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Change the Zone Type

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

You can use this procedure to change make a zone a primary, secondary, or stub zone. You can also use it to integrate a zone with Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). For more information, see Understanding Zone Types.

Membership in the Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477.

Changing the zone type

  • Using the Windows interface

  • Using a command line

To change the zone type using the Windows interface

  1. Open DNS Manager.

  2. In the console tree, right-click the applicable zone, and then select Properties.

  3. On the General tab, note the current zone type, and then click Change.

  4. In Change Zone Type, select a zone type other than the current zone type, and then click OK.

Additional considerations

  • To open DNS Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.

  • You can select either Primary zone, Secondary zone or Stub zone. When you select the secondary or stub zone types, you must specify the IP address of another Domain Name System (DNS) server to be used as the source for obtaining updated information for the zone.

  • If the DNS server computer is operating as a domain controller, the option to store the zone in AD DS is available. This option is not otherwise available. When this zone type is selected for use, zone data is stored and replicated as part of the AD DS database.

Note

You cannot change the zone type (primary, secondary, or stub) and the method for storing the zone at the same time. You must perform the two operations separately.

  • Changing a zone from a secondary to primary type can affect other zone activities, including management of dynamic updates and zone transfers and the use of DNS notify lists to notify other servers about changes in the zone.

  • Changing a zone from stub to primary or the reverse is not recommended. This contradicts the purpose of stub zones.

  • Changing the DNS zone type or storage can be time consuming for large zones.

To change the zone type using a command line

  1. Open a command prompt.

  2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    dnscmd <ServerName> /ZoneResetType <ZoneName Property> [<MasterIPaddress...>] [/file <FileName>] {/OverWrite_Mem|/OverWrite_Ds|/DirectoryPartition <FQDN>}
Parameter Description

dnscmd

Specifies the name of 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 (.)

<ZoneName>

Required. Specifies the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of zone.

<Property>

Required. One of the following zone types:

  • /Primary

    Standard primary zone. The /fileFileName option is required.

  • /DsPrimary

    AD DS-integrated primary zone. If the zone is not already a primary zone, you must convert it to a primary zone (using /Primary) before you use this parameter to integrate the zone with AD DS.

  • /Secondary

    Secondary zone. You must specify at least one MasterIPaddress.

  • /Stub

    Stub zone. You must specify at least one MasterIPaddress. If the zone is an AD DS-integrated primary zone, you must use /DsStub to convert it to an AD DS-integrated stub zone before you use this parameter.

  • /DsStub

    AD DS -integrated stub zone. You must specify at least one MasterIPaddress. If the zone is not already a stub zone, you must convert it to a stub zone (using /Stub) before you use this parameter to integrate the zone with AD DS.

/file <FileName>

Required for /Primary. Specifies the name of a file for the new zone. This parameter is not valid for the /DsPrimary zone type.

<MasterIPaddress...>

Required for /Secondary, /Stub and /DsStub. Specifies one or more IP addresses for the master servers of the secondary zone or stub zone, from which zone data is copied.

/OverWrite_Mem | /OverWrite_Ds | /DirectoryPartition <FQDN>

/OverWrite_Mem overwrites existing DNS data using the data in AD DS. /OverWrite_Ds overwrites Active Directory data with data in DNS. /DirectoryPartition stores the new zone in the application directory partition that is specified by FQDN, such as DomainDnsZones.corp.widgets.tailspintoys.com.

To view the complete syntax for this command, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

dnscmd /ZoneResetType /help

Additional considerations

  • 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.

  • You can select either primary zones, secondary zones, or stub zones. When you select the secondary or stub zone type, specify the IP address of another DNS server to be used as the source for obtaining updated information for the zone.

  • If the DNS server computer is operating as a domain controller, you can use the /DsPrimary or /DsStub parameters. These options are not otherwise available. When either zone type is selected for use, zone data is stored and replicated as part of the AD DS database.

Note

Before you use these options, you must first convert the zone to the appropriate type, if necessary. That is, the zone must already be a primary zone before you can use /DsPrimary to integrate the zone with AD DS. Similarly, the zone must already be a stub zone before you can use /DsStub to integrate the zone with AD DS.

  • Changing a zone from a secondary zone to a primary zone can affect other zone activities, including management of dynamic updates and zone transfers, and the use of DNS notify lists to notify other servers about changes in the zone.

  • Changing a zone from a stub zone to a primary zone or the reverse is not recommended. This contradicts the purpose of stub zones.