Original DNS (deprecated)
This information is now deprecated. Please check New DNS for the current architecture.
(tl;dr) We have a TLD for dn42, which is .dn42. The anycast resolver for .dn42 runs on 172.20.0.53 and fd42:d42:d42:54::1.
DNS is built from the whois database. Please edit your DNS records there.
Using the DNS service
Below are several ways to use the dn42 DNS service, from easiest to more challenging. The recommended method is the second one.
Using the anycast resolver directly
Please be aware that this method sends all your DNS queries (e.g. google.com) to a random DNS server inside dn42. The server could fake the result and point you towards the russian mafia. They probably won't, but think about what you are doing. At the end of the day, your ISP could be evil as well, so it always boils down to a question of trust.
To do this, just use 172.20.0.53 or fd42:d42:d42:54::1 as your resolver, for instance in /etc/resolv.conf.
Forwarding .dn42 queries to the anycast resolver
If you run your own resolver (unbound, dnsmasq, bind), you can configure it to forward dn42 queries to the anycast DNS resolver. See DNS forwarder configuration.
Recursive resolver
You may also want to configure your resolver to recursively resolve dn42 domains. For this, you need to find authoritative DNS servers for the dn42 zone (and for the reverse zones). See services/dns/Recursive DNS resolver.
Building the dn42 zones from the registry
Finally, you may want to host your own authoritative DNS server for the dn42 zone and the reverse zones. The zone files are built from the monotone repository: scripts are provided in the repository itself.
Register a .dn42 domain name
The root zone for dn42. is built from the whois registry. If you want to register a domain name, you need to add it to the registry (of course, you also need one or two authoritative nameservers).
DNS services for other networks
Other networks are interconnected with dn42 (ChaosVPN, Freifunk, etc). Some of them also provide DNS service, you can configure your resolver to use it. See External DNS.
Providing DNS services
Old Hierarchical DNS
This is a new effort to build a DNS system that mirrors how DNS was designed to work in clearnet.