Pause a Zone

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

You can use this procedure to pause a zone to prevent it from responding to queries or transferring requests. You can complete this procedure by 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).

Pausing a zone

  • Using the Windows interface

  • Using a command line

To pause a 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, click the applicable zone.

  3. On the Action menu, click Properties.

  4. On the General tab, click Pause, and then click OK.

Additional considerations

  • By default, zones are started when they are created or loaded at the server. After you use this procedure to pause a zone, you must restart the zone before it is available for servicing clients or updating zones.

To pause a 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> /ZonePause <ZoneName>
Parameter Description

dnscmd

The command-line tool for managing Domain Name System (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 (.)

/ZonePause

Required. Pauses the zone.

<ZoneName>

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

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

dnscmd <ServerName> /ZonePause /help

Additional considerations

  • By default, zones are started when they are created or loaded at the server. After you use this procedure to pause a zone, you must restart the zone before it is available for servicing clients or updating zones.

Additional references