Asl-node-lookup Questions

AllStarLink
1

Would like to know a few details on the informtion this command provides:

Why do we have BOTH an SRV record and a TXT record?
Does some type of client or process use one or the other?

What is RT=? Time of DNS query? Or something else?
And is it UTC?

What is RB= ?
What is PIP= ?

What is RH=? (assuming which server ingested the registration)?

Where is this stuff documented for findable? If indeed it is.

asl-node-lookup - AllStarLink Manual does not seem to have these answers.

Thanks!

asl-node-lookup 66957

SRV (_iax._udp.66957.nodes.allstarlink.org)
10 10 4569 66957.nodes.allstarlink.org.

A (66957.nodes.allstarlink.org)
172.59.228.68

TXT (66957.nodes.allstarlink.org)
NN=66957
RT=2025-10-20 23:01:41
RB=0
IP=172.59.228.68
PIP=0
PT=4569
RH=aws-east1a-register0

RPT LOOKUP (66957)
radio@172.59.228.68:4569/66957,172.59.228.68

2

Have a look at ASL3 Manual : DNS Servers

In short :

  • the SRV provides the IAX2 server port and a reference to the A record.
  • the A record provides the IP address.
  • the TXT record is primarily for debugging purposes (and may change)
3

Thanks!!
Sorry I did not find it in a pinch and headed for the forum a bit quickly on that one.

-Steve

4

Just keep in mind that the TXT record is for debugging and is not guaranteed to be consistently-formatted over time. In fact, we're already discussing dropping the RH attribute.

5

... and the RT attribute may also change (or go away)

6

I kind of like the RT attribute..
Especially if it is hitting a pool of servers.
Knowing which one (of more than one if there’s more than one) it’s on can be useful.
Unless you are just presenting one hostname ahead of the load balancer.
Then it probably doesn’t matter.

7

You kind of like the RH (registration host) attribute or the RT (registration time) attribute?

Currently, our registration servers (register.allstarink.org) are setup with a simple / static DNS-based round robin load balancing. For now, this works but we haven't ruled out other models.

One of the gotchas with the current TXT record content is that each RH/RT change triggers a DNS update. One might suggest that there are not that many RH/RT changes but you need to keep in mind that your node(s) are constantly saying "Hey, I'm still here". That's a lot of unneeded churn.

8

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