Network & DNS

LoKO provides automatic DNS resolution for local development using in-cluster CoreDNS with a dnsmasq that dynamically tracks your workloads.

How It Works

%% title: DNS Resolution Flow %%
graph LR
    App[Application] -->|*.dev.me| Resolver["/etc/resolver/dev.me"]
    Resolver -->|dnsmasq host port| CoreDNS[In-Cluster CoreDNS]
    CoreDNS -->|dnsmasq + hosts plugin| ConfigMap[loko-dynamic-hosts ConfigMap]
    ConfigMap -->|192.168.0.10| Service[Kubernetes Service]

    classDef appStyle fill:#0288d1,stroke:#01579b,color:#fff
    classDef resolverStyle fill:#fb8c00,stroke:#e65100,color:#fff
    classDef dnsStyle fill:#8e24aa,stroke:#6a1b9a,color:#fff
    classDef configMapStyle fill:#3949ab,stroke:#283593,color:#fff
    classDef serviceStyle fill:#43a047,stroke:#2e7d32,color:#fff

    class App appStyle
    class Resolver resolverStyle
    class CoreDNS dnsStyle
    class ConfigMap configMapStyle
    class Service serviceStyle

When you deploy a workload with an Ingress or IngressRoute, the dnsmasq automatically adds its hostname to CoreDNS — no restarts or manual configuration needed.

DNS Configuration

Default Setup

network:
    ip: 192.168.0.10       # Auto-detected local IP
    domain: dev.me         # Base domain

If auto-detection picks the wrong address or is unavailable, generate your config with an explicit override:

loko config generate --local-ip 192.168.0.10

dns-port defaults to an auto-selected non-privileged host port (1024–32767), preferring 5453, and usually does not need manual changes.

Custom Domain

network:
    domain: myproject.local

All services will be accessible as:

postgres.myproject.local
mysql.myproject.local
cr.myproject.local (registry)

DNS Domains

System Workloads

Format: <workload>.<domain>

Examples:

postgres.dev.me:5432
mysql.dev.me:3306
rabbitmq.dev.me:5672

User Workloads

Format: <workload>.<domain>

Example: myapp.dev.me

Preview Workloads

Format: <workload>-pr-<n>.pr.<domain>

Example: myapp-pr-1.pr.dev.me

Internal Components

Registry: cr.<domain> (e.g., cr.dev.me)
Traefik Dashboard: traefik.<domain> (if enabled)

DNS Operations

Check DNS Status

loko check dns

Shows:

CoreDNS pod status
Resolver configuration
Resolution tests

Start DNS

loko dns start

Stop DNS

loko dns stop

Recreate DNS

loko dns recreate

Useful when:

DNS not resolving
Configuration changed

Resolver Configuration

macOS

LoKO creates /etc/resolver/<domain>:

# cat /etc/resolver/dev.me
nameserver <kind-node-ip>
port <auto-selected-nodeport>

This routes all *.dev.me queries to the in-cluster CoreDNS via its auto-selected DNS port on the Kind node. No host-side DNS process is needed.

Linux

LoKO configures the OS resolver backend when it can detect one it knows how to manage.

Currently documented Linux backends:

systemd-resolved
NetworkManager with its dnsmasq backend

Linux distributions that do not use systemd-resolved can still work if they use NetworkManager in this mode. Other Linux resolver stacks may still require manual configuration.

Option 1: /etc/hosts (Simple)

LoKO can automatically add entries to /etc/hosts:

# After environment creation
sudo loko init

Option 2: systemd-resolved

resolvectl query postgres.dev.me

Option 3: NetworkManager

nmcli general status
cat /etc/resolv.conf

When the NetworkManager backend is active, /etc/resolv.conf typically points to 127.0.0.1 and NetworkManager’s local dnsmasq forwards your LoKO domain to the in-cluster dnsmasq host port.

Testing DNS Resolution

Using dig

# Test resolution
dig postgres.dev.me

# Should return your local IP
dig +short postgres.dev.me
# Output: 192.168.0.10

Using nslookup

nslookup postgres.dev.me

Using curl

# Test HTTP endpoint
curl http://traefik.dev.me

# Test HTTPS with cert
curl https://postgres.dev.me:5432

Troubleshooting DNS

DNS Not Resolving

# Check dnsmasq pod
kubectl get pods -n loko-components -l app.kubernetes.io/name=dnsmasq

# Check CoreDNS pods
kubectl get pods -n kube-system -l k8s-app=kube-dns

# Check dynamic hosts ConfigMap
kubectl get configmap loko-dynamic-hosts -n loko-components -o yaml

# Recreate DNS
loko dns recreate

Port Conflicts

Since CoreDNS runs in-cluster, host port conflicts no longer apply to DNS itself. If you see resolver issues, check the Kind node IP is reachable:

# Check Kind node IP
kubectl get nodes -o wide

Wrong IP Resolved

# Check configured IP
loko config ip

# Update config
vim loko.yaml  # Update network.ip

# Recreate DNS
loko dns recreate

Network Ports

Default Ports

Service	Port	Purpose	Configurable
DNS	auto (prefers 5453)	dnsmasq host port	Auto-selected
HTTP	80	Traefik ingress	No
HTTPS	443	Traefik ingress	No
K8s API	6443	Kubernetes API	Yes (`api-port`)

Load Balancer Ports

network:
    lb-ports:
      - 80
      - 443
      - 8080  # Additional port

Port Conflicts

Check all ports before creating environment:

loko config port-check

Accessing Services

Via DNS

# PostgreSQL
psql -h postgres.dev.me -U postgres

# MySQL
mysql -h mysql.dev.me -u root -p

# HTTP service
curl http://myapp.dev.me

Via Port Forward

When DNS isn’t configured:

kubectl port-forward svc/postgres 5432:5432 -n common-services
psql -h localhost -p 5432 -U postgres

Via Cluster IP (Internal)

From within the cluster:

kubectl run -it --rm debug --image=postgres:15 -- bash
psql -h postgres.common-services.svc.cluster.local

Advanced Configuration

Multiple Networks

# loko-wifi.yaml
network:
    ip: 192.168.0.10
    domain: dev-wifi.me

# loko-ethernet.yaml
network:
    ip: 10.0.0.100
    domain: dev-eth.me

Integration with Certificates

DNS and certificates work together:

%% title: DNS & Certificate Integration %%
graph LR
    User[User] -->|https://postgres-ui.dev.me| Browser
    Browser -->|DNS Lookup| CoreDNS[CoreDNS]
    CoreDNS -->|IP: 192.168.0.10| Browser
    Browser -->|TLS Handshake| Traefik
    Traefik -->|*.dev.me Cert| Browser
    Browser -.Valid Cert.-> User

    classDef userStyle fill:#0288d1,stroke:#01579b,color:#fff
    classDef dnsStyle fill:#8e24aa,stroke:#6a1b9a,color:#fff
    classDef traefikStyle fill:#3949ab,stroke:#283593,color:#fff

    class User,Browser userStyle
    class CoreDNS dnsStyle
    class Traefik traefikStyle

Next Steps

Certificates - TLS certificate setup
Workload Management - Deploy services
Troubleshooting - Common DNS issues