How To Convert DNS Primary Server to Active Directory Integrated

This article describes how to convert a primary DNS server to an Active Directory directory service Integrated Primary server, force replication to another domain controller, and add the new domain controller as a DNS server.

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You may want to add additional DNS servers so there is no single point of failure. Instead of adding standard secondary DNS servers, you can convert the server from a primary DNS server to an Active Directory Integrated Primary server and configure another domain controller to be a DNS server. With integrated primary servers, all the servers are primary servers, so when a zone change is made at one server, it is replicated to the others, eliminating the requirement for a zone transfer.

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Convert Primary DNS Server to Active Directory Integrated Primary

1. On the current DNS server, start DNS Manager.
2. Right-click a DNS zone, click Properties, click the General tab, and then note the Type value. This will be Primary zone, Secondary zone or Stub zone.
3. Click Change.
4. In the Change Zone Type box, click to select the Store the zone in Active Directory (available only if DNS server is a domain controller) check box. When you are prompted to answer whether want this zone to become Active Directory integrated, click Yes, and then click OK.
   In the Domain properties, the type now shows "Active Directory-Integrated".

When replication has completed to the domain controller that you are adding as another Active Directory Integrated Primary server, you can then install the DNS server service on that domain controller. The DNS zone information is listed in the DNS Manager. You can add as many additional DNS servers as you want.

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Cause Immediate Replication

If you want replication to occur immediately instead of waiting for the typical replication cycle, follow these steps:

1. In Administrative Tools, start Active Directory Sites and Services.
2. Expand Sites. There should be at least one site labeled "default-first-site-name" (or others if they have been manually configured).
3. Expand default-first-site-name, expand Servers, and then expand Computer.
4. Expand NTDS Settings. One or more objects are listed in the right pane. One of those objects is a link to the domain controller you want. To see the "friendly" name, right-click an entry and view the name. One of the objects points to the domain controller you want. Right-click that entry, and then click Replicate Now. The replication is performed immediately.
   
   Note The time it takes to update the target controller depends on network performance.

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