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Set Aging and Scavenging Properties for a Zone

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

The DNS Server service supports aging and scavenging features. These features are provided as a mechanism for performing cleanup and removal of stale resource records, which can accumulate in zone data over time. You can use this procedure to set the aging and scavenging properties for a specific zone.

Membership in the Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at Local and Domain Default Groups (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477).

Setting aging and scavenging properties for a zone

  • Using the Windows interface

  • Using a command line

To set aging and scavenging properties for a zone using the Windows interface

  1. Open DNS Manager.

  2. In the console tree, right-click the applicable zone, and then click Properties.

  3. On the General tab, click Aging.

  4. Select the Scavenge stale resource records check box.

  5. Modify other aging and scavenging properties as needed.

Additional considerations

  • To open DNS Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.

To set aging and scavenging properties for a zone using a command line

  1. Open a command prompt.

  2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    dnscmd <ServerName> /Config <ZoneName> {/Aging <Value>|/RefreshInterval <Value>|/NoRefreshInterval <Value>}
Parameter Description

dnscmd

Specifies the name of the command-line tool for managing DNS servers.

<ServerName>

Required. Specifies the Domain Name System (DNS) host name of the DNS server. You can also type the IP address of the DNS server. To specify the DNS server on the local computer, you can also type a period (.)

/Config

Required. Specifies that the command configures the specified zone.

<ZoneName>

Required. Specifies the name of the zone to which you want to set aging and scavenging.

/Aging

Required. Enables aging for zones.

/RefreshInterval

Required. Specifies the Refresh interval for a scavenging-enabled zone.

/NoRefreshInterval

Required. Specifies the No-refresh interval for a scavenging-enabled zone.

<Value>

Required. For /Aging, type 1 to enable aging. Type 0 to disable aging. For /RefreshInterval, type a value in hours. The default setting is 168 hours (one week). For /NoRefreshInterval, type a value in seconds. The standard setting is 3600 (one hour).

To view the complete syntax for this command, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

dnscmd /Config /help

Additional considerations

  • To open an elevated Command Prompt window, click Start, point to All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

Additional references