Tag Archives: DNS zone file

Zone transfer: What is it and how does it work?

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Today we will talk about zone transfer. First, we will explain its purpose and how it functions. Then we will explore what a zone file is, and for the final note, we will see the zone transfer vulnerability’s effects. So, let’s start.

Zone transfer: Definition

Duplicating DNS records from the Master DNS zone to the Backup DNS zone is the procedure known as zone transfer. This gives you the option to duplicate your DNS records on various alternative name servers. You will have higher availability as a result of finishing the transfer if one of the name servers fails. Additionally, faster DNS resolution will be advantageous if you run a worldwide website with users from all over the world and numerous presence locations (PoPs).

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​DNS zone file: Explained for beginners

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In extremely short, the DNS zone file is the DNS information that includes all your DNS records about your domain that you keep on your Primary authoritative name server and you copy on your Secondary name servers. If you want to know more about the DNS zone file, go on and read the rest of this article.

​DNS zone file definition

All the information (all the DNS records, a.k.a resource records) for a DNS zone are saved on a file called DNS zone file. 

It is a text file that is hosted inside the Primary authoritative name server. Inside it, you have all the resource records’ text listed in a sequence (line-orientated entries). 

Inside the file, there are some control entries that are called directives, and they are presented by a dollar sign and its name. Examples of directives are:

  • $ORIGIN – shows the domain name that is used as the origin for further subsets of domain names. 
  • $INCLUDE – Shows which files to include too. It can add other origin domain names. 
  • $TTL – a default TTL value for the file itself. 
  • $GENERATE – non-standard extension to insert multiple resource records with a single entry.

If you need more detailed info, check this article about DNS zone file!

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