Question : BIND to Win2k DNS server automatic zone transfer

Hello, my problem is that I have many BIND servers that manage their own domains and two win2k DNS servers (primary and secondary) that have to be refreshed manually. When I say refreshed is that we have to create the zone manually with all the hosts.

So, my question is if I could automatically transfer the zones of the Bind servers to the primary win2k server and to the secondary. If it's needed I would change to BIND the other two servers.

Thanks.

Answer : BIND to Win2k DNS server automatic zone transfer

There are a few ways to achieve this, and really how you do depends on your skill set and personal preferences.

Scripting is the obvious choice for dealing with this, both systems have the capability to deal with that kind of solution, just the methodologies differ.

If you decide to approach scripting zone creation on the Windows DNS server then you're going to need to install the Windows Support Tools (which are on the CD) as they come with the DNSCMD utility. That allows full configuration of Windows DNS through the command line.

Equally, you can also script a process on Linux / Unix to configure zones for BIND and handle everything there. Not something I'd particularly be able to help with though.

Before going on, why do the Windows DNS Servers need to be setup as Primary and Secondary. Why not both Secondary? If both are Secondary then it would suggest you don't need to worry about the NS and SOA records when configuring the zone on the Windows DNS Servers.

Perhaps one method to put all this together would be:

1. Create Zone on BIND
2. Fire a Script that uses FTP (perhaps) to copy the Zone File onto an area on the Windows Server
3. Configure a Script to run on the Windows Server as a Scheduled Task
4. The Script will check a specific folder (FTP folder) for new zones, then run a series of commands to configure the zone on both Windows DNS Server.

Let me know what you think, I can help you with the Windows side of things and DNS in general (whether in BIND or not). Just not the *nix scripting.

HTH,

Chris