DNS.md

🐳 DNS & Domain Names 🚧 WIP

⭐️ GOAL: Learn about the domain name system and register your very own domain for use throughout the course.

Time	Activity
5 MIN	🏆 Learning Objectives
15 MIN	📚 Review DNS Comic
10 MIN	🔥 Trace a request
30 MIN	🗣️ Register a Domain Name + Link to GitHub
10 MIN	🛏️ BREAK
- MIN	💪 Tutorial Q&A + Work Time

🏆 [5m] Learning Objectives

By the end of this class you will be able to...

1. explain the role of DNS and domain names
2. trace a request using the traceroute command
3. register a domain name + link to GitHub Pages
4. be fully prepared for the next set of Docker lessons

📚 [15m] Review DNS Comic

ACTIVITY

Students should enter breakout rooms and go through this DNS comic which explains with graphics how DNS systems work and communicate!

Take notes on the vocabulary term that comes up in each page and "trace" the example ping from the comic.

Upon return to the main room, the instructor should "trace" the example ping to see if it matches the students understanding.

🔥 [10m] Trace a request

ACTIVITY

Open breakout rooms for 10 minutes and experiment with traceroute command.

Use the traceroute terminal command with the following websites and explore the output:

• google.com
• makeschool.com
• nsa.gov

What's going on with the nsa.gov traceroute? Seems like a strange behavior...

Discussion questions (Google them if nobody knows):

• what happens if we paste the IP addresses found in the route into a web browser?
• How does the route change with a VPN?
• What would happen if we were using a TOR browser?
• Can we truly mask our activity on the internet?

[30m] 🗣️ Register a Domain Name + Link to GitHub

-- Instructor Demo --

A .xyz domain name can be purchased from namecheap.com for ~$1.

Reference materials:

• Great guide to connect a namecheap.com domain to GitHub Pages
• Documentation from GitHub that specifies [current IP address to use for your domains] (https://docs.github.com/en/pages/configuring-a-custom-domain-for-your-github-pages-site/managing-a-custom-domain-for-your-github-pages-site) A Records.
• Troubleshooting tips from GitHub for ideas to use when things don't work -- NOTE: dropping the CNAME certificate and then readding seems to be the best quick debugging fix for namecheap.com

Demonstrate a working set of CNAME and A Record properties using the dig command. As of June 2021, it should include four A Records and one CNAME.

EX:

 ~ dig www.jaylowe.xyz +nostats +nocomments +nocmd                                                  ✔  at 14:59:35 

www.jaylowe.xyz.	1799	IN	CNAME	ogjaylowe.github.io.
ogjaylowe.github.io.	3600	IN	A	185.199.108.153
ogjaylowe.github.io.	3600	IN	A	185.199.111.153
ogjaylowe.github.io.	3600	IN	A	185.199.109.153
ogjaylowe.github.io.	3600	IN	A	185.199.110.153

🛏️ [10m] BREAK

💪 [-m] Tutorial Q&A + Work Time

Use this time to ask questions about the tutorials and/or complete them in preperation for the upcoming Docker lessons.