DNS records

[Rob]

Hi,
I have a Win2k domain with a DNS (Internally) installed.
For some reasons I need to re-create DNS, my question is,
how can I make a backup of my DNS records, so I can start
from scratch and then import those records into the new
DNS?

Another question is how I can make a backup of a DNS so in
case something happens I can easily restore that.

Thanks for any help-Rob

 

[Simon Geary]

If you use AD Integrated DNS, you can back up and restore DNS as part of a
System State backup.
If you are using standard Primary\Secondary DNS, all you need to do is back
up the <zonename>.dns file in c:\winnt\system32\dns.

 

[Rob]

Thanks, so how can I import records from a backed-up DNS
to a new installed one?
Rob

 

[Simon Geary]

For AD integrated DNS, simply perform a System State restore.

For Primary\Secondary DNS, stop the DNS service on the new server, copy the
<zonename>.dns file to the c:\winnt\system32\dns folder then restart the DNS
service. Now you can open up the DNS console and add the new zone. One of
the options during zone creation is to create a new zone file or use an
existing one. Opt to use an existing zone file and point it towards the file
you just copied over.

 

[Rob]

Under c:\winnt\system32\dns , the only file with .dns
extension is CACHE.dns, is that the dns file you are
talking about.
Thanks again-Rob

 

[Simon Geary]

No, it should be called something like company.com.dns, or whatever your
zone happens to be called followed by the .dns extension. However, this file
will only exist if you are using Primary\Secondary zones. If there are no
other files in this folder I suspect you have Active Directory integrated
zones. You can check by going into the zone properties of the zone in the
DNS console.

With AD Integrated DNS, zone information is stored in Active Directory, not
a zone file, so you would backup and restore using the normal System State
backup.

If you just want to get a copy of the zone file to restore DNS without the
hassle of restoring AD you can change the AD integrated zone to a standard
primary zone which will create the aforementioned file. After you have made
a copy, you could revert the zone back to AD integrated.