Event ID 501 — 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: 501
Source: Microsoft-Windows-DNS-Server-Service
Version: 6.0
Symbolic Name: DNS_EVENT_INVALID_ZONE_TYPE
Message: The DNS server has detected that the zone %1 has a missing or corrupted zone type in registry data. To correct the problem, you can delete the applicable zone subkey, located under DNS server parameters in the registry. You can then recreate the zone using the DNS console. For more information, see "Tuning advanced server parameters" and "Add and Remove Zones" in the online Help.

Resolve

Delete and recreate zone data in the registry

Data that is stored in the Windows registry for a zone has become corrupted and must be replaced. You must delete the registry key of the zone and then recreate the zone by using Server Manager.

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

To delete the applicable zone key and then recreate the zone:

Caution: Incorrectly editing the registry might severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued data.

  1. On the DNS server, click Start.
  2. In Start Search, type regedit, and then press ENTER.
  3. In the console tree, expand the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DNS Server\Zones
  4. Click the zone, and then, on the Edit menu, click Delete.
  5. On the DNS server, start Server Manager. To start Server Manager, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.
  6. In the console tree, expand Roles, expand DNS Server, and then expand DNS.
  7. Right-click the DNS server, and then click New Zone.
  8. Follow the instructions in the wizard to recreate the zone.

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