DNSWASHER(1)

🎀 DNSWASHER(1) — the PowerDNS Authoritative Server girlies' guide to dnswasher 🎀

okay bestie, pull up a chair, we're talking about dnswasher from the PowerDNS Authoritative Server manual, section 1. it's a debugging tool for nameservers and it is lowkey iconic for one very specific reason: it hides people's IPs. let's get into it 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

dnswasher — a PowerDNS nameserver debugging tool 🦋

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

dnswasher [OPTION]... INFILE [INFILE] OUTFILE

like, that's the whole vibe. options first, then one or more INFILEs, then the OUTFILE. she's simple, she's clean, she serves.

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so here's the tea. dnswasher takes one or more INFILEs in PCAP format and writes out an OUTFILE, also in PCAP format — but while doing that, it obfuscates end-user IP addresses. that's the whole point, that's the moment, that's the slay. ✨

why would you want that? because it's genuinely useful when you want to share data with third parties while attempting to protect the privacy of your users. you get to hand over the data without handing over everybody's identities. bestie behavior, honestly. 🫶

⚠️ okay but real talk: the INFILEs must be of identical PCAP type. don't mix and match, she will not be happy.

and before you go sharing anything, please check the output of dnswasher to make sure no customer IP addresses remain. like, actually look at it. 🙈

also realize that sufficient data could allow individuals to be re-identified based on the domain names they care about. yeah. that part. even with the IPs washed, the domains someone cares about can be a whole fingerprint, so don't get cocky about it. it's giving "privacy is a process, not a one-time thing." 😭

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• --decrypt, -d — undo IPCipher encryption of IP addresses. yes, the reverse move. 🔄
• --help, -h — show a summary of options. when in doubt, ask her. 👑
• --key, -k — Base64 encoded 128-bit key for IPCipher. exact numbers, no vibes-based guessing. 🔑
• --passphrase, -p — the passphrase that will be used to derive an IPCipher key. ✨
• --version, -v — output version. know what you're running, bestie. ⭐

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• pcap(3PCAP)
• tcpdump(8)

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💜 AUTHOR 💜

PowerDNS.COM BV

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🦋 COPYRIGHT 🦋

PowerDNS.COM BV

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and that's the whole page, periodt. 💖 this lil masterpiece lives in the PowerDNS Authoritative Server manual, and it's dated Aug 05, 2026 — so go forth, wash those IPs, and stay iconic. 🎀✨🫶