How to setup local DNS server on MacOS

1. brew install dnsmasq - install dnsmasq, a lightweight DNS server
2. edit /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf

• uncomment no-resolv for prevent looking in /etc/resolv.conf
• add server=8.8.8.8 and server=8.8.4.4 for addining Google's public DNS as a fallback
• add address address=/my-custom-domain.com/127.0.0.1 so all requests to the my-custom-domain.com and its subdomains will be forwarded to the 127.0.0.1

3. sudo brew services start dnsmasq - run dnsmasq as a service, so that it will work after restarting OS
4. change the settings of your current connection to use the local DNS server

• open Network Preferences
• select your current internet connection, for example Wi-Fi
• open Advanced... settings
• at the DNS tab add the 127.0.0.1 as a first DNS server

Now all your DNS requests will go through the local DNS server dnsmasq and then asked from the Google's public DNS servers 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4

Why not to use the /etc/hosts

The /etc/hosts doesn't allow us to use a wildcard DNS rule. For example I want to forward requests from all subdomains of my-custom-domain.com to the 127.0.0.1. I can't do this, the *.my-custom-domain.com 127.0.0.1 doesn't work.