Use of dnsmasq for caching nameserver

[Gene Czarcinski <gene czarc net>]

I was having some problems with libvirt's usage of dnsmasq (the command 
line parameters libvirtd was using).  Too many queries were being 
forwarded.  I have submitted a patch to libvirt for their part of the 
problem but dnsmasq is still leaking some queries that I believe should 
not be forwarded (not that bind/named is any better).  While on the 
dnsmasq discussion list, I noticed that some patches had been submitted 
by Dan WIlliams to make NetworkManager's use of dnsmasq work better.

So, this got me interested and a little searching of the NetworkManager 
mailing list and the rpm changelog showed that there was already at 
least some support in NetworkManager for dnsmasq.

1.  Is it already in use?  I am running "current" Fedora 17 and a "ps 
ax" shows no "extra" dnsmasq ... just all the ones for my virtual networks.

2.  I also noticed that the NetworkManager dnsmasq is listening on 
127.0.0.1.  This could be a problem if the user (such as myself) wants 
to run a dnsmasq listening on 127.0.0.1.

3.  Will use of dnsmasq be optional and configurable?

4. I noticed that you have all the paramters specified in the software.  
Based on my experience with libvirt, this makes it difficult to test any 
needed parameter changes.  Suggention:  have you considered having your 
own conf file and then specifying "--conf-file=<wherever>" in the software?

5.  Let me add that I believe choosing dnsmasq for the caching 
nameserver is a good choice.  On the whole it works well and is not all 
that complicated.

Gene