Q172953: How to Install and Configure Microsoft DNS Server

Article: Q172953
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): winnt:4.0,4.0a
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbnetwork sbs kbhowto
Last Modified: 09-AUG-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 
- Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server versions 4.0, 4.0a 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article is designed as an introduction to the Microsoft Domain Name Service
(DNS) included with Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0. This guide will take you
through the steps needed to install and configure DNS on your Windows NT
Server.

For additional information on Domain Name Service, please see the following white
paper available on the Microsoft anonymous ftp server:

  File Name: Dnswp.exe
  Location : ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-docs/papers/
  Title : "DNS and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0"

MORE INFORMATION
================

Installing Microsoft DNS
------------------------

Use the following steps to install DNS on your Windows NT 4.0 Server:

1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  Double-click the Network icon, and then click the Services tab.

2. Click Add, select Microsoft DNS Server from the Select Network Service dialog
  box, and then click OK.

3. Type the location of your Windows NT source files, click OK, and then click
  Close.

  NOTE: If you have any service packs installed, you will need to re-apply your
  service pack before restarting your computer.

4. Restart your computer.

Configuring Microsoft DNS
-------------------------

Gathering Information:

Before you actually begin configuring the DNS server, there is some basic
information you will need. Some of this information must be approved by Internic
for use on the Internet, but if you are configuring this server for internal use
only, you can then decide what names and IP addresses to use. You will need:

- Your domain name (must be approved by Internic)

- The IP address of each server for which you wish to provide name resolution

- The host names of each of the servers in step above

NOTE: The servers in the step above may be your mail servers, any public access
servers, FTP servers, WWW servers, and so on.

For example, use the following information (substitute your actual information
where appropriate):

  Domain Name: <Domain.com>
  Servers:   192.168.50.11   <Mail1.domain.com>
             192.168.50.12   <Ftp1.domain.com>
             192.168.50.12   <WWW.domain.com> (notice the same IP
                              address)
             192.168.50.15   <DNS1.domain.com>

Creating Your DNS Server:

Using the information above, configure your Microsoft DNS server by doing the
following:

1. Click the Start button, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and
  then click DNS Manager.

2. From the DNS menu, click New Server.

3. Type the IP address of your DNS server in the Add DNS Server dialog box
  (192.168.58.15 in the example information), and then click OK.

NOTE: It is not necessary to restart the DNS server for changes to your zones to
take effect. All that is required is for the server data files to be updated
using the following step:

- In DNS Manager, right-click your DNS server, and click Update Server Data
  Files.

Creating Your Reverse Lookup Zone:

Some applications use a reverse query to a DNS server to find the host name of a
host when it has the IP address of the computer. You must configure a reverse
lookup zone to provide this capability.

NOTE: Reverse lookup zones may not be necessary in your network, but it is
recommended that one be present. NSLOOKUP run on the DNS server will fail if no
reverse lookup zone is configured.

To create a reverse lookup zone, perform the following steps:

1. In DNS Manager, right-click your DNS server, and then click New Zone.

2. Click Primary from the "Creating New Zone for" dialog box, and then click
  Next.

3. The Zone Name is derived from your IP network address. In the example
  information, the Zone Name is 58.168.192.in-addr.arpa. Type your reverse zone
  name (the least significant part of the IP address, and work toward the most
  significant part of the address). For example:

  If your network ID is:         Then your reverse zone is:

  10.0.0.0                       10.in-addr.arpa
  130.20.0.0                     20.130.in-addr.arpa
  250.30.203.0                   203.30.250.in-addr.arpa

  NOTE: The syntax of the reverse lookup zone is imperative to its operation.

4. After you type the reverse lookup zone name, press Tab and the reverse lookup
  zone file name will automatically fill in using the zone name in step 3
  appended by ".dns" (without the quotes).

5. Click Next, and then click Finish.

Creating Your Forward Lookup Zone:

1. In DNS Manager, right-click your server, and then click New Zone.

2. Click Primary Zone, and then click Next.

3. Type the Zone Name for your DNS domain. This is the domain name that is
  registered with Internic (<Domain.com> in the example).

4. Press Tab, click Next, and then click Finish.

When you have created the forward lookup zone, you should see three records
automatically created in that zone: the NS record, the SOA record, and an A
record. If you do not have all three of these, you may want to verify that your
DNS settings in your TCP/IP properties are configured correctly (click the Start
button, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click the
Network icon).

NOTE: The A record will only be created if the zone name matches the domain
name.

Adding Host Records to Your Forward Lookup Zone:

The A record for your DNS server should have been automatically created. However,
DNS Manager does not automatically create the PTR record in the reverse zone for
the DNS server. The simplest way to correct this is to use the following steps:

1. Right-click the A record for your DNS server, and then click Delete Record.

2. Click Yes in the confirmation dialog box.

3. Right-click your forward zone, <Domain.com>, and then click New Host.

4. Type the host name of your DNS server and the IP address.

5. Click Create Associated PTR Record to enable it and click Add Host.

6. Click Done.

NOTE: Repeat steps 3-5 above for all of the servers that you want to add to your
DNS domain.

To verify the PTR records are created successfully, right-click the reverse
lookup zone 58.168.192.in-addr.arpa, and then click Refresh.

Configuring Other Record Types
------------------------------

A DNS server can be responsible for several different record types. Some of them
include, but are not limited to the following: A, CNAME, HINFO, MX, NS, and SOA.
For details on these and other record types, please refer to the DNS white paper
mentioned earlier in this article.

Creating A CNAME Record:

A CNAME record allows you to use multiple names for the same IP address. This
way, you can have users access the same server for separate functions, such as
FTP1.domain.com and WWW.domain.com. Before you can create the CNAME record, you
must first have an A record, as described earlier.

To create a CNAME record, perform the following steps:

1. Right-click your forward zone, <Domain.com>, and click New Record.

2. Select CNAME Record from the Record Type list box in the New Resource Record
  dialog box.

3. Type an alternate name for access to this computer. For example, in the
  sample information earlier in this article, WWW is an alternate name for
  FTP1.domain.com.

4. Type the original host name in "For Host DNS Name." For example,
  <FTP1.domain.com>.

  NOTE: It is important to use the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) for the
  originating host DNS name.

5. Click OK.

Now when your users make a query for either of these host names, your DNS server
will return the same IP address.

Creating an MX Record:

An MX Record is a Mail Exchange record that points mail programs to your mail
servers. To create an MX record, perform the following steps:

1. Right-click your forward lookup zone, <Domain.com> and then click New
  Record.

2. Select MX Record from the Record Type list box in the New Resource Record
  dialog box.

3. The Host Name (Optional) field is used for the host name of the mail server.
  However, if you want users to be able to send mail to your domain using the
  format USER@Domain.com, then leave the Host Name field blank.

NOTE: If the MX record contains the hostname, sending mail to user@domain.com may
not work. There are three ways to resolve this. First, remove the hostname from
the MX record as described in step 3. Second, after the MX record is created
with the hostname, create an "A" record for the domain that has no hostname.
Third, delete the existing MX record and re-create as described in steps one
through six in the Creating an MX record section of this article.
4. Type the FQDN of the mail server in the Mail Exchange Server DNS Name, for
  example, Mail.domain.com.

  NOTE: There is a trailing dot, ".", after the Mail Exchange Server DNS Name.
  The FQDN that is used for the Mail Exchange Server must have a corresponding
  A record for that domain. If the Mail Exchange Server is a different computer
  than the DNS Server, the DNS Server must know where to redirect the mail
  traffic.

5. The Preference Number is any number from 0 to 65535. In the case of multiple
  mail servers, this number identifies which mail server is to be used first.
  The lower the preference number, the higher the priority.

6. Click OK.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

  Q174419 How to Configure a Subnetted Reverse Lookup Zone on Windows NT

Additional query words: smallbiz DNS KBhowto Setup configure NT4

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Keywords          : kbnetwork sbs kbhowto 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNT400search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400 kbAudDeveloper kbSBServSearch kbSBServ400 kbSBServ400a
Version           : winnt:4.0,4.0a
Issue type        : kbhowto kbinfo

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