How to sign your Azure Public DNS zone with DNSSEC (Preview)

This article shows you how to sign your DNS zone with Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC).

To remove DNSSEC signing from a zone, see How to unsign your Azure Public DNS zone.

Note

DNSSEC zone signing is currently in PREVIEW.
See the Supplemental Terms of Use for Microsoft Azure Previews for legal terms that apply to Azure features that are in beta, preview, or otherwise not yet released into general availability.
This DNSSEC preview is offered without a requirement to enroll in a preview. You can use Cloud Shell to sign or unsign a zone with Azure PowerShell or Azure CLI. Signing a zone by using the Azure portal is available in the next portal update.

Prerequisites

  • The DNS zone must be hosted by Azure Public DNS. For more information, see Manage DNS zones.
  • The parent DNS zone must be signed with DNSSEC. Most major top level domains (.com, .net, .org) are already signed.

Sign a zone with DNSSEC

To protect your DNS zone with DNSSEC, you must first sign the zone. The zone signing process creates a delegation signer (DS) record that must then be added to the parent zone.

To sign your zone with DNSSEC using the Azure portal:

  1. On the Azure portal Home page, search for and select DNS zones.

  2. Select your DNS zone, and then from the zone's Overview page, select DNSSEC. You can select DNSSEC from the menu at the top, or under DNS Management.

    Screenshot of how to select DNSSEC.

  3. Select the Enable DNSSEC checkbox.

    Screenshot of selecting the DNSSEC checkbox.

  4. When you are prompted to confirm that you wish to enable DNSSEC, select OK.

    Screenshot of confirming DNSSEC signing.

  5. Wait for zone signing to complete. After the zone is signed, review the DNSSEC delegation information that is displayed. Notice that the status is: Signed but not delegated.

    Screenshot of a signed zone with DS record missing.

  6. Copy the delegation information and use it to create a DS record in the parent zone.

    1. If the parent zone is a top level domain (for example: .com), you must add the DS record at your registrar. Each registrar has its own process. The registrar might ask for values such as the Key Tag, Algorithm, Digest Type, and Key Digest. In the example shown here, these values are:

      Key Tag: 4535
      Algorithm: 13
      Digest Type: 2
      Digest: 7A1C9811A965C46319D94D1D4BC6321762B632133F196F876C65802EC5089001

      When you provide the DS record to your registrar, the registrar adds the DS record to the parent zone, such as the Top Level Domain (TLD) zone.

    2. If you own the parent zone, you can add a DS record directly to the parent yourself. The following example shows how to add a DS record to the DNS zone adatum.com for the child zone secure.adatum.com when both zones are hosted using Azure Public DNS:

      Screenshot of adding a DS record to the parent zone. Screenshot of a DS record in the parent zone.

    3. If you don't own the parent zone, send the DS record to the owner of the parent zone with instructions to add it into their zone.

  7. When the DS record has been uploaded to the parent zone, select the DNSSEC information page for your zone and verify that Signed and delegation established is displayed. Your DNS zone is now fully DNSSEC signed.

    Screenshot of a fully signed and delegated zone.

Next steps