up vote 0 down vote favorite
share [g+] share [fb]

I just recently stepped into a new job out of college and am learning the ropes quickly. I have just been requested to move DNS for a specific domain name. The new clients asked for the current zone configuration of the DNS entry. Is this asking for the IP address of the host server? Or am I missing something bigger?

link|improve this question
83% accept rate
feedback

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

No, they are looking for more than just a single entry for your server, they are asking for the complete zone for your domain name.

The Zone consists of the SOA (Start Of Authority) record, and any A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, PTR, SRV and TXT records contained within that zone.

See wikipedia's entries for Zone file and DNS zone for a good overview of what you are looking for.

link|improve this answer
Why would a client who is taking over the Domain name need to know this information? – GMitch Aug 1 '11 at 14:50
Most likely they want to pass this on to a new / different DNS Hosting company so that the existing zone is already in-place when they switch to the new host - essentially preventing downtime. Once switched over, they would then make any required changes (ie, change the IP Address for certain A records, or redirect elsewhere by changing A records to CNAME records). Of course, it's also possible that they have asked for the zone, which is as described above, but mean something different - it may be best to ask them what they expect to receive from you. – Mike Insch Aug 1 '11 at 14:56
feedback
up vote 0 down vote

They're looking for the list of records that configures the DNS server software with what entries that it needs to serve for a given domain - the "zone file", in DNS terminology.

What DNS software is it hosted on? We can probably give more specific assistance with that information.

link|improve this answer
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.