DNS Server Management

The DNS Server Management role consists of the following tasks:

• Creating a DNS Server Object
• Viewing or Modifying a DNS Server Object
• Deleting a DNS Server
• Starting/Stopping the DNS Server
• Configuring DNS Auditing
• Viewing or Saving the DNS Audit Trail Log
• Viewing or Saving the DNS Event Log

Creating a DNS Server Object

Use the DNS/DHCP Management Utility to create and set up a DNS Server object for each DNS server you plan to operate.

1. Click DNS Management > DNS Server Management to open the DNS Server Management window in the main panel.

2. Select Create Server from the drop-down menu and click OK to open the Create DNS Server window.

3. Enter a server name, or browse to select a server from the eDirectory tree.

4. Enter a unique host name for the DNS server object.

5. Enter a domain name for the server object.

6. Click Create.

   A message indicates that the new DNS server was created.

Viewing or Modifying a DNS Server Object

After you create a DNS Server object, you can modify its configuration parameters.

1. Click DNS Management > DNS Server Management to open the DNS Server Management window in the main panel.

2. Select View/Modify Server from the drop-down menu and click OK to open the View/Modify DNS Server window.

3. Select the DNS Server.

4. Click OK.

You are led through a set of steps that allow you to modify the following DNS Server configuration parameters:

• List of Zones: Lists the names of the zones that the server controls. This field cannot be edited.
• DNS Server IP Address: Lists the set of domains and subdomains that the server controls. This field cannot be edited.
• DNS Server Domain name: Lists the domain name of the DNS server.
• DNS Server Comments: You can type comments about the DNS server in this box. This is an optional parameter.
• Forward List: Specifies a list of IP addresses of DNS servers.

  - To add servers to the Forward List, click Add > Enter the IP Address of the server and click OK.

  - To remove servers from the Forward List, select the IP Address of the server from the Forward List and click Delete.

• No Forward List: Specifies a list of hostnames whose unresolved queries will not be forwarded to other DNS servers.
  • To add servers to the No Forward List, click Add > Enter the name of the server and click OK.
  • To remove servers from the Forward List, select the domain name of the server from the No Forward List > click Delete.

• Events Log: Specifies the degree of event data the server is to collect. Major or critical events denote a significant change in the state of server processing. To configure the event log, choose from the following options:
  • None: Turns off event logging (default)
  • Major Events: Logs only critical events
  • All: Logs both major and minor events

• Audit Log: Check Enable Audit Trail Log to log audit trails and events.

Deleting a DNS Server

1. Click DHCP Management > DHCP Server Management to open the DNS Server Management window in the main panel.

2. Select Delete Server from the drop-down menu and click OK to open the Delete DNS Server window.

   • To remove all the DNS servers in the list, check the top-level check box and click Delete.
   • To remove one or more DNS servers, check the check box next to it and click Delete.

Starting/Stopping the DNS Server

The DNS server must be loaded before you can start or stop server activity.

1. Click DNS Management > DNS Server Management to open the DNS Server Management window in the main panel.

2. Select Start/Stop Server from the drop-down menu and click OK to open the DNS Server Start/Stop Services window.

3. Select the DNS server.

4. Click OK.

5. Depending on the state of the DNS Server module, any one of the following will now appear:

   • Failure notification message: This appears if the DNS Server module (NAMED.NLM) is not loaded. In order to start the server, load the DNS Server module through the system console.
   • Start button: If the DNS Server module is loaded but is in STOP mode, click to start the DNS server.
   • Stop button: If the DNS Server module is loaded but is in START mode, click to stop the DNS server.

   NOTE:  To use the Start/Stop DNS service, NAMED.NLM must be loaded.

Configuring DNS Auditing

To configure a DNS server to audit activities, complete the following steps:

1. Click DNS Management > DNS Server Management to open the DNS Server Management window in the main panel.

2. Select View/Modify Server from the drop-down menu and click OK to open the View/Modify DNS Server window.

3. Select the DNS Server.

4. Click OK.

5. Click Next > Next and select Major Events or All under Event Log.

6. Check the Enable Audit Trail Log check box.

7. Click OK.

Viewing or Saving the DNS Audit Trail Log

1. Click DNS Management > DNS Server Management to open the DNS Server Management window in the main panel.

2. Select Audit Trail Log from the drop-down menu and click OK to open the DNS Server Audit Trail Log window

3. Select the server from the Select DNS Server drop-down menu.

4. If you want to filter the Audit Period, modify the Starting Date and Ending Date in the appropriate fields.

   The following date format is accepted:

   mm-dd-yyyy

5. Click OK.

   This opens the DNS Audit Trail Log table, which lists the following data:

   • Entry Time: Date and time the event occurred.
   • Type: Type of event.
   • IP Address: IP Address at which the event occurred.
   • Domain Name: Domain Name at which the event occurred.

6. To define a view filter on the Audit Trail Log, click the Display Options button.

   You can now filter events on the following parameters:

   • Start Date: to set a start date for monitoring the DNS audit trail.
   • End Date: to set an end date for monitoring the DNS audit trail.
   • Agent Ready: The SNMP (Simple Network Mail Protocol) agent is ready to receive or transmit requests.
   • Query Received: The DNS server acknowledges the receipt of a query by making an entry in the log file.
   • Query Forwarded: The DNS server forwards a query to a client or another DNS server.
   • Response Received: The DNS server responds to a query from a client or another DNS server.

To Save the DNS Audit Trail Log

1. Click Next on the DNS Audit Trail Log window.

2. Click Download File > Save the Audit Trail Log file on your local machine.

Viewing or Saving the DNS Event Log

1. Click DNS Management > DNS Server Management to open the DNS Server Management window in the main panel.

2. Select Event Log from the drop-down menu and click OK to open the DNS Event Log window.

3. Select the server from the Select DNS Server drop-down menu.

4. If you want to filter the Audit Period, modify the Starting Date and Ending Date in the appropriate fields.

   The following date format is accepted:

   mm-dd-yyyy

5. Click OK.

   This opens the DNS Event Log table, which lists the following data:

   • Entry Time: Date and time the event occurred.
   • Severity: Severity of the event - critical, major, warning, and informational.
   • State: State of the server - operational, degraded, and inoperative.
   • Description: Description of the event that occurred.

6. To define a view filter on the DNS Event Log, click the Display Options button.

   You can now filter events on the following parameters:

   • Start and end date settings regulate the time recorded by the event logger.
   • Severity options define which event levels are recorded: critical, major, warning, and informational.
   • State settings define the condition of events recorded: operational, degraded, and inoperative.

To Save the DNS Event Log

1. Click Next on the DNS Event Log window.

2. Click Download File > Save the Event Log file on your local machine.