Zones

This page provides options to manage your domain names by creating and modifying zones. A zone refers to a portion of the domain name space for which a domain name server is authoritative and possesses complete information. With DNS Server, zone files can be created, stored, and managed on your Synology NAS.

Create zones

Zones are divided into three types: master zones, slave zones, and forwarding zones. Master zones possess all information required for zone files. Slave zones copy zone files from master zones (i.e., "zone transfer"). Forwarding zones forward DNS queries to specific forwarders.

To create a new master zone:

  1. Click Create.
  2. Select Master zone.
  3. Edit the following settings:
  4. Click OK to save the settings.

Domain Naming Rules:

Domain names consist of one or more sections separated with dots called labels, such as the "john" in "john.synology.com". Domain names can include 253 Unicode characters, including letters, numbers, as well as dashes (-) and dots (.) (except for at the beginning). A domain name allows 127 labels. Each label can include 63 characters.

To allow clients to find your server over the Internet, please enter a registered domain name.

Reverse Domains and PTR Resource Records:

PTR records translate IP addresses into the FQDN (fully qualified domain name) of the corresponding host. To reduce spam messages, some email providers authenticate sender IP addresses. If a sender IP address contains no PTR record or the results of forward and reverse resolutions are different, the email provider will block messages sent from this IP address. If you want to implement reverse domain resolution, please inquire with your Internet service provider.

To create a new slave zone:

  1. Click Create.
  2. Select Slave zone.
  3. Edit the following settings:
  4. Click OK to save the settings.

To create a new forwarding zone:

  1. Click Create.
  2. Select Forwarding zone.
  3. Edit the following settings:
  4. Click OK to save the settings.

Note:

Import and export zones

Existing zones can be exported to the local computer and then imported with DNS Server, allowing you to create zones on separate devices with existing zone files.

To export resource record:

  1. Select a zone.
  2. Click Export Zone.
  3. Select Resource record.

Note:

To export complete zone settings:

  1. Select the zone you wish to export.
  2. Click Export Zone.
  3. Select Complete zone settings.

To import resource record:

  1. Click Create.
  2. Select Import zone.
  3. Select Resource record from the File type menu.
  4. Enter zone details and choose a zone file from the local computer.
  5. Click OK to finish.

Note:

To import complete zone settings:

  1. Click Create.
  2. Select Import zone.
  3. Select Complete zone settings from the File type menu.
  4. Click OK to finish.

Manage zones

This section explains how to edit zone details, enable or disable zones, or create SOA records and resource records.

To edit zone settings:

  1. Select a zone and click Edit.
  2. Click Zone settings.
  3. Edit the following settings:
  4. Click OK to save the settings.

Note:

To edit SOA records:

  1. Select a zone and click Edit.
  2. Click SOA record.
  3. Edit the follow settings:
  4. Click OK to save the settings.

Note:

To create resource records:

  1. Select a zone and click Edit.
  2. Click Resource record.
  3. Click Create to add a new resource record.
  4. Select a resource record type, such as A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, PTR, SPF, SRV, TXT, CAA, etc.
  5. Enter the following resource record details:
  6. Click OK to save the settings.

Note:

Resource Records

To edit resource records:

  1. Select a zone and click Edit.
  2. Click Resource record.
  3. Select the resource records you wish to edit, and click Edit.

Note:

To change slave zones into master zones:

Slave zones can be changed into master zones. Therefore, you can create a slave zone on your Synology NAS, synchronize zone files from another name server, and subsequently change the zone to a master zone in order to manage it from your Synology NAS.

  1. Select a slave zone.
  2. Click Change to master zone.

Note:

To delete a zone:

  1. Select the zone you wish to delete.
  2. Click Delete.
  3. Click Delete again to confirm the deletion.
    Note: The deletion of zones is irreversible.