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33.2. Supported DNS Zone Types

IdM supports two DNS zone types: master and forward zones.
Note
This guide uses the BIND terminology for zone types which is different from the terminology used for Microsoft Windows DNS. Master zones in BIND serve the same purpose as forward lookup zones and reverse lookup zones in Microsoft Windows DNS. Forward zones in BIND serve the same purpose as conditional forwarders in Microsoft Windows DNS.
Master DNS zones
Master DNS zones contain authoritative DNS data and can accept dynamic DNS updates. This behavior is equivalent to the type master setting in standard BIND configuration. Master zones are managed using the ipa dnszone-* commands.
In compliance with standard DNS rules, every master zone must contain SOA and NS records. IdM generates these records automatically when the DNS zone is created, but the NS records must be manually copied to the parent zone to create proper delegation.
In accordance with standard BIND behavior, forwarding configuration specified for master zones only affects queries for names for which the server is not authoritative.

Example 33.1. Example Scenario for DNS Forwarding

The IdM server contains the test.example. master zone. This zone contains an NS delegation record for the sub.test.example. name. In addition, the test.example. zone is configured with the 192.0.2.254 forwarder IP address.
A client querying the name nonexistent.test.example. receives the NXDomain answer, and no forwarding occurs because the IdM server is authoritative for this name.
On the other hand, querying for the sub.test.example. name is forwarded to the configured forwarder 192.0.2.254 because the IdM server is not authoritative for this name.
Forward DNS zones
Forward DNS zones do not contain any authoritative data. All queries for names belonging to a forward DNS zone are forwarded to a specified forwarder. This behavior is equivalent to the type forward setting in standard BIND configuration. Forward zones are managed using the ipa dnsforwardzone-* commands.