inwx-cli

inwx-cli

inwx-cli is a powerful command-line interface for managing DNS records and domains through the INWX DomRobot API. It provides an intuitive way to create, update, delete, and backup DNS records with built-in safety features and multiple output formats.

Features

• Complete DNS Management: Create, update, delete, and list DNS records with full type support (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, etc.).
• Interactive Mode: Guided DNS record creation with prompts, validation, and preview.
• DNS Validation: Analyze DNS configurations for common issues (orphaned CNAMEs, missing targets, RFC violations).
• DNS Verification: Verify DNS propagation across multiple resolvers with real-time status updates.
• Backup & Recovery: Automatic backup of all DNS operations with rollback capability.
• Batch Operations: Update multiple records simultaneously.
• Multiple Output Formats: Table, JSON, YAML, and CSV output formats.
• Bulk Operations: Filter and operate on multiple records using wildcards and patterns.
• Import/Export: Backup domains as JSON or zonefile format.
• Safety Features: Dry-run mode, confirmation prompts, and operation limits.
• Flexible Configuration: TOML configuration files with XDG directory support and environment variables.
• Cross-Platform: Binaries available for Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Installation

Pre-compiled Binaries

Download the latest pre-compiled binaries for your platform from the Releases page.

Extract the archive and place the inwx binary in a directory included in your system's PATH.

Configuration

Create a configuration file at ~/.config/inwx/inwx.toml:

[api]
username = "your_username"
password = "your_password"
endpoint = "https://api.domrobot.com/jsonrpc/"
test_mode = false

[output]
format = "table"
colors = true

[logging]
level = "warn"
colors = true

Instead of, or in addition to, the config file, you can also use environment variables or command-line flags.

Available environment variables:

• INWX_USERNAME - API username
• INWX_PASSWORD - API password
• INWX_ENDPOINT - API endpoint URL
• INWX_CONFIG - Path to config file
• INWX_TIMEOUT - Request timeout in seconds (default: 30)

Usage

DNS Record Management

Creating Records

Interactive Mode:

The easiest way to create DNS records is using interactive mode, which guides you through the process with prompts and validation:

# Start interactive mode (auto-starts when no arguments provided)
inwx dns create

# Or explicitly enable interactive mode
inwx dns create --interactive

Interactive mode will:

• Prompt for hostname (e.g., www.example.com or example.com for root record)
• Let you select the record type from a list (A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SRV, CAA)
• Request content with type-specific help text and validation
• Ask for TTL (default: 3600 seconds)
• Request priority for MX and SRV records
• Show a preview of the record before creation
• Ask for confirmation before creating
• Optionally wait for DNS propagation verification

Command-Line Mode:

You can also create records directly using flags:

# Create an A record
inwx dns create -d example.com -t A -n www -c 192.168.1.100

# Create an MX record with priority
inwx dns create -d example.com -t MX -n @ -c mail.example.com --prio 10

# Create a CNAME record
inwx dns create -d example.com -t CNAME -n blog -c www.example.com

# Create a TXT record for SPF
inwx dns create -d example.com -t TXT -n @ -c "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all"

# Preview changes before creating (dry-run mode)
inwx dns create -d example.com -t A -n test -c 192.168.1.100 --dry-run

Listing Records

# List records across all domains
inwx dns list

# List all records for a domain
inwx dns list -d example.com

# List specific record types
inwx dns list -d example.com -t A,AAAA

# List records by name pattern
inwx dns list -d example.com -n "mail*" --wildcard

# Output as JSON
inwx dns list -d example.com -o json

Updating Records

# Update a record by ID
inwx dns update --id 12345 -c 192.168.1.200

# Update TTL and content
inwx dns update --id 12345 -c 192.168.1.200 --ttl 7200

# Preview changes before updating (dry-run mode)
inwx dns update --id 12345 -c 192.168.1.200 --dry-run

# Batch update multiple records at once (more efficient)
inwx dns update --ids 12345,12346,12347 --ttl 3600

Deleting Records

# Delete by record ID
inwx dns delete --id 12345

# Delete by FQDN (domain and name inferred automatically)
inwx dns delete www.example.com

# Delete multiple records by pattern
inwx dns delete -d example.com -n "test*" --wildcard

# Delete with confirmation (dry-run first)
inwx dns delete -d example.com -t TXT --dry-run
inwx dns delete -d example.com -t TXT --yes

Backup and Export

Export Domain Records

# Export domain as JSON
inwx dns export -d example.com -f json -o example.com.json

# Export as zonefile
inwx dns export -d example.com -f zonefile -o example.com.zone

# Export all domains to directory
inwx dns export --output-dir ./backups -f json

Import Records (Work in Progress)

# Import from JSON file
inwx dns import -f example.com.json -d example.com --format json

# Import with sync (delete records not in file)
inwx dns import -f example.com.json -d example.com --delete --dry-run

Backup Management

# List recent backup entries
inwx backup list

# List backups for specific domain
inwx backup list -d example.com

# Revert a DNS operation
inwx backup revert <backup-id>

# Clean up old backups
inwx backup purge --older-than 30d

Domain Management

# List all domains
inwx domain list

# Show account information
inwx account info

DNS Validation

Validate your DNS configuration for common issues and best practices:

# Validate all domains
inwx dns validate

# Validate specific domain
inwx dns validate -d example.com

# Show only errors and warnings (hide info messages)
inwx dns validate -d example.com --severity warning

# Validation checks include:
# - Orphaned CNAME records pointing to non-existent targets
# - Missing MX/NS/SRV record targets
# - CNAME conflicts (RFC 1034 violations)
# - Common best practices (root record, www subdomain)
# - Unusual TTL values

DNS Verification

Verify that your DNS changes have propagated to public DNS servers:

# Verify all records for a domain
inwx dns verify -d example.com

# Verify specific hostnames
inwx dns verify www.example.com mail.example.com

# Wait for propagation (up to timeout)
inwx dns verify -d example.com --wait --timeout 300

# Verify specific record types
inwx dns verify -d example.com -t A,AAAA

# The command checks:
# - Record existence on authoritative nameservers
# - Propagation to multiple public DNS resolvers (Google, Cloudflare, Quad9)
# - Consistency across resolvers
# - Time to propagation

Advanced Usage

Bulk Operations with Filters

# Delete all test records
inwx dns delete -n "test*" --wildcard --max 50

# List records with specific content
inwx dns list -c "192.168.1.*" --wildcard

# List records with specific TTL
inwx dns list -d example.com --ttl 300

# List records with specific priority
inwx dns list -d example.com --prio 10

# Update TTL for multiple A records in one batch operation
inwx dns list -d example.com -t A -o json | jq -r '.[].id | @csv' | tr -d '"' | xargs -I {} inwx dns update --ids {} --ttl 3600

Different Output Formats

# Table format (default)
inwx dns list -d example.com

# JSON format
inwx dns list -d example.com -o json

# YAML format
inwx dns list -d example.com -o yaml

# CSV format for spreadsheets
inwx dns list -d example.com -o csv > records.csv

Using Test Environment

# Use INWX test environment
inwx --test dns list

# Or set in config file
[api]
test_mode = true

Building from Source

Prerequisites:

• Go 1.21 or later
• Make (optional, for using the Makefile)

Steps:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/nmeilick/inwx-cli.git
   cd inwx-cli
   

2. Build using Make:

   make build
   # Binary will be created as 'build/inwx'
   

3. Build using Go:

   go build -o inwx ./cmd/inwx
   

4. Install dependencies:

   make deps
   

5. Build distribution binaries:

   make dist
   

Configuration File Locations

inwx-cli looks for configuration files in the following order:

1. --config flag path
2. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/inwx/inwx.toml (usually ~/.config/inwx/inwx.toml)
3. ./inwx.toml (current directory)

Safety Features

• Automatic Backups: All DNS operations are automatically backed up and can be reverted.
• Dry-Run Mode: Use --dry-run on create, update, and delete operations to preview changes before applying them.
• DNS Validation: Proactively detect configuration issues before they cause problems.
• DNS Verification: Confirm propagation of changes to public DNS servers.
• Confirmation Prompts: Interactive confirmation for destructive operations.
• Operation Limits: Built-in limits prevent accidental bulk deletions.
• Detailed Logging: Configurable logging levels

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.