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Verify DNS Server Recursive Name Resolution on the First Domain Controller in a New Regional Domain

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008

When you install Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), the installation process configures Domain Name System (DNS) server recursive name resolution automatically. If your organization's design specifies a different configuration, you can use DNS Manager or the command-line tool Dnscmd.exe to modify these settings.

Recursive name resolution by using root hints

We recommend that you use root hints for recursive name resolution in a Windows Server 2008 environment because the installation process configures the root hints automatically. Configuration occurs when you specify that the DNS server is the preferred DNS server.

To verify recursive name resolution by using root hints

  1. Log on to the server that hosts the AD DS and DNS server roles.

  2. To open DNS Manager, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.

Note

You can also access DNS Manager by expanding Roles in the console tree in Server Manager.

  1. In the console tree, right-click the domain controller name, and then click Properties.

  2. To view the root hints, in the properties for the domain controller, click the Root Hints tab.

Recursive name resolution by using forwarders

Although we recommend that you use root hints for recursive name resolution in a Windows Server 2008 environment, you can use forwarding instead. Only use forwarders if that is what your design specifies. You can configure an internal DNS server to resolve queries for external names by configuring this DNS server to forward unresolved queries to an external server, such as a server in your perimeter network or one that is hosted by an Internet service provider (ISP).

To verify recursive name resolution by using forwarders

  1. Log on to the server that hosts the AD DS and DNS server roles.

  2. To open DNS Manager, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.

Note

You can also access DNS Manager by expanding Roles in the console tree in Server Manager.

  1. In the console tree, right-click the domain controller name, and then click Properties.

  2. On the Forwarders tab, verify that the IP addresses match the IP addresses that your design specifies.

Note

Only use forwarders if that is what your design specifies.

Note

The forwarders are used in the order in which you configure the IP addresses, regardless of the Internet Protocol (IP) protocol preferences that you have set. For example, if you configure the IPversion 4 (IPv4) IP addresses before you configure the IP version 6 (IPv6) IP addresses, forwarders use the IPv4 addresses first, even though dual-stack computers generally prefer IPv6 addresses.

For more information about DNS forwarders, see Using Forwarders to Manage DNS Servers (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=93659).