Disable systemd-resolved in Ubuntu | How to guide

Disable systemd-resolved in Ubuntu with guidance from our in-house experts.

At Bobcares, we welcome queries, big and small as a part of our Server Management Service.

Let’s take a look at how our Support Team helped a customer disable their systemd-resolved in Ubuntu recently.

What is systemd-resolved in Ubuntu?

The systemd-resolved works like a systemd based DNS proxy system. It comes with intelligent request handling from a DNS server and a D-BUS.

This is done via a single localhost address in the /etc/resolv.conf file.

In fact, it is a system service that offers network name resolution to local applications. It sets in place a caching and validating DNS/DNSSEC stub resolver. Furthermore, it also sets up an LLMNR as well as a MulticastDNS responder and resolver.

Performance issues are one of the reasons why customers sometimes request us to help them disable the service.

How to disable systemd-resolved in Ubuntu?

According to our Support Engineers, the following steps will disable the service in Ubuntu:

1. First, run these commands to disable systemd-resolved:

   ubuntu@laptop:~$ sudo systemctl disable systemd-resolved.service
   ubuntu@laptop:~$ sudo service systemd-resolved stop

2. Then, open the NetworkManager configuration file located at /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf. Next, modify or add a new dns key as seen below:

   [main] 
   dns=default

3. After that, remove the /etc/resolv.conf file with the following command:

   ubuntu@laptop:~$ sudo rm /etc/resolv.conf

4. Then, run this command to restart the NetworkManager:

   ubuntu@laptop:~$ sudo service network-manager restart

5. Finally, verify that the /etc/resolv.conf file has been recreated by the NetworkManager. Also ensure it has the DNS entries that match the network configuration:

   ubuntu@laptop:~$ cat /etc/resolv.conf # Generated by NetworkManager search example.com nameserver 10.10.0.1 nameserver 10.10.0.2 ubuntu@laptop:~$

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Conclusion

To sum up, the skilled Support Engineers at Bobcares demonstrated how to disable Disable systemd-resolved in Ubuntu without too much trouble.