DNSTasks |
can be opened by either:Start
DNSCommand line
the command line using the following utilities found in
DEPLOY.CAB in the
\SUPPORT\TOOLS folder on your product CD:
- Dnscmd
Particularly useful for scripted administration of DNS servers- DNSLint
Can be used to diagnose and repair problems caused by missing or
incorrect DNS records in a domain environment
Install DNS Manually
On a standalone server,
first
open the TCP/IP Properties sheet for your Local Area Connection,
assign your server a static IP address, and specify the
server's own IP address as its preferred DNS server.
Then install the DNS service using Add or Remove Programs in Control
Panel. Finally, configure your new name server by creating forward-
and reverse-lookup zones; adding A, PTR, or other records to your
zones; configuring zone transfers with other DNS servers; and so on.
These tasks are described later in this section.
Install DNS Using Wizard
Start
be the first server in your
forest, select Typical Setup for a First Server as the role and
follow the prompts. The wizard suggests a DNS name of the form
organization.local for your root domain, where
organization is the company name you specified
when you installed WS2003 on your machine. The wizard also creates
the necessary forward- and reverse-lookup zones automatically and
allows you to specify the IP address of your ISP's
name server as a forwarder for resolving hosts on the Internet.If your server will be a standalone name server, select DNS Server as
the role, and the Configure a DNS Server Wizard leads you through the
process of creating forward- and reverse-lookup zones for your
domain. If you abort the wizard, DNS is installed, but you have to
create your zones manually using the DNS console.
Create a Forward-Lookup Zone
Right-click on Forward Lookup Zones
path through the wizard depends on the type
of zone you create and whether Active Directory is installed. On
standalone servers the process is simple. For example, to create a
primary zone:Primary zone
involved. For example, to create a primary zone:Primary zone
will perform zone transfers with and can be forestwide, domainwide,
domain controllers only, or an Active Directory partition. The
default is all domain controllers in the local domain.Secondary zones aren't stored in Active Directory,
so the procedure is the same as for standalone servers. Stub zones
may or may not be stored in Active Directory as desired.
Create a Reverse-Lookup Zone
Right-click on Reverse Lookup Zones
forward-lookup zone, except instead of
specifying a zone name, you specify a network ID, and the wizard
automatically creates the name for the zone in the standard
in-addr.arpa format. For example, if you specify
172.16.13 as the network ID, the reverse-lookup zone is automatically
named 13.16.172.in-addr.arpa .
Convert a Zone
You can convert a zone from one
type
to anotherfor example, from primary to secondaryby:Right-click on zone
only if the name server is a domain controller.
Configure Zone Transfer/Replication
To manually configure zone
transfer:Right-click on zone
are allowed only for name servers listed on the Name Servers tab. If
desired, you can instead specify IP addresses of servers allowed to
request zone transfers or allow any server to request a zone
transfer, which is a security risk. By default, your name server also
notifies all servers on the Name Servers tab when updates are
available. Additional configuration of zone transfer can be performed
using the Start of Authority (SOA) tab, where you can specify:
- Refresh interval
This specifies how often a secondary name server contacts its master
name server for zone updates, which by default is every 15 minutes.- Retry interval
This specifies how long a secondary server waits before attempting to
contact a master name server after a failed attempt at contacting it,
which by default is every 10 minutes.- Expire interval
This specifies how long the secondary server retries before it stops
responding to client requests for name resolution, as the second
server's DNS information is probably out-of-date.
The default is one day.- Minimum TTL
This specifies the amount of time during which the DNS server caches
information it receives from other name servers in response to a
recursive query it issues. Making the TTL smaller makes the DNS
database information more consistent across the various DNS servers
for the zone, but it also increases DNS network traffic and the load
on the DNS servers. WS2003 DNS servers can also cache negative
responses to name-query requests.
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is configured differently for Active Directory-integrated zones:Right-click on zone
servers that don't use Active Directory-integrated
zones.
Force Zone Transfer/Replication
To force a name server to update a secondary zone from a master name
server:Right-click on secondary zone
instead of an incremental one. To force a master name server to
notify its secondary name servers that they should contact it to
initiate a zone transfer:Right-click on a zone
server, indicating to secondary servers that the zone has been
updated and that they should initiate a zone transfer with the
primary.If you are using Active Directory-integrated zones exclusively (that
is, all your DNS servers are domain controllers), you can force a
zone transfer with another DNS server by forcing Active Directory
replication to occur. To do this, open Active Directory Sites and
Services from Administrative Tools and expand the following nodes in
the console tree:Root node
link to the DNS server that you want to immediately replicate, and
select
Replicate Now.
Add a Resource Record
You can manually create
resource records in a zone by
right-clicking on a zone and specifying one of the following:
- New Host
Creates an A record for a host. This option is available only for
forward-lookup zones, and you can optionally create an associated PTR
record simultaneously.- New Pointer
Creates a PTR record for a host. This option is available only for
reverse-lookup zones.- New Alias
Creates a CNAME record to map an alias to a host.- New Mail Exchanger
Creates an MX record for an SMTP mail-forwarding host.- Other New Records
Lets you create any type of resource record (use this mainly to
create NS records).
Once you create a resource record, you can modify it by:Select zone
Create a Subdomain
Right-click on zone
zone is authoritative for the
mtit.com domain, you can create a subdomain
called sales within the same zone. You need to
specify only the name sales for the new
subdomain, not the full name sales.mtit.com .
Creating subdomains is a way of adding structure to the DNS namespace
of your company.
Configure a Forwarder
To configure a name server
to forward queries that
can't be resolved locally to a different name server
(that is, to a forwarder):Right-click on DNS server
one is contacted within the specified forward time-out period. When a
DNS server configured to use a forwarder receives a name query that
it can't resolve itself, it sends the query to the
forwarder to handle. If the forwarder can't resolve
the name, it returns a failure message to the original DNS server.
The original DNS server can then either:
- Simply pass the failure message to the client that issued the query
(i.e., iterative behavior) - Attempt to resolve the query itself from its own zone information
(i.e., recursive behavior)
To choose the first option, on the Forwarders tab of the DNS
server's properties sheet, select the checkbox
"Do not use recursion." This makes
your DNS server simply send all queries to the forwarder.
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Configure a Caching-Only Name Server
Simply install the DNS Server service on a WS2003 machine and
don't configure any forward- or reverse-lookup zones
on it!
Configure Scavenging
Right-click on DNS server
resource
records from the DNS database. This is important if you are using
dynamic updates to maintain your DNS database. For example, if a DNS
client configured to use dynamic updates shuts down improperly (for
example, by turning the power off or removing the cable from its
network card), the DNS server is not aware that the client is gone
and still resolves names directed toward the client. If the client
shuts down smoothly, its resource records are deleted from the DNS
database when dynamic updates are used.You can manually initiate scavenging by:Right-click on DNS server
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Monitor a DNS Server
WS2003 DNS servers can
perform
self-monitoring actions on a scheduled basis to ensure they are
functioning properly. To configure monitoring:Right-click on DNS server
querying any other name servers. Selecting recursive query means that
your DNS server can recursively query other name servers if
necessary, which is a more complex test to perform and interpret. You
can also click Test Now to perform a test manually. Test results are
PASS or FAIL.
Specify Boot Method
Right-click on DNS server
possibilities:
- From registry
The default on WS2003 when Active Directory-integrated zones
aren't used.- From file
The option to store your name server configuration information in a
boot file, an ASCII text file that uses BIND 4 format. You
don't need this file for DNS on WS2003, but if you
are importing your DNS information from an existing BIND 4.x.x name
server, you can port the boot file from the BIND server to the WS2003
name server and then specify the setting described earlier.- From Active Directory and registry
The default on WS2003 domain controllers.
Update Server Datafiles
At predefined update
intervals, DNS servers automatically
write changes in standard primary zones to their associated zone
files on the server's disk. This information is also
written to disk when a DNS server is shut down. To immediately write
changes in standard primary zones to their associated zone files on
the server's disk:Right-click DNS server
information is written immediately to Active Directorythe
Update Server Data Files option has no effect for these zones.
Clear the DNS Server Cache
Right-click on DNS server
resolved names from the server cache. The
server cache contains information received from other name servers in
response to recursive queries it has issued. You might clear the
server cache after you manually modify existing resource records
within a zone (for example, if servers had their IP addresses
changed). This will ensure that DNS clients querying the server will
have names resolved from zone data and not from a stale server cache.
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Configure DNS Clients
The procedure you will use
to
configure client computers to contact DNS servers for name resolution
depends on the type of operating system on the client and whether
DHCP or static IP addressing is used. The actual steps will vary,
depending on which version of Microsoft Windows your clients are
running, but some general guidelines are as follows.
Clients Using Static Addresses
Configure the following information on the client computer:
- Specify the IP address of the primary (and possibly a secondary) DNS
server. - Specify a list of DNS suffixes that should be appended to unqualified
DNS names to try to resolve them (optional). - Enable the client to register its IP address with the DNS server
using DNS dynamic updates (W2K/2003/XP clients only).
On W2K/2003/XP clients, dynamic updates are configured by default.
Clients Using DHCP
Configure the following information on the client computer:
- Enable DHCP on the client.
- Enable dynamic updates on the client by selecting the checkbox to
register the connection's addresses in DNS
(W2K/2003/XP clients only).
Configure the following information on the DHCP server:
- Specify the IP addresses of primary and alternate DNS servers with
DHCP option 6. - If desired, specify a list of DNS suffixes that should be appended to
unqualified DNS names to try to resolve them. Only one suffix can be
assigned using DHCP option 15; others have to be manually assigned at
the client.
New to WS2003 is the fact that Group Policy now lets you configure
DNS on W2K/2003/XP clients by enabling/disabling dynamic updates,
specifying a DNS suffix, and so on. These new policy settings are
found under Computer Configuration
Templates
Enable Dynamic Updates
To allow a zone to be
automatically
updated by dynamic updates:Right-click on a zone
Nonsecure and Secure (not recommended). For Active
Directory-integrated zones you have a third option, Secure Only,
which is the default and is recommended. Once you enable dynamic
updates on the name server, you also need to enable it on the client.
W2K/2003/XP clients belonging to a Windows 2003/2000 domain and using
DHCP are configured to use dynamic updates by default. This can be
toggled on or off by:Right-click on My Network Places
with the DNS server every 24 hours or when a DHCP lease is renewed, a
new lease is obtained, the TCP/IP configuration on the client
changes, an IP address is added or removed for a static adapter, or a
Plug and Play event occurs. If a DHCP lease expires, the client also
deregisters its A record with DNS servers. You can force a client to
reregister its A record with DNS servers with
ipconfig /registerdns at the
command line on the client. With NT clients that use DHCP to perform
dynamic updates, use ipconfig
/release and ipconfig
/renew instead.
Preload Resolver Cache
You can speed up name
queries to
frequently accessed hosts by preloading the client resolver cache. On
WS2003 clients, for example, open the Hosts file
located in %SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\etc and
add hostname-to-IP-address mappings using the format outlined in the
file. When the client tries to resolve a name, it tries its local
resolver cache first; if this fails, it then contacts a name server.
You can verify that these entries have been preloaded into the client
cache by using the ipconfig
/displaydns command from a command prompt on the
client. The downside of this procedure is that name-resolution data
on your clients could become stale if you make changes to your server
infrastructure often.
Flush the Resolver Cache
On a DNS client you can
flush the
contents of the resolver cache (the cached responses from a name
query the client issued) using ipconfig
/flushdns at the command line. You can do this if
its contents become stale (for example, after you modify existing
records on DNS servers).
View the Resolver Cache
In order to see what
information is
stored in the resolver cache on a DNS client, type
ipconfig /displaydns at
the command line. This displays both:
- Information received from name servers in response to recently issued
name queries by the client - Preloaded hostname-to-IP-address mappings from the
client's local Hosts file
The entries in the cache age and expire when the TTLs associated with
their records on the name server expire (entries in
Hosts don't expire).