Windows 2003 DNS Server can't resolve external domains.

[Candidog]

Just competed my first Windows 2003 server on my active directory domain and the installation wizard by default installed my DNS Server for me. After the installation I was unable to acces any external domain names (i.e.

http://www.yahoo.com)

from the server or any workstation using this my new DNS Server. Only after I when I right click my DNS server in DNS Management Console and click on the Forwarders tab then put in my ISP DNS server did it work.

Now I want this DNS server to resolve all external domains for my workstations. Yet after some reading and troubleshooting, Microsoft says,

By default, DNS servers are configured to use root hints appropriate to your deployment. If the DNS server is installed as the first DNS server for your network, it is configured as a root server. For this configuration, root hints are disabled at the server because the server is authoritative for the root zone.

Is this true??? I know in the past I was able to ???

Now Microsoft continues to say, If you do not have any other DNS servers on your network (Which I don't!) but still need to resolve Internet DNS names (Which I do!), you can use the default root hints file which includes a list of Internet root servers authoritative for the Internet DNS namespace. Now under my Root Hints tab I see all my root hint servers? So how do I tell my server to use them to resolve Internet DNS name?

Right now, i'm working because its forwarding all external DNS quieries to my ISP DNS Server.

Any ideas

Greg

 

[BigShyBear]

Sounds like your DNS server thinks its a root server.
Removing Windows 2000 DNS dot zone

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;298148

Troubleshooting AD, look at the DNS section

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;260371

 

[ITPangaeaArchitect]

That is particular to Windows 2000 ONLY

when DNS was first installed on a Win2000 server, whether DC, member, or standalone, it assumed it was the root DNS server...this disables the ability to use recursion by any means...whether root hints or forwarders..in fact...forwarder option would be unavailable in that case..

to get around this all you do is delete the "." zone in tthe DNS console under forward lookup zones...there is no harm in doing this and it is done 99.99999% of the time.

root hints method is where if no forwarders are defined then root hints are automatically used...this is not the case if there is a . zone present though
root hints in Win2000 did not work for shite though...and typically they are slower then using forwarders...
cache time on the server side is the same...3800 seconds...but root hints are used in order, requesting a record lookup from each root hint DNS server, in order, one by one...forwarders hit one guy and cache that response.....

I would honestly recommend sticking with forwarders as they will be better for you in the long run....

-Brandon Wilson
MCSE00/03, MCSA:Messaging, MCSA03, A+
almost got a paragraph there