How can I recreate root dnsNode objects and their RootDNSServers folder in AD after they are deleted?

Question

A few days ago I was trying to permanently remove root hints from my DNS server. After much ado, I decided to go a different route and am now trying to put everything back as it was. During the original process, I opened ADUC, clicked View>Advanced Features, and then browsed to System> MicrosoftDNS and deleted the folder RootDNSServers. Now in ADUC, I cannot create a folder here to replace the one I deleted.

I can run adsiedit and load DomainDNSZones for my domain. Under there, I see MicrosoftDNS, RootDNSServers, with all of the objects still inside of it. Is there a way for me to undo what I did? Can I recreate these objects in ADUC? Can I do something else to cause them to show back up there?

Thanks!

Answer 1

This is because RootDNSServers is not a simple folder, but a LDAP object whose type is dnsZone (not container); so you can create it only using a LDAP editor.

You should launch ADSIEdit, connect to the default naming context, navigate to System\MicrosoftDNS and then create a new object of type dnsZone, naming it RootDNSServers.

Answer 2

The container object is of type dnsZone, not a typical container object, so to re-create you'd need to use raw LDAP.

But, I'd say don't worry about attempting to recreate that container. Assuming that all of your DNS serving domain controllers are Windows Server 2003 or newer, they'll instead look to the DomainDNSZones directory partition (which, by the way, is probably where your phantom root hints were coming from in your previous questions!).

Fire up ADSI Edit, and connect to the distinguished name of DC=DomainDNSZones,DC=yourdomain,DC=com. In there, you'll find DC=RootDNSServers,CN=MicrosoftDNS - it contains the standard root hints, and is the only store of root hints that actually matters, assuming that your domain controllers aren't ancient. Don't stress about the deleted hints container.