In this article

After adding a site to the DNSFilter dashboard, it is best practice to configure DNS Forwarding on one computer to test the policy settings and check for conflicts. Follow this article to complete the test. 

When this test is successful, you can feel confident rolling out DNS Forwarding on your entire network.

Set DNS traffic to DNSFilter IPs

In order to test that DNS Forwarding is filtering correctly, DNS traffic needs to point to the DNSFilter IP addresses on the device. This can be done from the device's DNS settings or using commands. 

MacOS

Input the IP addresses through System Settings or by using the command in Terminal. 

• 1. From System Settings search "DNS"
  2. Select DNS Domains
  3. Under DNS Servers select the + icon. Enter 103.247.36.36
  4. Select the + icon again and enter 103.247.37.37
  5. Select OK

  DNS traffic now points to DNSFilter's servers. Continue below to complete the test.

• Enter this command in Terminal:

  
    #Use below line for Wi-Fi adapter
    networksetup -setdnsservers Wi-Fi
    103.247.36.36 103.247.37.37
  
    #Use below line for Ethernet adapter
    networksetup -setdnsservers Ethernet
    103.247.36.36 103.247.37.37
  
    #Confirm change with
    scutil --dns | grep nameserver
  

Windows

Input the IP addresses through Settings or by using the command in PowerShell. 

• These steps are for devices running Windows 10. See Microsoft's TCP/IP settings documentation for other OS versions.

  1. From the Windows Start Menu, navigate to Settings and select Network & Internet
  2. Under Advanced network settings, select Change adapter options
     ✍️ If this option isn't visible select Status from the sidebar
  3. Right-click on the connected Wi-Fi or Ethernet adapter and select Properties
  4. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
  5. Select Properties
  6. Select Use the following DNS server addresses. Enter 103.247.36.36 and 103.247.37.37
  7. Select OK

  DNS traffic now points to DNSFilter's servers. Continue below to complete the test.

• Enter this command in PowerShell:

  
  #Use below line for Wi-Fi adapter
  Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias Wi-Fi -ServerAddresses "103.247.36.36","103.247.37.37"
  
  #Use below line for Ethernet adapter
  Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias Ethernet -ServerAddresses "103.247.36.36","103.247.37.37"
  
  #Confirm change with
  Get-NetIPConfiguration

Chromebook

Follow these steps to add custom name servers on a Google Chromebook.

1. From the Chromebook Settings, navigate to Network and select Wi-Fi
2. Select the name of the Wi-Fi network to update
3. Expand the Wi-Fi network by selecting the dropdown menu icon
4. Toggle Name Servers to Custom name servers
5. Enter 103.247.36.36 and 103.247.37.37 on separate lines
6. Press Tab after entering the second IP address to save both entries. Closing the window without this step will only save the first address
7. Close the Settings window

DNS traffic from this Wi-Fi network now points to DNSFilter's servers. Continue below to complete the test.

Linux

Enter this command in Terminal:

  #Backup current resolv.conf
  sudocp/etc/resolv.conf/etc/resolv.conf.bak

  #Set DNSFilter nameservers
  echo-e"nameserver103.247.36.36\nnameserver103.247.37.37"|sudotee/etc/resolv.conf

Test in a browser

Test the Filtering Policy after the DNS IP addresses are set to confirm it’s working correctly. Follow these steps to complete the test. 

1. Verify the policy is active and filtering the desired categories by visiting debug.dnsfilter.com
2. Attempt to browse to a well-known domain that is allowed by your policy (i.e., google.com)
3. Attempt to visit a domain on your policy Block List in Incognito Mode

If everything works as expected, continue below to reverse the DNS settings to remove DNSFilter's IP addresses from the device.

If any test fails, see our DNS forwarding connection troubleshooting guide to work through common issues. 

Remove DNSFilter IPs from device settings

Leaving the DNSFilter IP addresses in the device's DNS settings can break the connection to local devices like printers, computers, or servers. 

Navigate through the same steps used to enter the IPs and delete the entries to reset the settings. 

You're now ready to deploy DNSFilter on your entire network. See the article on configuring your network for a walkthrough of common scenarios to complete the DNS Forwarding deployment.