1. Getting Started with OpenDNS Enterprise
Prelaunch checklist and other technical resources

2. Getting Started with OpenDNS Enterprise
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Prelaunch Checklist
1. Determine the primary egress points for external DNS traffic across your network. Depending on your
network configuration, this could be DHCP in your Aruba controller, router/gateway or Internal DNS Server.
If you’re using your own internal DNS Server, you’ll need to note whether it’s a Window, Mac, BIND or
Unix/Linux based server.
2. To configure OpenDNS Enterprise settings, you will need to add your network’s public IP Addresses or
CIDR blocks to your account. We recommend creating a list of your network IP Addresses or CIDR blocks
with identifiable labels to use as a reference when adding networks to your account.
• For example:
• 208.67.220.0/24, Corporate Headquarters
• 208.67.222.222, Branch Office West
3. Do any of your networks have dynamic IP addresses? If so, please create a second list of networks with
dynamic IP addresses.
• For example:
i. 208.67.222.222, Branch Office (West), Dynamic
4. Do you run your own mail server? If so, your ability to send email to filtered domains may be impacted. If
your mail server has a unique external IP address, please add your mail server’s public IP address to your
Network List and configure the outbound SMTP service to use OpenDNS directly. Be sure to avoid applying
filtering settings to your mail network as this may result in the mail being undelivered. We’ll dive into a
deeper discussion to mail server setup with OpenDNS in the next few weeks.
• For example:
i. 208.67.222.220, primary mail server
5. OpenDNS cannot “see” your private network, so OpenDNS cannot resolve intranet domains or internal
requests for printers, network shares, etc. To avoid any problems reaching these internal resources, there
are two steps.
• First, if you run an internal DNS server, forward only external DNS requests to OpenDNS,
continuing to resolve local domains locally. http://store.opendns.com/setup/server/
• Second, leave Non-existent Domain Redirection disabled under the Customization settings for your
networks.
• Optionally, you may add your domains and hostnames to the Typo Exceptions list under Advanced
Settings.
6. Who should have administrative rights to your account and what level of access should they have?
• With OpenDNS Enterprise you can set different levels of access within your account. Delegating
administration of a network to a user enables that user to access details of the network based on
the user’s permissions. OpenDNS Enterprise networks can have multiple users with varying
permissions ranging from Read-Only to Read/Write/Grant. For more information, please visit
http://www.opendns.com/support/article/71

3. Useful Commands and Resources
1. How to determine your public IP Address for your DNS queries. OpenDNS applies filtering settings based
the public IP address of your network. If you are assigned a single IP address, you can visit
http://myip.dnsomatic.com to determine your public IP address. If you are unsure, contact your ISP to
determine what your IP address is.
2. Once you’ve properly configured your network to use OpenDNS, you’ll need to verify that your network is
receiving responses from OpenDNS. The easiest way to test connectivity is to visit
http://welcome.opendns.com.
3. After you’ve configured your security and filtering settings in your OpenDNS Enterprise account, you’ll
want to verify that filtering is working appropriately. If you’ve enabled blocking of the category “Social
networking”, when you try to visit http://facebook.com you should be redirected to a block page.
4. Whether you’re changing your DNS configurations on your computer, your gateway or your DNS server, the
first step after making any change should be to clear out your DNS cache.
a. We recommend clearing the DNS cache of the Internet browser, computer and servers after setting
or adjusting OpenDNS filtering settings. We maintain a list of commands to flush your DNS cache
in the OpenDNS Knowledge Base http://www.opendns.com/support/article/22
b. If you are operating in an environment with a local DNS server, be sure to clear the DNS server’s
cache.