Event ID 1202 — DNS Server Configuration

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

The DNS server configuration consists of the settings that determine how the DNS server will function on a network and how those settings are stored and retrieved when they are needed.

 

Event Details

Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 1202
Source: Microsoft-Windows-DNS-Server-Service
Version: 6.0
Symbolic Name: DNS_EVENT_DIRECTORY_DIRECTIVE
Message: The DNS server encountered an unsupported 'directory' directive in the server boot file %1 at line %2.
All database files must be located in the "%SystemRoot%\system32\dns" directory. The directory directive is ignored.

Resolve

Correct the configuration file

To correct the configuration file, use a text editor (such as Notepad) to open the indicated file, which is located in %SystemRoot%\System32\Dns. Correct the line that is specified in the warning or error event message, and then restart the DNS server.

Before you change the configuration file, make a copy of the file in case it is necessary to revert to the previous version of the file.

To perform this procedure, you must have membership in Administrators, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To restart the DNS server:

  1. On the DNS server, start Server Manager. To start Server Manager, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.
  2. In the console tree, expand Roles, expand DNS Server, and then expand DNS.
  3. Right-click the DNS server, click All Tasks, and then click Restart.

Note: This problem might have been caused by errors that were introduced to the configuration file during previous attempts to edit the configuration file manually. To avoid similar problems in the future, use Server Manager or the dnscmd command to modify the configuration file.

Verify

To verify that the Domain Name System (DNS) configuration is correct, verify that all configuration settings are correct, check the event log for events that indicate continuing problems, and then verify that DNS client computers are able to resolve names properly.

To verify DNS configuration settings:

  1. On the DNS server, start Server Manager. To start Server Manager, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.
  2. In the console tree, double-click Roles, double-click DNS Server, and then double-click DNS.
  3. Right-click the DNS server, and then click Properties.
  4. Review the settings on each tab, and verify that they contain the intended values.
  5. Expand the DNS server.
  6. Expand a zone folder, right-click a zone, and then click Properties.
  7. Review the settings on each tab, and verify that they contain the intended values.
  8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for each zone.

To verify that DNS client computers can resolve names properly:

  1. On a DNS client computer, open a command prompt. To open a command prompt, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
  2. At the command prompt, type pinghostname (where hostname is the DNS name of a computer with a known IP address), and then press ENTER.

If the client can resolve the name, the ping command responds with the following message:

Pinginghostname [ip_address]

Note: The name resolution is successful even if the ping command reports that the destination is unreachable.

If the client cannot resolve the name, the ping command responds with the following message:

Ping request could not find hosthostname

DNS Server Configuration

DNS Infrastructure