CALIDNS(1)               PowerDNS Authoritative Server              CALIDNS(1)

NAME
       calidns - A DNS recursor testing tool

SYNOPSIS
       calidns [OPTIONS] QUERY_FILE DESTINATION INITIAL_QPS HITRATE

DESCRIPTION
       calidns reads queries from QUERY_FILE and sends them as a recursive
       query to DESTINATION (an IPv4 or IPv6 address, optionally with a port
       number), starting at INITIAL_QPS queries per second and aims to have a
       cache hitrate of HITRATE percent.

       It will then try to determine the maximum amount of queries per second
       the recursor can handle with the aforementioned HITRATE.

QUERY_FILE FORMAT
       The format of the QUERY_FILE is very simple, it should contain "QNAME
       QTYPE" tuples, one per line. For example:

          powerdns.com A
          powerdns.com AAAA
          google.com A

       This is similar to Alexa top 1 million list.

OPTIONS

       --ecs <SUBNET>
              Add EDNS Client Subnet option to outgoing queries using random
              addresses from the specified SUBNET range (IPv4 only).

       --ecs-from-file
              Read IP or subnet values from the query file and add them as
              EDNS Client Subnet option to outgoing queries.

       --increment <NUM>
              On every subsequent run, multiply the number of queries per
              second by NUM. By default, this is 1.1.

       --maximum-qps <NUM>
              Stop incrementing once this rate has been reached, to provide a
              stable load.

       --minimum-success-rate <NUM>
              Stop the test as soon as the success rate drops below this
              value, in percent.

       --plot-file <FILE>
              Write results to the specified file.

       --proxy-protocol
              Send a Proxy Protocol payload in front of outgoing queries using
              random addresses from the specified range (IPv4 only) as the
              initial source IP.

       --proxy-protocol-from-file
              Read IP or subnet values from the query file and use them as the
              source IP in Proxy Protocol payloads in front of outgoing
              queries.

       --quiet
              Whether to run quietly, outputting only the maximum QPS reached.
              This option is mostly useful when used with
              --minimum-success-rate.

       --want-recursion
              Set this flag to send queries with the Recursion Desired flag
              set.

AUTHOR
       PowerDNS.COM BV

COPYRIGHT
       PowerDNS.COM BV

                                August 5, 2026                      CALIDNS(1)