#1140830 dnsmasq: allow FQDN for option 42 (ntp-server) not just IP

Package:
src:dnsmasq
Source:
src:dnsmasq
Submitter:
Martin-Éric Racine
Date:
2026-06-27 09:35:02 UTC
Severity:
normal
#1140830#5
Date:
2026-06-27 09:33:13 UTC
From:
To:
As per RFC, dnsmasq only allows an IPv4 address as the value for option 42 (ntp-server).

However, most public NTP servers discourage connecting to them via an IP, instead requesting that clients use their generic FQDN e.g. pool.ntp.org, time.cloudflare.com, etc. to connect to their server.

The wishlist:

dhcp-option=option:ntp-server,time.cloudflare.com

Allow an FQDN as the value, and resolve it before sending its IP to DHCP clients. Don't send the option if the FQDN cannot be resolved.

Martin-Éric