Configure a New DNS Server

When you install DNS on a server that is not an Active Directory domain controller, you will need to do three main things:

• Create a forward lookup zone to facilitate name resolution to IP address, and create a reverse lookup zone to facilitate IP address to name resolution.
• Configure each zone for updates and determine how those updates will occur (secure or nonsecure).
• Define what happens when your server gets a query that it cannot solve. Usually you will want to forward unsolved query requests to another DNS server.

To configure a new DNS server, follow these steps:

1. Start DNS Manager.
2. Right-click the name of the DNS server, and choose Configure A DNS Server.
3. Click Next on the Welcome page of the Configure A DNS Server Wizard.
4. Select the radio button to create the zones you desire. You will likely choose to create both forward and reverse lookup zones on your initial server. Click Next.
5. Select the Yes radio button to create a forward lookup zone, and click Next.
6. Select the type of zone you want to create, and click Next.
7. Type in the zone name, and click Next.
8. Choose Create A New File With This File Name.
9. Choose the type of updates you will allow this zone to accept. (If you are installing DNS on a DC, the option to allow only secure dynamic updates will be enabled.) Click Next.
10. Choose to create a reverse lookup zone, and click Next.
11. Select the type of zone you want to create, and click Next.
12. Choose to create a reverse lookup for IPV4. You can come back and create a reverse lookup zone for IPV6 at a later time. Click Next.
13. Enter the network ID, and click Next.
14. Accept the new filename for the reverse lookup zone, and click Next.
15. Choose the type of updates you will allow for the reverse lookup zone, and click Next.
16. Choose whether you will forward unresolved queries, add the address of the server that queries will be forwarded to, and click Next.
17. Click Finish.

Of course, you could do all this configuration from the command line using the dnscmd tool. To view the options and syntax, open a command prompt, and type dnscmd /config /help.

Now that you have configured your initial forward and reverse lookup zones, have specified how updates will occur, and have chosen forwarders for unresolved DNS queries, your DNS server is ready to service host name resolution requests from your clients. Of course, you will need to tell your clients that you have a DNS server for them to use. You can do this by directly configuring the DNS server entry on each network adapter card configuration, or you can build an option for DNS into your Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server.

Once the clients know to look to the DNS server for name resolution, your DNS infrastructure is ready to go.