This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

DNS over HTTPS and hosts file usage

  • 2 பதிலளிப்புகள்
  • 2 இந்த பிரச்னைகள் உள்ளது
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by konstantin2

How does DNS over HTTPS modes define usage of hosts file?

Firefox: 69.0, OS: Ubuntu 18.04.3

I noticed that when I enable DNS over HTTPS ("network.trr.mode" set to 2 - use DoH, fall back to DNS), *and* hostname is defined in hosts file (/etc/hosts), Firefox usage of hosts file is inconsistent and hard to predict.

If IPs defined in hosts file and obtained via DNS request differ, corresponding site/resources behaves erratically, as if Firefox chooses at random, which page components' DNS address should be resolved via hosts, and which via DoH.

I had to disable DoH for that reason.

It is possible to set up DoH, so that it used hosts records, if present, and used DNS in all other cases?

How does DNS over HTTPS modes define usage of hosts file? Firefox: 69.0, OS: Ubuntu 18.04.3 I noticed that when I enable DNS over HTTPS ("network.trr.mode" set to 2 - use DoH, fall back to DNS), *and* hostname is defined in hosts file (/etc/hosts), Firefox usage of hosts file is inconsistent and hard to predict. If IPs defined in hosts file and obtained via DNS request differ, corresponding site/resources behaves erratically, as if Firefox chooses at random, which page components' DNS address should be resolved via hosts, and which via DoH. I had to disable DoH for that reason. It is possible to set up DoH, so that it used hosts records, if present, and used DNS in all other cases?

All Replies (2)

It's puzzling that you get inconsistent results. Could it be due to cached DNS resolutions? Because otherwise it sounds as though Firefox is using the race mode (mode 1) instead of the fallback mode (mode 2):

  • 0 - local only, DoH off by default (current setting)
  • 1 - query DoH and local, use first available
  • 2 - query DoH first, fallback to local (checkbox in options)
  • 3 - query DoH only, do not use local (most private?)
  • 4 - use local but test DoH performance (temporary??)
  • 5 - local only, DoH off by user choice (won't be overridden??)

From: https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2018/06/03/inside-firefoxs-doh-engine/

As far as I know, what you want is not an option, but I'm relying on the older definitions from the above blog post.

I will try with

network.dnsCacheExpiration

set to 0 (if I understand your question correctly).

Pity the hosts file isn't taken into account as separate resolution means. In my case, when I need hosts-based IPs in certain circumstances, that means I should use a separate browser.