OSX Mavericks - BIND no longer installed… how to get local DNS server working?

Question

I have always used BIND on OSX to provide a local DNS resolver for my local development machines, particularly to facilitate virtual machines accessing my local dev environment.

Answer 1

I used to use a local DNS server running on the MAC until I discovered DNSMasq on DD-WRT

I setup a DD-WRT router for my LAN and WIFI and then used the DNSMasq feature of DD-WRT to list all entires that should map to development machines.

Log into your DD-WRT router:

Under Services, Enable DNSMasq

Under "Additional DNSMasq options" list each entry you want to mask:

address=/[url]/[ip]

Examples:

address=/www.dev.mysite.com/192.168.1.10
address=/photos.dev.mysite.com/192.168.1.11
address=/static.dev.mysite.com/192.168.1.12

This is almost like running your own DNS server on the router just for local addresses but without the overhead.

This way I can connect to local development machines via the LAN and all mobile devices via WIFI without much hassle.

Advantages:

• No DNS server overhead on your MAC
• No DNS configuration required just works via DHCP
• Easily connect mobile devices via WIFI to development machines!
• Easy to maintain & configure via router interface