install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install dnstop

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%

sudo port install dnstop

MacPorts ports tree · net/dnstop/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Alpine Linux apkverified · 92%

sudo apk add dnstop

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dnstop · source: dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org

Debian aptverified · 92%

sudo apt install dnstop

Debian stable package indexes · dnstop · source: deb.debian.org

Fedora dnfverified · 92%

sudo dnf install dnstop

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dnstop · source: dl.fedoraproject.org

Nixverified · 92%

nix profile install nixpkgs#dnstop

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/dn/dnstop/package.nix · source: api.github.com

overview

Package summary

Console tool to analyze DNS traffic

Project links

Commands and aliases

dnstop

history

Project history and usage

dnstop is a curses-style libpcap tool for watching DNS traffic tables from a live interface or packet capture. It is the DNS equivalent of a focused top-like view: small, old, and still useful when a resolver or network segment is producing strange query traffic.

Project history

The Measurement Factory publicity page says dnstop was written with research into large amounts of bogus traffic received by root DNS servers and was originally presented at NANOG26. The project site and README describe the core feature set: tables for source and destination addresses, query types, response codes, opcodes, and domain levels.

The man page is dated March 21, 2008 and names Duane Wessels, Mark Foster, Jose Nazario, and other contributors. In 2018, the official source page was updated to point to the GitHub repository as the maintained source location while keeping the old source directory for tarballs and individual files.

Adoption history

dnstop spread early through operator communities. The official source page lists portability notes for Mac OS X with fink, FreeBSD Ports, NetBSD Packages, Gentoo Portage, Debian unstable, EPEL, Linux source builds, and Solaris. The publicity page preserves 2002 and 2003 operator feedback from people running it on DNS, mail, FreeBSD, and Solaris systems.

How it is used

Users run dnstop on a network device or read a tcpdump savefile. It can filter for unknown TLD leakage, RFC1918 PTR leakage, REFUSED, SERVFAIL, NXDOMAIN, and other DNS patterns, then switch between live tables interactively or print top entries from a capture in non-interactive mode.

Why package nerds care

dnstop is the kind of small C network utility that package maintainers like because it has a clear job and few moving parts: libpcap plus a terminal UI. Its significance is historical as much as practical: it came from root-DNS measurement work and became a standard packaged tool for DNS traffic triage.

Timeline

2002: dnstop presented at NANOG26 according to the official publicity page.
2003: Publicity page records operator adoption feedback after the root-DNS traffic research.
2008: dnstop manual page dated March 21, 2008.
2018: Official source page updated to point to the GitHub repository.
2026: GitHub repository metadata shows continued maintenance activity.

Related projects

tcpdump and libpcap are the closest technical relatives: dnstop reads live captures or pcap savefiles. DNS measurement work at The Measurement Factory is the historical context, and DNS-OARC-style operator tooling is the cultural neighborhood.

Sources

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 13 platform targets.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`dnstop`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version20140915

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamnot checked

latest detectednot detected

http://dns.measurement-factory.com/tools/dnstop/index.html

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.http://dns.measurement-factory.com/tools/dnstop/index.htmlnone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:dnstop
Version	20140915
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/dnstop
Homepage	http://dns.measurement-factory.com/tools/dnstop/index.html
Repository	https://github.com/measurement-factory/dnstop
Upstream docs	http://dns.measurement-factory.com/tools/dnstop/dnstop.8.html
License	BSD-3-Clause
Source archive	https://cdn.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/distfiles/dnstop-20140915.tar.gz
Uses from macOS	libpcap, ncurses
Bottle	available (on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	dnstop
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

dnstop 20240820-1

console tool to analyze DNS traffic

http://dns.measurement-factory.com/tools/dnstop/

sudo apt install dnstop

Section: net
Architecture: amd64
4 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Dnstop

Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: dnstop from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

Nix95%

dnstop

nix profile install nixpkgs#dnstop

normalized package name match
Matched by: Dnstop

nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/dn/dnstop/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

Ubuntu apt95%

dnstop 20120611-2build5

console tool to analyze DNS traffic

http://dns.measurement-factory.com/tools/dnstop/

sudo apt install dnstop

Section: universe/net
Architecture: amd64
4 dependencies
normalized package name match
Matched by: Dnstop

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: dnstop from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz

apk95%

dnstop 20140915-r8

A DNS traffic capture utility

http://dns.measurement-factory.com/tools/dnstop/

sudo apk add dnstop

License: BSD-3-Clause
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: dnstop
1 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Dnstop

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: dnstop from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

apk95%

dnstop-doc 20140915-r8

A DNS traffic capture utility (documentation)

http://dns.measurement-factory.com/tools/dnstop/

sudo apk add dnstop-doc

License: BSD-3-Clause
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: dnstop
normalized package name match
Matched by: Dnstop

Alpine Linux edge package indexes · dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org · Alpine Linux edge package indexes: dnstop-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

dnf95%

dnstop 20140915-28.git20240708.fc44

Displays information about DNS traffic on your network

http://dns.measurement-factory.com/tools/dnstop/

sudo dnf install dnstop

License: BSD-3-Clause
Category: Unspecified
Architecture: x86_64
Source Package: dnstop
5 dependencies
1 provides
normalized package name match
Matched by: Dnstop

Fedora Rawhide package metadata · dl.fedoraproject.org · Fedora Rawhide package metadata: dnstop from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst

MacPorts95%

dnstop

sudo port install dnstop

normalized package name match
Matched by: Dnstop

MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: net/dnstop/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/dnstop.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated package history
external package-manager database matches
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install dnstop with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix

Additional install commands

macOS

Linux

Package summary

Project links

Commands and aliases

Project history and usage

Project history

Adoption history

How it is used

Why package nerds care

Timeline

Related projects

Sources

Risk level: green

Risk classifier

Why

Signals

Install behavior

Recommended review

Installed executables

Version and freshness

Package metadata

Source database details

Other package-manager records

Internal package links

Topical hubs

Same workflow

Agent security guides

Generated from repository data

Combined YAML source

Used sources