli.md](docs/cli.md) | The `jarl` command line client |
| [docs/api.md](docs/api.md) | REST API reference |
| [docs/permissions.md](docs/permissions.md) | Users, tokens, grants and roles |
| [docs/views.md](docs/views.md) | Split DNS: adding views to a server that has none |
| [docs/acme.md](docs/acme.md) | Let's Encrypt DNS-01 with certbot, acme.sh, lego and Traefik |
| [docs/stats.md](docs/stats.md) | Query statistics: enabling, what is collected, retention |
| [docs/validation.md](docs/validation.md) | Every check Jarl makes |
| [docs/operations.md](docs/operations.md) | Backups, drift, failures, recovery, monitoring |
| [docs/development.md](docs/development.md) | Code layout, tests against real BIND, conventions |
| [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md) | Changes per release |

## The web UI

The UI is built for getting things done rather than for looks. It has
these pages:

* **Dashboard**: named status, adoption, drift, recent changes, open
  problems.
* **Statistics** (when enabled): queries over time, failed answers, a
  weekday x hour heatmap, top names and clients, and breakdowns. Every chart
  has a table view.
* **Zones**: list, create (choose a domain or a network, and the dialog shows
  the exact zone name it will create and warns about likely mistakes;
  fields adapt to the zone type), per-zone records
  with inline editing, type-specific hints and a preview of the exact record
  that will be added (reverse zones take addresses and suggest host names), settings (SOA, TTL, serial
  policy, view), options, the generated zone file, and pasting a zone file
  to merge or replace records.
* **Views, ACLs, TSIG keys, Server options**: wherever an address match list
  is entered, the existing ACLs and keys are offered and unknown names are
  flagged. The options editor knows every
  BIND 9.20 statement for the scope and shows its description, grammar and
  a value field that fits it.
* **Changes**: pending edits with the diff, named-checkconf output and
  problems, applied as one changeset. History lists applied changesets with
  their diffs and a revert button.
* **Audit, Users, Account** (password, API tokens) and **Search**.

By default, edits are collected as pending changes. Pending rows are shown
inline (green = new, yellow = changed, struck out = deleted) until you
review and apply them. Switch on "Apply edits immediately" to skip the
review step.

## Requirements

* BIND 9.20, with `named-checkconf`, `named-checkzone` and `rndc`. The
  option catalog follows 9.20. 9.18 will probably work, because
  named-checkconf still checks every change, but it is untested.
* Linux with systemd for the packaged service. Defaults match
  Debian/Ubuntu, and other layouts are configurable.
* Go 1.27+ to build.

## Status

Version 0.1.0, the first release. It is feature-complete for one server's
configuration. DNSSEC signing and managing several servers are not handled
yet ([concepts.md](docs/concepts.md#what-jarl-deliberately-doesnt-do-yet)).

## License

Jarl is released under the [MIT License](LICENSE).

## Credits

The logo is part of Jarl: a bearded Viking jarl in blue and white, whose
crown holds a DNS tree (a root node with its branches). The master is
`artwork/logo.png`, which `scripts/logo.py` traces into the vector
`assets/logo.svg` and `assets/logo.js`. The "JARL" wordmark is drawn as SVG
paths in `assets/brand.js`, so the web UI needs no font files. The banner at
the top of this file, `artwork/banner.svg`, is built from both by
`scripts/banner.py`.