Hi there,

Just wondering if anyone can me out with this problem. We have
subscribed to a DNS service that has two name servers and we want to
move all of our domains over to them. (approx 450+). We have paid
extra to allow us to do zone transfers so we can setup our own name
server as well..

The company do not provide any documentation on how to do this and
I'm finding my way in setting up DNS. We are using Microsoft DNS
running on a windows 2003 server. I'm not sure what software our DNS
provider is using.

I have successfully managed to setup a zone transfer for one of the
domains that we have moved onto the new provider. This zone transfer
is working ok and successfully replicated the DNS information.

This is all fine and but I had to setup the one zone manually on our
own server. I was hoping that I could just transfer the whole zone
file for all of our domains onto our server and therefore avoid having
to manually add each domain onto our own server.

Is there a way I can transfer all of our DNS data from one server onto
our own without any manual intervention.

At the moment the domains are only running on the two name servers
provided by the ISP. Once I can resolve the issue of zone transfering
domains automatically I hope to add our third name server onto the
domains. Just want to get things sorted first as I know what a
nightmare it can be when DNS servers get out of sync.

Thanks for the


John

"Fox1977" <foxj77@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1167911028.868569.277180@51g2000cwl.googlegro ups.com...
> Hi there,
>
> Just wondering if anyone can me out with this problem. We have
> subscribed to a DNS service that has two name servers and we want to
> move all of our domains over to them. (approx 450+). We have paid
> extra to allow us to do zone transfers so we can setup our own name
> server as well..
>
> The company do not provide any documentation on how to do this and
> I'm finding my way in setting up DNS. We are using Microsoft DNS
> running on a windows 2003 server. I'm not sure what software our DNS
> provider is using.

It is trivial to allow zone transfers on your own Windows DNS
servers, but we cannot possibly tell you how to manage an unknown
services DNS.

You can use DNSCmd to script such things and even to dump all
records on the Windows side (as well as some other scripts for DNS
management that you can find mentioned in these forums...).


> I have successfully managed to setup a zone transfer for one of the
> domains that we have moved onto the new provider. This zone transfer
> is working ok and successfully replicated the DNS information.
>
> This is all fine and but I had to setup the one zone manually on our
> own server. I was hoping that I could just transfer the whole zone
> file for all of our domains onto our server and therefore avoid having
> to manually add each domain onto our own server.

You can transfer the zone files manually IF you are storing the info
in such files and not in AD.

If you are using files they are (by default) located in:

%systemroot%\winnt\dns\

> Is there a way I can transfer all of our DNS data from one server onto
> our own without any manual intervention.

Not totally but there are methods to do some of it.

> At the moment the domains are only running on the two name servers
> provided by the ISP.

I cannot imagine that transferring this to such an ISP would
be a "good thing" unless they are going to do all of your future
management for you. (Maybe putting it back at the REGISTRAR,
one that documents the process and who will also you with
bulk changes -- Godaddy will with bulk changes for such
big customers, or even small-medium ones like me.)

> Once I can resolve the issue of zone transfering
> domains automatically I hope to add our third name server onto the
> domains. Just want to get things sorted first as I know what a
> nightmare it can be when DNS servers get out of sync.

This might be a good time to re-think this entire plan.

Fox1977 wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> Just wondering if anyone can me out with this problem. We have
> subscribed to a DNS service that has two name servers and we want to
> move all of our domains over to them. (approx 450+). We have paid
> extra to allow us to do zone transfers so we can setup our own name
> server as well..
>
> The company do not provide any documentation on how to do this and
> I'm finding my way in setting up DNS. We are using Microsoft DNS
> running on a windows 2003 server. I'm not sure what software our DNS
> provider is using.
>
> I have successfully managed to setup a zone transfer for one of the
> domains that we have moved onto the new provider. This zone transfer
> is working ok and successfully replicated the DNS information.
>
> This is all fine and but I had to setup the one zone manually on our
> own server. I was hoping that I could just transfer the whole zone
> file for all of our domains onto our server and therefore avoid having
> to manually add each domain onto our own server.
>
> Is there a way I can transfer all of our DNS data from one server onto
> our own without any manual intervention.
>
> At the moment the domains are only running on the two name servers
> provided by the ISP. Once I can resolve the issue of zone transferring
> domains automatically I hope to add our third name server onto the
> domains. Just want to get things sorted first as I know what a
> nightmare it can be when DNS servers get out of sync.

Zone transfers are done on a zone by zone basis. If you have 450+ zones to
move then you have to set up each of the 450+ zone transfers separately.
If your ISP is hosting these zones now, you have to contact the ISP to allow
zone transfers to the new servers. Unfortunately, this may not work as
expected because when you transfer the zones, it transfers the NS records,
in addition to the other records. If this is a move, someone will have to
modify the NS records in the primary zones, either before or after the
transfer. If it is after the transfer, the zones will have to be changed
from Secondary to Primary before you can edit the NS records, that is, if
they give you access to the NS records.
Most DNS hosting companies do not give access to NS records for what should
be obvious reasons.



--
Best regards,
Kevin D. Goodknecht Sr. [MVP]
Hope This s
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