🟡 Medium   ⏱ 5–30 min  Last verified: 19 May 2026
Affected versions: FreeBSD 14

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents
  1. Symptom & Impact
  2. Environment & Reproduction
  3. Root Cause Analysis
  4. Quick Triage
  5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
  6. Solution – Primary Fix
  7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
  8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
  9. Rollback Plan
  10. Prevention & Hardening
  11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
  12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

DNS issues can appear as random network failures while IP connectivity still works.

Environment & Reproduction

pkg cannot resolve hosts, freebsd-update hangs on hostname lookup, and application startup delays occur.

Root Cause Analysis

Hosts using static resolv.conf, DHCP-provided resolvers, or local forwarding resolvers.

Quick Triage

Root access, known good DNS servers, and ability to validate upstream reachability.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

[image_ref: 0] Run drill pkg.FreeBSD.org; host freebsd.org; ping -c 3 8.8.8.8; cat /etc/resolv.conf; service local_unbound status if used.

Illustrative mockup for freebsd-14 — terminal_or_shell
drill and host lookup tests from shell — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Primary Fix

[image_ref: 1] Ensure /etc/resolv.conf has valid nameserver entries and search domains. If local_unbound is enabled, confirm forward zones are correct.

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Illustrative mockup for freebsd-14 — log_or_config
Inspecting /etc/resolv.conf and local resolver service settings — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Set stable resolvers, restart local DNS service where applicable, and verify name resolution before running pkg update. Persist resolver-related daemon flags via sysrc.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

Repeated lookups return quickly and package repositories resolve without timeout.

Rollback Plan

Restore prior resolv.conf and disable local forwarding if recent DNS changes introduced instability.

Prevention & Hardening

Use at least two resolvers and monitor query latency and SERVFAIL rates.

Escalate if intermittent failures correlate with provider-level DNS outages or routing anomalies.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for freebsd-14.

View all freebsd-14 tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

resolv.conf(5), host(1), drill(1), FreeBSD DNS operational guidance.

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