1. Package installation

The following commands install unbound, backup your DNS configuration, and tell the system to use the local resolver:

# zypper install unbound
# cp /etc/resolv.conf /etc/resolv.conf.backup
# echo nameserver 127.0.0.1 > /etc/resolv.conf

2. Lock changes in

To avoid unwanted configuration changed (for example by the DHCP client):

# chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf

3. QNAME minimisation

The latest versions of unbound have qname-minimisation enabled by default. However, it is advisable to verify this setting, as older versions did not enable it automatically.

To check and configure it, open the unbound configuration file, located at /etc/unbound/unbound.conf, look for the following entry and change it if necessary:

server:
    ...
    qname-minimisation: yes
    ...

If the setting is missing, it should still be enabled by default. The Unbound resolver you just installed also does DNSSEC validation.

4. Start the service

To enable and start the unbound service, run:

# systemctl enable --now unbound

If you are running systemd-resolved with its stub listener, you may need to do a bit more than just that. Please refer to the resolved.conf manpage.