DNS analysis

Let's take a look at how DNS works at a basic level and how to do common tasks with DNS such as look in a Wireshark capture.

We will start by flushing the DNS cache on the computer, which will clear out any of the cached entries on the device so that if we try to resolve any of them, it will have to go get a new resolution from the servers out there on the internet. For this, we will enter the following command:

Since we've cleared that out, let's do a standard resolution.

Before we do a resolution, what DNS does is resolve domain names and different records of these domain names to IP addresses. That's its primary purpose.

DNS is used for all sorts of things, some of which are listed here:

• Browsing the internet in any fashion, such as with the web
• If you're trying to resolve FTP servers or game servers
• If you're trying to run an active directory on a domain 011 into a local network
• If you're trying to run VMware

All sorts of different services out there use DNS; there's a common mantra...