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Add a Forward Lookup Zone

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

Forward lookup zones support the primary function of Domain Name System (DNS), that is, the resolution of host names to IP addresses. For more information, see Managing a Forward Lookup Zone.

You can use this procedure to add a forward lookup zone using either the DNS Manager snap-in or the dnscmd command-line tool.

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).

Adding a forward lookup zone

  • Using the Windows interface

  • Using a command line

To add a forward lookup zone using the Windows interface

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

  2. In the console tree, right-click a DNS server, and then click New Zone to open the New Zone Wizard.

  3. Follow the instructions in the wizard to create a new primary zone, secondary zone, or stub zone.

To add a forward lookup zone using a command line

  1. Open a command prompt. 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.

  2. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    dnscmd <ServerName> /ZoneAdd <ZoneName> {/Primary|/DsPrimary|/Secondary|/Stub|/DsStub} [/file <FileName>] [/load] [/a <AdminEmail>] [/DP <FQDN>]
Parameter Description

dsncmd

The command-line tool for managing DNS servers.

<ServerName>

Required. Specifies the 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 (.)

/ZoneAdd

Required. Adds a zone.

<ZoneName>

Required. Specifies the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the zone.

/Primary|/DsPrimary|/Secondary|/Stub|/DsStub

Required. Specifies the type of zone. /DsPrimary and /DsStub specify an Active Directory–integrated zone type.

/file

Required for /Primary. Specifies a file for the new zone. This parameter is not valid for the /DsPrimary zone type.

<FileName>

Required for /Primary. Specifies the name of the zone file. This parameter is not valid for the /DsPrimary zone type.

/load

Loads an existing file for the zone. If this parameter is not specified, default zone records are created automatically. This parameter does not apply to /DsPrimary.

/a

Adds an administrator e-mail address for the zone.

<AdminEmail>

Specifies the administrator e-mail name for the zone.

/DP

Adds the zone to an application directory partition. You may also use one of the following:

  • /DP /domain—For a domain directory partition (replicates to all DNS servers in the domain).

  • /DP /forest—For a forest directory partition (replicates to all DNS servers in the forest).

  • /DP /legacy—For a legacy directory partition (replicates to all domain controllers in the domain). This setting supports domains that have legacy Windows 2000 Server domain controllers.

<FQDN>

Specifies the FQDN of the directory partition.

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

dnscmd /ZoneAdd /help