Adding a Primary DNS Server to an Existing Zone
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
If you are installing Domain Name System (DNS) with Active Directory, use the Active Directory Installation Wizard option to automatically install and configure a local DNS server. This option installs the DNS Server service on the computer where you are running the wizard, and it configures the computer's preferred DNS server setting to use the new local DNS server. Configure any other computers that join this domain to use this DNS server's Internet Protocol (IP) address as their preferred DNS server.
If you are installing DNS on a member server, use the procedures in this task.
It is recommended that you manually configure the computer to use a static IP address. If the DNS server is configured to use Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)–assigned dynamic addresses, when the DHCP server assigns a new IP address to the DNS server, the DNS clients that are configured to use that DNS server's previous IP address will be unable to resolve the previous IP address and locate the DNS server.
After you install a DNS server, you can decide how to administer it and its zones. Although you can use a text editor to make changes to server boot and zone files, this method is not recommended. The DNS console and the DNS command-line tool, Dnscmd, simplify maintenance of these files, and they should be used whenever possible. After you begin managing these files by using the console or the command line, editing them manually is not recommended.
You can administer DNS zones that are stored in Active Directory by using the DNS console or the Dnscmd command-line tool only. These zones cannot be administered by using a text editor.
If you uninstall a DNS server that hosts Active Directory-integrated zones, these zones are saved or deleted according to their storage type. For all storage types, the zone data is stored on other domain controllers or DNS servers. It is not deleted unless the DNS server that you uninstall is the last DNS server hosting that zone.
If you uninstall a DNS server hosting standard DNS zones, the zone files will remain in the systemroot\system32\Dns directory, but they will not be reloaded if the DNS server is reinstalled. If you create a new zone with the same name as an old zone, the old zone file is replaced with the new zone file.
When they write DNS server boot and zone data to text files, DNS servers use the Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) file format that is recognized by legacy BIND 4 servers, not the more recent BIND 8 format.
Complete this task after you determine that you need to add a primary DNS server to your environment. For more information about planning a DNS infrastructure, see Deploying Domain Name System (DNS) on the Microsoft Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=45677).
To complete this task, perform one the following procedures: