I let Claude manage my DNS server, and it taught me more than years of documentation

I'm always looking for ways to optimize my home lab, and one of the tasks I always put off is managing my DNS server. It's always a hefty mental load starting with remembering where things are in yet another WebUI before I even get to the tasks I want to accomplish. That's before diving into logs to see what's going on when things go wrong.

I'd just rather not do it, or at least be able to manage it in natural conversation, so it doesn't feel like fighting with the server. It'd be even better if I could automate the tasks I really dislike, and nothing is better at finding suspicious patterns in server logs than an LLM. Time to learn what was possible, so I could offload some mental trauma to a local LLM instead.

It's always DNS, but...

Time to play with digital fire

Managing a DNS server is a lot of work to do it correctly and safely. Add in the chance of removing your internet or internal resolving accidentally, and it's a minefield that many don't like to handle at home. So, why would I want to hand the reins to an LLM?

Well, several reasons, but there are a couple of major ones for me. The main one is that I don't want the mental load of remembering where everything is in the WebUI, so being able to manage things with natural language processing and letting the LLM handle the API calls etc. would be a huge benefit. Then I can get on with learning concepts, not having to learn GUI steps and differences in phrasing.

The second for me is being able to set up automation, things like if a new device or VM joins the network, it gets a local domain name, a DHCP reservation, and all the other tedious tasks that I've been handling manually. Or an agent watching logs for suspicious patterns, and automatically adjusting blocklists. After all, LLMs are supposed to be about making things easier for the user, without needing my input.

Technitium was a natural choice

There are many DNS servers that you can self-host, and the one I'm using might not be the one your needs require. However, for what I want to accomplish, Technitium is perfect.

Why? For a start, it has a comprehensive HTTP API for managing the entire web console via REST endpoints that return JSON. That makes things easier, as everything the LLM might want to do is already easily discoverable and documented. It's also already running on my Proxmox server as a LXC, which makes things easier dealing with a platform I'm familiar with.

But also, there is an MCP server for managing Technitium in a secure way. That's just as important, because I want my LLM to control things, but also not to hallucinate, or any of the many flavors of failure that can arise from using AI. Now, while I'm using Claude here, I will be connecting it to a local LLM now that I've got a proof of concept, so that I'm not using expensive subscription tokens for the ongoing maintenance.

My home lab is in flux right now, and until I've got everything wired up I don't have Qwen Coder Next set up right now. Maybe I'll switch to Nemotron Omni, for a more versatile LLM, or switch between multiple according to needs. Either way, this is to test what's possible, for a solid ongoing core.

I like having this interactive version of DNS

It's like having my own sysadmin-in-a-box

Now, full disclosure here. This was done on a fresh LXC of Technitium, so the amount of data it returns for commands is minimal right now. But that's also perfect for building up the configuration that I want, with the security-hardened MCP server for managing Technitium that took all of two minutes for Claude Code to install.

Now Claude can read my Technitium via the API, answer questions, and help configure options. There are 18 read-only tools and 21 write-enabled ones, everything from returning settings to creating new DNS zones, records, or almost anything else. It's the easiest way to add blocklists, zones, or records.

Managing DNS has never been easier, because Claude knows all the Technitium API and if I mistype something, it'll suggest fixes or alternatives. It's like having an intern mixed with a mentor, and makes it much easier for me to learn, as I'm a hands-on learner but I also absorb information better when it's in text, and not spoken.

Scripting ties it all together

AI can manage my DNS any time it wants to

Now I've got an interactive setup, in a stable Technitium container, I've got more plans. First up is to put a few more Technitium instances up with the same settings, because it recently got clustering with automatic failover and syncing. No downtime for my DNS, and I don't have to manage keepalived, sync, and anything else.

Then it's time to do some Python, and by that I really mean let the LLM write me some scripts to auto-register DNS on new VM creation on the Proxmox host, sync DHCP to DNS, and handle SSL auto-renewal, which is handy since Let's Encrypt suggests renewing every 60 days, and I'll just forget until something starts throwing HTTPS errors.

I'm only scratching the surface here, and I'm sure that my local LLM will have some ideas after it learns the patterns from Technitium and my home lab's usage. I'm also not ready to take the training wheels off and let things be fully automated, but I work from trust then verify at all times.