Reload or Transfer a Stub Zone

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

You can use this procedure to ensure that the resource records of a stub zone are up to date by reloading or transferring a stub zone. You might need to do this if the server hosting the stub zone has been offline and you want to ensure that the stub zone data is correct. To complete this procedure, you can use 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).

Reloading or transferring a stub zone

  • Using the Windows interface

  • Using a command line

To reload or transfer a stub 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, right-click the stub zone, and then do one of the following:

    • To reload the stub zone from storage, click Reload.

    • To have the Domain Name System (DNS) server determine if the serial number in the stub zone's start of authority (SOA) resource record has expired and then perform a zone transfer from the stub zone's master server, click Transfer from Master.

    • To perform a zone transfer from the stub zone's master server, regardless of the serial number in the stub zone's start of authority (SOA) resource record, click Reload from Master.

To reload or transfer a stub 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> {/ZoneReload|/ZoneUpdateFromDs|/ZoneRefresh} <ZoneName>
    
    
Parameter Description

dsncmd

The command-line tool for managing 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 (.)

/ZoneReload

Reloads the stub zone.

/ZoneUpdateFromDs

Reloads the stub zone from Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).

/ZoneRefresh

Refreshes the stub zone. The DNS server will determine if the serial number in the stub zone's start of authority (SOA) resource record has expired. If the serial number has expired, the DNS server will perform a zone transfer from the stub zone's master server.

<ZoneName>

Required. Specifies the name of the stub zone that you want to reload or refresh.

To view the complete syntax for one of these commands, at a command prompt, type one of the following commands, and then press ENTER:

  • dnscmd /ZoneReload /help

  • dnscmd /ZoneUpdateFromDs /help

  • dnscmd /ZoneRefresh /help