Working with DNS Zones

This page details some common DNS tasks performed from the DNS tab.

DNS Zones are accessed under the DNS tab, DNS Groups or DNS Zones sub-tabs. Separate zone lists exist under each DNS Group. 

DNS Records are accessed from either the View Zone page (for records under that zone), or globally under the DNS Records sub-tab. For Details on working with records in either area, see Working with DNS Records

For a more general overview DNS Groups and Editing Zones, see Working with DNS Groups and DNS Zones Overview. This page focuses on specific DNS zone tasks. 

Working with DNS Zones

Add a Zone

Add a new zone while in the DNS Groups tab by selecting "Add Zone" under the desired Group.

You may also add new zones from the DNS Zones tab, by clicking "Add Zone" next to Zone List.

 The "Create New Zone" dialog will pop up. 

Enter the name of your new zone and select a parent resource, if desired. The DNS group will already be selected. 

DNSv3 allows you to populate the zone with three options: 

• Empty Zone - create the zone as an empty zone, and manually create records
• Populate by AXFR Transfer - transfer zones from an outside server
• Clone an existing zone - use an existing zone as a template, and manually edit as needed

From there, you may either save your changes and complete zone creation, or add in optional field details.  

Optional Fields

Expand the "Optional Fields" section by clicking on the chevron (>) or the "Optional Fields" header. 

Under this section, add in optional values for Zone Host, Email, Serial , Refresh, Retry, Expiry, or TTL.

When finished, click "Save Changes". 

To exit without saving, simply click "Close". 

Edit a Zone (View Zone page)

Zones may be editing by clicking on the Zone name in any zone list in which it appears - the DNS Zones Zone List, DNS Groups Zone List, or zones listed as attached to a server under DNS Servers. 

Clicking on the zone name from any zone list opens up the View Zone page.

Here, comments may be added, records added or updated, servers attached to the zone, advanced settings edited, backups restored or the zone pushed / exported. For a general interface overview of the View Zone page, see DNS Zones Overview.

For detailed information on working with DNS Records from the View Zone page Record List or the DNS Records sub-tab, see Working with DNS Records.

Add a comment

To add a comment to a zone, click anywhere inside the comment area and begin typing. The comment will be saved when an area outside of the comment box is clicked, deselecting the comment area.

Edit Advanced Settings

Open the zone "Advanced Settings" section by clicking on the header or the expansion arrow (>).

Under this area, you can change settings such as Parent Resource, DNSSEC, Lists, Zone permissions, and free lines. 

Edit fields as needed, and click "Save" when done. 

Move Zones to a Different Group

Zones may be moved to a different Group than the one created under, by clicking the "Move" button in the zone's Actions menu. 

The "Move Zone" modal will appear - select the new Group to move to the zone under, and click "Save Changes" to complete. 

Pushing Zones

Zones may be pushed individually ("Push Zone Now"), as a scheduled future push ("Schedule Push"), or pushed as part of a Group or Server Push. 

Push Now (from Group List)

To immediately push a single zone, navigate to the DNS Group the zone is under, then click the "Push" button in the Actions column for the zone.

You may also look for the zone in the  DNS Zones tab Zone List, and then likewise, click the "Push" button in the zone row.

The "Push Status" modal will appear, showing status and any errors that occur. When a successful zone push is complete, a green "Finished DNS Pushing Request" message will appear, and the window may be closed. 

Push Now (from View Zone page)

The View Zone page, accessed from clicking on the zone name in the Group zone list, includes a "Push Zone Now" button that immediately attempts to push the zone to the attached server(s). 

Click on "Push Zone Now", and the "Push Status" modal will appear, showing status and any errors that occur.

When a successful zone push is complete, a green "Finished DNS Pushing Request" message will appear, and the window may be closed. 

Schedule Push (from View Zone page)

The View Zone page includes an option to schedule a zone push, similar to scheduling a Group push. 

Click "Schedule Push" for the zone, then select a date, time (12 hour, with AM / PM toggle), add a notification email address, and click "Save changes". 

The Scheduled task will be shown in both the Zone View page (under "Scheduled Tasks") and the Admin Scheduler task list.

The task may be deleted prior to running by clicking the "delete" button, but will automatically be removed once completed.

Schedule Push (Admin Scheduler): 

Scheduled zone and server pushes may also be set up by Admin users from the Scheduler tab. For more information, see the Scheduler Tab documentation.

Group Push: 

All zones contained in a DNS Group may be pushed at the same time, by pushing the DNS Group. 

For information on working with DNS Groups, including performing a manual or scheduled Group push, see Working with DNS Groups - Pushing a Group. 

Server Push:

Admin users may push all zones on a server from the DNS Tab -> DNS Servers page.

For information on working with DNS Servers, including performing a manual or scheduled server push, see Working with DNS Servers - Pushing a Server. 

Export a Zone

Individual zones may be exported to a .zone file by clicking the "Export Zone" button on the View Zone page.

Individual .zone files may later be compressed into a .zip, and used with ProVision's BIND DNS Zone Upload / Import tool.

Import Zone / Import Records

A  zone file (.zone) may be imported into a ProVision zone to populate record data. Note: To import the record data, the zone must already exist in ProVision - although it may be an empty placeholder zone if necessary.

Enable Saving Import Files (Admin Setting - Optional)

Before you import a zone file, you may (optionally) select to save the import file to the zone. Saving the file allows you to later re-download it directly from ProVision.

To enable saving import files, go to Admin Preferences → DNS Settings sub-tab. From there, select "Import Settings" in the DNS Global Settings module. 

Toggle "Keep Import File" into the ON position, then select "Save Changes". 

Import Zone File

To import a zone file to populate record data in ProVision, go to the View Zone page for the zone. The zone must already exist in ProVision, although it may be empty

Click "Import Zone" on the View Zone page. 

A Zone Import dialog box will open. Next to Zone File:, click "Choose File" and select your .zone file to import. Then, select an import policy to follow.

When done, Click "Import Zone". 

Importing Zone file with Comments

DNS Zone Import will also import comments contained in the .zone file, such as an internal change log (as seen in the image below).

During import, these comments are added to ProVision's zone comments field:

Download Imported Zone File

If "Keep Import File" has been enabled, the original zone import file will display in the View Zone page under "Zone Backups and Attached Files".

To download the original file, click "Download" for the import file.

Delete a Zone

Users with resource delete permissions over the zone  may delete a zone record by clicking the "Delete" button under "Actions" for the desired zone entry in any Zone List. 

Addiitonal Information:

For more information on working with DNS Zones, Groups, and Servers, see the following sections:

• DNS Tab
• Working with DNS Groups
• Working with DNS Records
• Editing DNS Zones (The View Zone Page)
• DNS Administration
• Import DNS Zones
• Approvals