DNS Command Reference

Function	DNSCMD option	Example	Comments
Do any dnscmd command on a remote system	dnscmd servername command	dnscmd main.bigfirm.com /zoneprint bigfirm.com
Create a primary zone	dnscmd /zoneadd zonename/primary	dnscmd /zoneadd bigfirm.com /primary
Create a secondary zone	dnscmd /zoneadd zonename/secondary master IP address	dnscmd /zoneadd bigfirm.com /secondary 192.168.1.1
Host a zone on a server based on an existing (perhaps restored) zone file	dnscmd /zoneadd zonename/primary /file filename /load	dnscmd /zoneadd bigfirm.com /primary /file bigfirm.com.dns /load
Delete a zone from a server	dnscmd /zonedelete zonename [/f]	dnscmd /zonedelete bigfirm.com /f	(without the /f, dnscmd asks you if you really want to delete the zone)
Show all of the zones on a DNS server	dnscmd /enumzones	dnscmd /enumzones
Dump (almost) all of the records in a zone	dnscmd /zoneprint zonename	dnscmd /zoneprint bigfirm.com	Doesn't show glue records.
Add an A record to a zone	dnscmd /recordadd zonenamehostname A ipaddress	dnscmd /recordadd bigfirm.com mypc A 192.168.1.33
Add an NS record to a zone	dnscmd /recordadd zonename @ NSservername	dnscmd /recordadd bigfirm.com @ dns3.bigfirm.com
Delegate a new child domain, naming its first DNS server	dnscmd /recordadd zonenamechildname NS dnsservername	dnscmd /recordadd bigfirm.com test NS main.bigfirm.com	This would create the "test.bigfirm.com" DNS child domain unter the bigfirm.com DNS domain
Add an MX record to a zone	dnscmd /recordadd zonename @ MXpriority servername	dnscmd /recordadd bigfirm.com @ MX 10 mail.bigfirm.com
Add a PTR record to a reverse lookup zone	dnscmd /recordadd zonename lowIPPTR FQDN	dnscmd /recordadd 1.168.192.in-addr.arpa 3 PTR pc1.bigfirm.com	This is the PTR record for a system with IP address 192.168.1.3
Modify a zone's SOA record	dnscmd /recordadd zonename @ SOA primaryDNSservername responsibleemailipaddress serialnumber refreshinterval retryinterval expireinterval defaultTTL	dnscmd /recordadd bigfirm.com @ SOA winserver.bigfirm.com mark.bigfirm.com 41 1800 60 2592000 7200	Ignores the serial number if it's not greater than the current serial number
Delete a resource record	dnscmd /recorddelete zonenamerecordinfo [/f]	dnscmd /recorddelete bigfirm.com @ NS main.bigfirm.com /f	Again, "/f" means "don't annoy me with a confirmation request, just do it."
Create a resource record and incorporate a nonstandard TTL	dnscmd /recordadd zonenameleftmostpartofrecord TTLrestofrecord	dnscmd /recordadd bigfirm.com pc34 3200 A 192.168.1.4
Reload a zone from its zone file in \windows\system32\dns	dnscmd /zonereload zonename	dnscmd /zonereload bigfirm.com	Really only useful on primary DNS servers
Force DNS server to flush DNS data to zone file	dnscmd /zonewriteback zonename	dnscmd /zonewriteback bigfirm.com
Tell a primary whom to allow zone transfers to	dnscmd /zoneresetsecondarieszonename /nonsecure|securens	dnscmd /zoneresetsecondaries bigfirm.com /nonsecure	That example says to allow anyone who asks to get a zone transfer
Enable/disable DNS NOTIFY	dnscmd /zoneresetsecondarieszonename /notify|/nonotify	dnscmd /zoneresetsecondaries bigfirm.com /nonotify	Example disables DNS notification, which is contrary to the default settings.
Tell a secondary DNS server to request any updates from the primary	dnscmd /zonerefresh zonename	dnscmd /zonerefresh bigfirm.com
Enable or disable dynamic DNS on a zone	dnscmd /config zonename/allowupdate 1|0	1 enables, 0 disables, 0 is default
Stop the DNS service	Either net stop dns or sc stop dns		(No dnscmd command for this)
Start the DNS service	Either net start dns or sc start dns		(No dnscmd command for this)
Install the DNS service on a 2008 full install system	servermanagercmd -install dns
Install the DNS service on a 2008 Server Core system	ocsetup DNS-Server-Core-Role		Case matters --ocsetup dns-server-core-role would fail
Uninstall the DNS service on a 2008 Server full install system	servermanagercmd -remove dns
Uninstall the DNS service on a 2008 Server Core system	ocsetup /uninstall DNS-Server-Core-Role