Identity

Unit: dnsmasq.service
Config: /etc/dnsmasq.conf, /etc/dnsmasq.d/ (drop-in directory)
Logs: journalctl -u dnsmasq, /var/log/dnsmasq.log (if log-facility set)
Leases: /var/lib/misc/dnsmasq.leases
Distro install: apt install dnsmasq / dnf install dnsmasq

Key Operations

Operation	Command
Status	`systemctl status dnsmasq`
Reload (re-reads config, leases)	`sudo systemctl reload dnsmasq`
Restart	`sudo systemctl restart dnsmasq`
Test config syntax	`dnsmasq --test`
Test config with explicit file	`dnsmasq --test -C /etc/dnsmasq.conf`
View active config (compiled)	`dnsmasq --test --conf-file=/etc/dnsmasq.conf 2>&1`
Check listening ports	`ss -ulnp \| grep dnsmasq; ss -tlnp \| grep dnsmasq`
Query DNS via dnsmasq	`dig @127.0.0.1 example.com`

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