HOW TO: Create a New Zone on a DNS Server in Windows Server 2003

This article is a step-by-step guide to creating a Domain Name System (DNS) zone for a new domain.

Note This article does not apply to Active Directory-integrated DNS zones. For additional information about how to setup DNS for Active Directory in Microsoft Windows Server 2003, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

How to Create a Forward Lookup Zone

To create a new forward lookup zone:

1. Start the DNS snap-in. To do this, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.
2. Click the DNS Server object for your server in the left pane of the console, and then expand the server object to expand the tree.
3. Right-click Forward Lookup Zones, and then click New Zone. The New Zone Wizard starts. Click Next to continue.
4. Click Primary zone to create a master copy of the new zone. Click Next.
5. In the Name box, type the name of the zone (for example, type _tcp.example.com, and then click Next.
   
   NOTE: This name is typically the same as the DNS suffix of the host computers for which you want to create the zone.
6. On the Zone File page, accept the default file name for the new zone file, and then click Next.
7. Click Next.
8. Click Finish.

The new zone is listed under Forward Lookup Zones in the DNS tree.

How to Modify the Forward Lookup Zone Properties

To modify or verify the zone properties:

1. Start the DNS snap-in.
2. Click the DNS Server object for your server in the left pane of the console, and then expand the server object to expand the tree.
3. Expand Forward Lookup Zones.
4. Under Forward Lookup Zones, right-click the zone that you want (for example, example.com), and then click Properties.
5. In the Allow dynamic updates list, click Yes.
6. Click the Start of Authority (SOA) tab.
7. In the Responsible person box, type the e-mail address that you want (in the format of "username.domain.com"). For example, if the e-mail address is support@example.com, type support.example.com.
8. Click Apply, and then click OK.

How to Create a Reverse Lookup Zone

To create a new reverse lookup zone:

1. Start the DNS snap-in.
2. Click the DNS Server object for your server in the left pane of the console, and then expand the server object to expand the tree.
3. Expand Reverse Lookup Zones.
4. Right-click Reverse Lookup Zones, and then click New Zone. The New Zone Wizard starts. Click Next to continue.
5. Click Primary zone, and then click Next.
6. In the Network ID box, type the network ID. For example, type 192.168.0, and then click Next.
   
   NOTE: The network ID is that portion of the TCP/IP address that pertains to the network. For additional information about TCP/IP networks, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   164015  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/164015/EN-US/ ) Understanding TCP/IP Addressing and Subnetting Basics
7. On the Zone File page, click Next
8. Click Next.
9. Click Finish.

The new zone is listed under Reverse Lookup Zones in the DNS tree.

How to Modify the Reverse Lookup Zone Properties

To modify or verify the zone properties:

1. Start the DNS snap-in.
2. Click the DNS Server object for your server in the left pane of the console, and then expand the server object to expand the tree.
3. Expand Reverse Lookup Zones.
4. Under Reverse Lookup Zones, right-click the zone that you want (for example, 102.168.0.x Subnet), and then click Properties.
5. In the Allow dynamic updates list, click Yes.
6. Click the Start of Authority (SOA) tab.
7. In the Responsible person box, type the e-mail address that you want (in the format of "username.domain.com"). For example, if the e-mail address is support@example.com, type support.example.com.
8. Click Apply, and then click OK.

NOTE: When you create the forward and reverse lookup zones, the DNS service automatically creates an "A" record for the DNS server. However, it does not create a PTR record, or reverse lookup record, for the DNS server.

To create a PTR record for the DNS server:

1. Right-click the reverse lookup zone (for example, 192.168.0.x Subnet), and then click New Pointer (PTR).
2. In the Host IP number box, type the host portion of the DNS server IP address. For example, if the DNS server is on a "C" class network and has an IP address of 192.168.0.10, the host portion of the IP address is 10. In this case, type 10.
3. In the Host name box, type the host name of the DNS server. For example, type dnsserv.example.com.
4. Click OK.

How to Create a Host Record

To create a host or "A" record:

1. Start the DNS snap-in.
2. Click the DNS Server object for your server in the left pane of the console, and then expand the server object to expand the tree.
3. Expand Forward Lookup Zones.
4. Under Forward Lookup Zones, right-click the zone that you want (for example, example.com), and then click New Host (A).
5. In the Name (uses parent domain name if blank) box, type the name of the host that you want to add. For example, if you want to add a host record for a Web server, type www.
6. In the IP address box, type the IP address of the host that you want to add. For example, type 192.168.0.100.
7. Select the Create associated pointer (PTR) record check box, and then click Add Host. You receive a message similar to the following:
   The host record www.example.com was successfully created.
   Click OK.
   
   
8. When you are finished adding hosts, click Done.

How to Add a CNAME

A CNAME (or "Canonical Name") is an alias or an additional host name that is resolved to the IP address of an existing host computer in the DNS namespace. For example, if you use the same computer as both a Web server and an FTP server, you may want to resolve both the WWW host name and the FTP host name to the same IP address. Using a CNAME, you can resolve both names to the same IP address.

To create a CNAME:

1. Start the DNS snap-in.
2. Click the DNS Server object for your server in the left pane of the console, and then expand the server object to expand the tree.
3. Expand Forward Lookup Zones.
4. Under Forward Lookup Zones, right-click the zone that you want (for example, example.com), and then click New Alias (CNAME).
5. In the Alias name box, type the alias that you want. For example, type ftp.
6. In the Fully qualified name (FQDN) for target host box, type the fully qualified host name of the host computer that you want. For example, type www.example.com, and then click OK.

How to Add an MX Record

An MX (or "Mail Exchanger") record is used to identify a host computer as a Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP)/Post Office Protocol (POP3) server. To add an MX record, follow these steps. Note that you must first create the "A" record for the mail server host.

1. Start the DNS snap-in.
2. Click the DNS Server object for your server in the left pane of the console, and then expand the server object to expand the tree.
3. Expand Forward Lookup Zones.
4. Right-click the zone that you want (for example, example.com), and then click New Mail Exchanger (MX).
5. In the Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of mail server box, type the fully qualified domain name of the host computer that acts as the mail server. For example, type mail.example.com.
6. Click OK.

How to Add a Name Server

To identify an additional name server:

1. Start the DNS snap-in.
2. Click the DNS Server object for your server in the left pane of the console, and then expand the server object to expand the tree.
3. Expand Forward Lookup Zones.
4. Under Forward Lookup Zones, right-click the zone that you want (for example, example.com), and then click Properties.
5. Click the Name Servers tab, and then click Add.
6. In the Server fully qualified domain name (FQDN) box, type the host name of the server that you want to add. For example, type namesvr2.example.com.
7. In the IP address box, type the IP address of the Name server that you want to add (for example, type 192.168.0.22), and then click Add.
8. Click OK, and then click OK to return to the DNS window.
9. Expand Reverse Lookup Zones, right-click the zone that you want, and then click Properties.
10. Click the Name Servers tab, and then click Add.
11. In the Server fully qualified domain name (FQDN) box, type the host name of the server that you want to add. For example, type namesvr2.example.com.
12. In the IP address box, type the IP address of the Name server that you want to add (for example, type 192.168.0.22), and then click Add.
13. Click OK, and then click OK again to return to the DNS window.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For additional information about installing and configuring DNS, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: