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Learn how to Deploy Zonemaster on Debian VPS! This article provides a guide demonstrating how to deploy Zonemaster on Debian VPS. What is Zonemaster? Zonemaster is an open-source DNS testing and validation framework designed to thoroughly analyze the health, correctness, and performance of a domain’s DNS configuration. It is jointly developed and maintained by AFNIC (registry for .fr) and IIS/Internetstiftelsen (registry for .se). Think of it as a "DNS diagnostics engine" that performs deep, standards-compliant checks to help domain owners, hosting providers, and DNS administrators ensure their DNS is configured correctly. ⭐ What Zonemaster Does Zonemaster performs comprehensive DNS tests that verify: 1. DNS Configuration Health NS (nameserver) consistency Glue records SOA records DNSSEC chain of trust IPv4/IPv6 support Delegation correctness 2. DNS Performance Nameserver responsiveness Packet loss Latency and timeouts TCP vs UDP responsiveness 3. Standards Compliance Zonemaster’s tests are based on: IETF RFCs Best practices from major TLD registries DNSSEC technical norms 4. Error Detection Zonemaster identifies: Misconfigured DNS records Missing or incorrect glue DNSSEC failures Serial number mismatches Recursion issues Parent/child zone inconsistencies Nameservers not authoritative Email DNS issues (MX, SPF, etc., indirectly) 🔍 Three Major Components Zonemaster is composed of: 1. Zonemaster Engine The core module that runs all tests and produces results. Used by the CLI and the web interface. 2. Zonemaster CLI A command-line tool for running tests directly on a server: zonemaster-cli example.com 3. Zonemaster Backend + GUI A web-based interface that allows anyone to run DNS tests in a browser. Your VPS can host a public Zonemaster instance. 🧪 Why People Use Zonemaster ✔ Hosting providers Ensure domains hosted on their nameservers are working correctly. ✔ Domain registrars Validate domains at time of registration or DNS change. ✔ DNS operators and sysadmins Periodically audit DNS health and detect errors early. ✔ Security-conscious organizations Validate DNSSEC configuration and trust chain. ✔ Developers and researchers Automate DNS testing with API endpoints. 📦 Key Features Deep DNS analysis comparable to DNSInspect, DNSViz, and IntoDNS DNSSEC validation and chain-of-trust testing Public API for integrations Web-based user interface Highly detailed test reports Compatible with all TLDs Actively maintained by major domain registries 🏁 In Short Zonemaster is a professional-grade DNS testing suite that helps ensure domain configurations are correct, secure, and fully compliant with DNS standards. This guide covers installations on Debian 12 (Bookworm). ✅ Overview: What You Will Install Component Purpose Zonemaster Engine Core DNS testing logic Zonemaster CLI Command-line test runner Zonemaster Backend RPC/REST API for web UI Zonemaster Web GUI Browser-based interface for DNS testing How to Deploy Zonemaster on Debian VPS To deploy Zonemaster on Debian VPS, follow the steps below: 🛠️ Prerequisites System Requirements Debian 12 VPS (2 GB RAM minimum recommended) Root or sudo access Static public IP address A domain name for GUI access (optional) Update System sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y sudo apt install curl git build-essential unzip ufw -y 🧱 Install Zonemaster Engine The Engine is the foundational component. Install Dependencies sudo apt install libmodule-install-perl perl libmoose-perl libmoosex-markasmethods-perl libfile-slurp-perl libhash-merge-perl libnetaddr-ip-perl libjson-perl libjson-pp-perl liblist-moreutils-perl liblocale-maketext-perl libmoosex-getopt-perl libnet-ip-perl libplack-perl libplack-middleware-debug-perl libtest-deep-perl libtest-fatal-perl libtest-json-perl libtie-ixhash-perl libtry-tiny-perl libyaml-libyaml-perl libdevel-checklib-perl libssl-dev libextutils-pkgconfig-perl libidn2-dev gettext -y sudo apt update sudo apt install autoconf automake build-essential cpanminus libclass-accessor-perl libclone-perl libdevel-checklib-perl libemail-valid-perl libextutils-pkgconfig-perl libfile-sharedir-perl libfile-slurp-perl libidn2-dev libintl-perl libio-socket-inet6-perl liblist-compare-perl liblist-moreutils-perl liblocale-po-perl liblog-any-perl libmail-spf-perl libmime-base32-perl libmodule-find-perl libmodule-install-perl libmodule-install-xsutil-perl libnet-dns-perl libnet-ip-xs-perl libpod-coverage-perl libreadonly-perl libssl-dev libsub-override-perl libtest-differences-perl libtest-exception-perl libtest-fatal-perl libtest-nowarnings-perl libtest-pod-perl libtext-csv-perl libyaml-libyaml-perl libtool m4 -y Download Zonemaster Engine cd /opt sudo git clone https://github.com/zonemaster/zonemaster-engine.git cd zonemaster-engine Install CPAN Dependencies sudo cpanm --installdeps . sudo cpan install Zonemaster::Engine::Nameserver::Cache::RedisCache Install Zonemaster Engine sudo perl Makefile.PL sudo make sudo make test sudo make install 🖥️ Install Zonemaster CLI (zonemaster-cli) The CLI is part of Engine but needs a small wrapper. Install: sudo apt install zonemaster-cli -y sudo cpanm Zonemaster::CLI Test: zonemaster-cli example.com You should see DNS test output. 🔌 Install Zonemaster Backend (API) The Backend exposes an HTTP API for the GUI. Install Dependencies sudo perl -pi -e 's/^# (da_DK\.UTF-8.*|en_US\.UTF-8.*|es_ES\.UTF-8.*|fi_FI\.UTF-8.*|fr_FR\.UTF-8.*|nb_NO\.UTF-8.*|sl_SI\.UTF-8.*|sv_SE\.UTF-8.*)/$1/' /etc/locale.gen sudo locale-gen sudo apt install jq libclass-accessor-lite-perl libconfig-inifiles-perl libdaemon-control-perl libdata-validate-domain-perl libdata-validate-ip-perl libfuture-asyncawait-perl libfuture-perl libhttp-parser-xs-perl libio-multiplex-perl libio-socket-socks-perl libjq1 libjs-bootstrap4 libjs-highlight.js libjs-popper.js libjs-sizzle libjson-rpc-perl libjson-validator-perl liblog-any-adapter-dispatch-perl libmath-base85-perl libmojo-server-fastcgi-perl libmojolicious-perl libnet-cidr-perl libnet-idn-encode-perl libnet-ipv6addr-perl libnet-netmask-perl libnet-server-perl libnet-server-ss-prefork-perl libonig5 libparallel-forkmanager-perl libplack-middleware-reverseproxy-perl librouter-simple-perl libsereal-encoder-perl libserver-starter-perl libsub-uplevel-perl libtest-exception-perl libtest-nowarnings-perl libxs-parse-keyword-perl libxs-parse-sublike-perl node-jquery openapi-specification perl-doc starman -y sudo apt install libdbi-perl libdbd-sqlite3-perl sqlite3 libdaemon-generic-perl libio-captureoutput-perl liblog-any-perl liblog-dispatch-perl libsoap-lite-perl libfile-sharedir-perl -y Download Backend cd /opt sudo git clone https://github.com/zonemaster/zonemaster-backend.git cd zonemaster-backend Install Perl Dependencies sudo cpanm --installdeps . Configure Backend Copy example config: sudo cpanm --notest Zonemaster::Backend sudo useradd -r -c "Zonemaster daemon user" zonemaster cd `perl -MFile::ShareDirdist_dir -E 'say dist_dir("Zonemaster-Backend")'` sudo install -v -m 755 -d /etc/zonemaster sudo install -v -m 775 -g zonemaster -d /var/log/zonemaster sudo install -v -m 640 -g zonemaster ./backend_config.ini /etc/zonemaster/ sudo install -v -m 755 ./zm-rpcapi.lsb /etc/init.d/zm-rpcapi sudo install -v -m 755 ./zm-testagent.lsb /etc/init.d/zm-testagent sudo install -v -m 644 ./tmpfiles.conf /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/zonemaster.conf sudo install -v -m 755 -o zonemaster -g zonemaster -d /var/lib/zonemaster sudo -u zonemaster $(perl -MFile::ShareDir -le 'print File::ShareDir::dist_dir("Zonemaster-Backend")')/create_db.pl sudo systemd-tmpfiles --create /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/zonemaster.conf sudo systemctl enable zm-rpcapi sudo systemctl enable zm-testagent sudo systemctl start zm-rpcapi sudo systemctl start zm-testagent Edit config: sudo nano /etc/zonemaster_backend_config.ini Recommended settings: engine SQLite database_file /var/lib/zonemaster/zonemaster.sqlite level INFO enable yes listen 127.0.0.1 port 5000 Initialize Database sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/zonemaster/ sudo ./script/create_db.pl Create Systemd Service Create service file: sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/zonemaster-backend.service Add: DescriptionZonemaster Backend API Afternetwork.target Userroot ExecStart/usr/bin/plackup -R lib -s Starman --listen 127.0.0.1:5000 bin/zonemaster_backend.psgi WorkingDirectory/opt/zonemaster-backend Restartalways WantedBymulti-user.target Enable + start: sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable --now zonemaster-backend Test API: curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/api/version 🌐 Install Zonemaster Web GUI Install Dependencies sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y sudo apt-get install -y apache2 unzip Basic Apache Configuration sudo a2enmod proxy proxy_http rewrite sudo a2dissite 000-default sudo systemctl enable apache2 sudo systemctl restart apache2 Download GUI wget https://github.com/zonemaster/zonemaster-gui/releases/download/v4.4.0/zonemaster_web_gui.zip -O zonemaster_web_gui.zip sudo unzip -d /var/www/html/zonemaster-web-gui zonemaster_web_gui.zip sudo install -vd /var/log/zonemaster sudo install -v /var/www/html/zonemaster-web-gui/zonemaster.conf-example /etc/apache2/sites-available/zonemaster.conf rm -f zonemaster_web_gui.zip Configure Zonemaster Web GUI sudo a2ensite zonemaster Update the zonemaster.conf file with your own ServerName, ServerAlias and ServerAdmin: nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/zonemaster.conf Reload Apache sudo systemctl reload apache2 🔒 Enable SSL (Optional but Recommended) Using Let’s Encrypt: sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache -y sudo certbot --apache -d zonemaster.example.com Auto-renews daily. 🧪 Test Zonemaster Deployment Visit: https://zonemaster.example.com Zonemaster results for radwebhosting.com Run a test on any domain. Or test via API: curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:5000/api/run \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"domain":"example.com"}' 🔧 Useful Commands Restart Backend sudo systemctl restart zonemaster-backend Check Backend logs journalctl -u zonemaster-backend 🎉 You Now Have a Full Zonemaster Deployment on Debian! This installation includes: ✔ Zonemaster Engine ✔ CLI tools ✔ Backend API ✔ Web GUI with Nginx ✔ Optional SSL for secure access Conclusion You now know how to deploy Zonemaster on Debian VPS.

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