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How to Set Up a DNS Zone for Reverse Lookups

Articles and Tips: article

01 Nov 2001


For those of you who are running Novell NetWare 5.0 or 5.1, Novell Domain Name Services (DNS) Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Services, Novell DNSDHCP Management Console, or are using Novell DNS 5.x or Novell DHCP 3.x, you may be wondering how you can set up a DNS zone for reverse lookups.

When setting up your DNS DHCP services, some you have received the following error messages or problems:

  • DNSDHCP -- IN-ADDR.ARPA Domain Not Working.

  • IN-ADDR.ARPA Not Configured Properly.

  • The DNS server does not respond when queried for the PTR record.

  • Or when creating records for the domain zone, the associated PTR record is not created.

The Cause

The reason for such error messages or problems is because you are using the Zone for a subnet that has a 224 mask on the fourth byte. Example: Network address is 200.1.1.160 returning the range of addresses from 160 - 191 (160 being the subnet and 191 the broadcast address).

Note: IN-ADDR.ARPA does not recognize subnet masks. Class A addresses should include only the first octet of the address, i.e. 10.0.0.0. Class B addresses should include the first two octets, i.e. 128.1.0.0. Class C addresses should include the first three octets, i.e. 192.168.1.0 The numbers will show up automatically reversed as 1.168.192.IN-ADDR.ARPA.

By identifying the larger subnet (0 on the last byte) the server will respond to any requests for look-up within that known range.

The Solution

Create the IN-ADDR.ARPA domain and indicate a subnet that ends in a zero.

To create an IN-ADDR.ARPA Zone object, complete the following steps:

  1. Click the DNS Service tab of the DNS/DHCP Management Console.

  2. Click Create on the tool bar, select Zone, then click OK. You will see the Create Zone dialog box displayed. The default setting is to create a new Primary zone.

  3. Select Create IN-ADDR.ARPA.

  4. Use the browse button to select the NDS context for the zone.

  5. Enter an IP address in the Zone Domain Name field. After you enter the IP address, it is reversed and prepended to .IN-ADDR.ARPA and reflected in the box below the Zone Domain Name field.

  6. Under Zone Type, select Primary or Secondary. If you select Secondary, you must enter the IP address of the DNS Name Server that will provide "zone out" transfers to this zone.

  7. In the Assign Authoritative DNS Server field, select a DNS server.

  8. Once you have selected an authoritative DNS server, the Name Server Host Name field is filled with name of the authoritative DNS server. Click Create, then click Save.

For More Information

For more information configuring Domain Name Services, see http://www.novell.com/documentation/ lg/nw5/usnds/dhcp_enu/data/hz6yi7mh.html

* Originally published in Novell AppNotes

Disclaimer

The origin of this information may be internal or external to Novell. While Novell makes all reasonable efforts to verify this information, Novell does not make explicit or implied claims to its validity.

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