Q: DNS not working in server admin

holey crapola..that worked for me to..I just went to the var folder..and added .backup to each db. file in the "named" folder.

SAVED!!!

Actually..hold the presses...the DNS appeared to work..then my zones just disappear on their own. They don't stay.

so the problem is still happening..

There is a MUCH easier way to locate and then fix the offending db file entry in named.conf. It is usually just one file in my experience. You will need to find and remove only the offending db file in the /var/named directory. You then recreate ONLY the corrupted domain, and not ALL of the domains. Here's what I did and it was quick and relatively painless!

Note: You are at the machine keyboard running the DNS, or you are logged in with Remote Desktop to that machine.

1. Open the Server application and click on the DNS service. Turn the DNS service OFF. Quit the Server application.  To reiterate, Quit the Server application!
2. In the finder, locate the startup hard drive. On my Mac Mini Server, this is named Server HD. Yours may be different.
3. In the Finder's Go menu, choose 'Go To Folder' and type '/var/named' (without the single quotes of course).
4. Select a handful of the files starting with 'db.' and followed with a real domain name. Don't select reverse domains since they seem to be less likely the offending currupted file and you will know shortly if they are corrupted or not anyway.
5. In the Finder's File menu choose 'Move to Trash.' This moves your selected files to the trash but retains the root ownership which is very important.
6. Reopen the Server application. If the offending db file is not in the /var/named directory now, the Server application will read the named.conf settings. This means then that the offending file is indeed one of those in the Trash!
7. Quit the Server application again. Select and make a mental note of a handful of the db files in the Trash and from the Finder's File menu choose 'Put Back.'
8. Open the Server application again. Once again, if the offending db file is not in the /var/named directory now, the Server application will read the named.conf settings. This means then that the offending file is still indeed one of those in the Trash! If the settings do not read correctly, then the offending db file was one of those that you just 'Put Back.'
9. By this process of elimination, you can then locate any corrupted db file. Remeber that it is a best practice to close the Server application before putting files back into the /var/named directory.
10. Once you have moved all the non-corrupted files from the Trash to the /var/named directory, you can set about recreating the offending domain name entry in the Server application. Once you are done, remember to turn the DNS service back on.

Hope that helps and if there is anything I've left out, please reply so that we can have a complete solution to this nagging problem.

Ron