Add a secondary server to a zone

Updated: November 18, 2009

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To add a secondary server to an existing zone, you must have network access to the server that acts as the master server for this server and its use of the zone. The master server acts as the source for zone data. It is contacted periodically to assist in renewing the zone and to transfer zone updates whenever they are needed.

You can perform this procedure by using the DNS console or by using the Dnscmd command-line tool. This procedure can be performed on the secondary DNS server, or on a computer with permission to manage the secondary DNS server. To add a secondary server to multiple zones, you must repeat this procedure for each zone.

Important

Before you add a secondary server to a zone, you must allow zone transfers from the primary to the secondary server. For more information, see Modify DNS zone transfer settings.

Administrative credentials

To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using the RunĀ as command to perform this procedure.

Adding a secondary server to a zone

  • Using the Windows interface

  • Using the command line

To add a secondary server to a zone using the Windows interface

  1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.

  2. In the console tree, click the applicable Domain Name System (DNS) server.

  3. On the Action menu, click New Zone.

  4. Follow the instructions in the New Zone Wizard. When you add the zone, select Secondary zone as the zone type.

To add a secondary server to a zone using the command line

  • At a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    Dnscmd ServerName /ZoneAdd ZoneName /Secondary MasterIPaddress**...** [/file FileName]

    Value Description

    ServerName

    Specifies the DNS host name of the DNS server. You can also type the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the DNS server. To specify the DNS server on the local computer, you can also type a period (.).

    ZoneName

    Specifies the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the secondary zone that you are adding. The zone name must be the same as the name of the primary zone from which the secondary zone is created.

    MasterIPaddress

    Specifies one or more IP addresses for the secondary zone master servers, from which it copies zone data.

    FileName

    Specifies the name of the file to use for creating the secondary zone.

    In the following example, zone transfers are first allowed from the primary DNS server primarydns.contoso.com at 10.0.0.2 to the secondary server secondarydns.contoso.com at 11.0.0.2. Next, the secondary DNS server is added to the zone secondtest.contoso.com.

    Dnscmd primarydns.contoso.com**/zoneresetsecondaries** secondtest.contoso.com**/securelist** 11.0.0.2

    Dnscmd secondarydns.contoso.com**/zoneadd** secondtest.contoso.com**/secondary** 10.0.0.2

    For more information about using dnscmd, see Dnscmd Syntax.