TKEY (transaction key) is a record type of the Domain Name System (DNS). TKEY resource records (RRs) can be used in a number of different modes to establish shared keys between a DNS resolver and name server.
TKEY record format + TKEY resource record fields Field Description Length (octets) NAME Key name, which must be unique on client and server Variable TYPE TKEY (249) 2 CLASS 2 TTL 4 RDLENGTH Length of RDATA field 2 RDATA Variable-length structure containing the timestamp, algorithm, mode, hash data and error Variable, as per RDLENGTH
Mode field values 0 – Reserved 1 – Server assignment 2 – Diffie–Hellman key exchange 3 – Generic Security Service Algorithm for Secret Key Transaction 4 – Resolver assignment 5 – Key deletion 6–65534 – Available 65535 – Reserved
See also Domain Name System List of DNS record types
References , "Secret Key Establishment for DNS (TKEY RR)", D. Eastlake, September 2000