Building — proc-trace-dns

Build Methods

🐳 Docker Recommended

No local Go install required. Produces static binaries for amd64 and arm64 in one command via build.sh.

⚡ Quick Build Go required

One line with a local Go install. Output is dynamically linked — fine for dev use on the same machine.

📦 Static Binary Go required

Fully static, no libc dependency. Copy the binary to any Linux system of the same architecture and it just works.

Requirements

Kernel & Runtime

proc-trace-dns intercepts DNS at the system level. eBPF mode requires kernel 4.4+ with BPF support; raw socket mode works on any kernel 2.6+.

Requirement	Details	Status
Linux kernel 4.4+	Required for eBPF mode (`CONFIG_BPF=y`, default on Ubuntu 16.04+, Fedora 23+, RHEL 8+). Raw socket fallback works on older kernels.	✓ universal
CAP_NET_RAW	Required to observe DNS packets. Run as root or grant capability to the binary with `setcap`.	✓ root / setcap
Go 1.22+	Only needed for from-source build methods. The Docker build uses `golang:1.22-alpine` internally.	✓ optional
Docker	Only needed for the `build.sh` Docker method. Any recent Docker Engine with buildx support works.	✓ optional

Method 1 — Docker

Multi-arch build via `build.sh`

Clones the repo, runs the build inside a golang:1.22-alpine container, and drops two static binaries into ./dist/ — no local Go toolchain needed.

Clone the repo

Gets the source and build script.
Mark build.sh executable and run it

The script handles everything: image pull, cross-compilation, and output.
Find your binary in ./dist/

Copy the right arch binary to /usr/local/bin/.

build.sh — docker cross-compile

# Clone
❯ git clone https://github.com/binRick/proc-trace-dns.git
❯ cd proc-trace-dns

# Build
❯ chmod +x build.sh
❯ ./build.sh
Building proc-trace-dns v0.1.0 ...
  → linux/amd64
  → linux/arm64
Done. Binaries in ./dist/:
  proc-trace-dns-linux-amd64  (5.1 MB)
  proc-trace-dns-linux-arm64  (4.8 MB)

# Install
❯ sudo cp dist/proc-trace-dns-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/proc-trace-dns
❯ proc-trace-dns --version
proc-trace-dns v0.1.0

Method 2 — Quick Build

From source with local Go

If you already have Go installed, this is the fastest path. The resulting binary is dynamically linked but works fine for development and local use.

go build — quick

❯ git clone https://github.com/binRick/proc-trace-dns.git
❯ cd proc-trace-dns
❯ go build -o proc-trace-dns .
❯ sudo ./proc-trace-dns
  (watching all DNS queries system-wide...)

Method 3 — Static Binary

Fully static, zero runtime deps

Disabling CGO and stripping debug symbols produces a self-contained binary you can copy anywhere: another machine, a container, a server with no Go install.

go build — static

❯ CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o proc-trace-dns .

# Confirm: no dynamic libraries
❯ file proc-trace-dns
proc-trace-dns: ELF 64-bit LSB executable, x86-64, statically linked, stripped

# Copy to any amd64 Linux box
❯ scp proc-trace-dns user@server:/usr/local/bin/

Running Without sudo

Grant `CAP_NET_RAW` with `setcap`

Instead of running as root every time, you can grant only the capability the tool actually needs.

setcap — drop root requirement

# Grant the capability (one-time, as root)
❯ sudo setcap cap_net_raw+eip /usr/local/bin/proc-trace-dns

# Verify
❯ getcap /usr/local/bin/proc-trace-dns
/usr/local/bin/proc-trace-dns cap_net_raw=eip

# Now run as a normal user
❯ proc-trace-dns -n curl

Verification

Confirm the build works

A quick sanity-check before deploying.

smoke test

# Print version
❯ proc-trace-dns --version
proc-trace-dns v0.1.0

# Print help
❯ proc-trace-dns -h

# Trace one curl call end-to-end
❯ sudo proc-trace-dns -n curl -- curl -s https://example.com > /dev/null
12345  curl  A  example.com  → 93.184.216.34  1.2ms

Building from Source