Configure Name Resolution for a Federation Server Proxy in a DNS Zone That Serves Only the Perimeter Network
Applies To: Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 2.0
So that name resolution can work successfully for a federation server in an Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 2.0 scenario in which one or more Domain Name System (DNS) zones serve only the perimeter network, the following tasks must be completed:
The hosts file on the federation server proxy must be updated to add the IP address of a federation server.
DNS in the perimeter network must be configured to resolve all client requests for the AD FS 2.0 host name to the federation server proxy. To do this, you add a host (A) resource record to perimeter DNS for the federation server proxy.
Note
These procedures assume that a host (A) resource record for the federation server has already been created in the corporate network DNS. If this record does not yet exist, create this record, and then perform these procedures. For more information about how to create the host (A) resource record for the federation server, see Add a Host (A) Resource Record to Corporate DNS for a Federation Server.
Add the IP address of a federation server to the hosts file
So that a federation server proxy can work as expected in the perimeter network of an account partner, you must add an entry to the hosts file on that federation server proxy that points to a federation server's DNS host name (for example, fs.fabrikam.com) and IP address (for example, 192.168.1.4) in the corporate network of the account partner. Adding this entry to the hosts file prevents the federation server proxy from contacting itself to resolve a client-initiated call to a federation server in the account partner.
Membership in Administrators, or equivalent, on the local computer 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).
To add the IP address of a federation server to the hosts file
Navigate to the %systemroot%\Winnt\System32\Drivers directory folder and locate the hosts file.
Start Notepad, and then open the hosts file.
Add the IP address and the host name of a federation server in the account partner to the hosts file, as shown in the following example:
192.168.1.4 fs.fabrikam.com
Save and close the file.
Add a host (A) resource record to perimeter DNS for a federation server proxy
So that clients on the Internet can successfully access a federation server through a newly deployed federation server proxy, you must first create a host (A) resource record in the perimeter DNS. This resource record resolves the host name of the account federation server (for example, fs.fabrikam.com) to the IP address of the account federation server proxy (for example, 131.107.27.68) in the perimeter network.
Note
It is assumed that you are using a DNS server, running Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008 with the DNS Server service, to control the perimeter DNS zone.
Membership in Administrators, 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).
To add a host (A) resource record to perimeter DNS for a federation server proxy
On a DNS server for the perimeter network, open the DNS snap-in. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.
In the console tree, right-click the applicable forward lookup zone, and then click New Host (A or AAAA).
In Name, type only the computer name of the federation server. For example, for the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) fs.fabrikam.com, type fs.
In IP address, type the IP address for the new federation server proxy, for example, 131.107.27.68.
Click Add Host.