The Windows 2000 DNS Server service provides the capability to test and monitor DNS by using the DNS console. Nslookup, an industry-standard utility, is also available for testing the DNS Server service and testing resource records.

Monitoring a DNS Name Server

You can configure the DNS Server service to perform queries on a scheduled basis to ensure that the service is operating correctly.

In the DNS console, open the Properties dialog box for the server that you want to monitor, and then click the Monitoring tab. You can test a DNS name server by performing two types of queries:

Under Tests Performed, select the Simple query check box, the Recursive query check box, or both, and then click Test Now. The test results appear under Test results in the Properties dialog box for the server.

Using Nslookup

Nslookup is the primary diagnostic utility for the DNS Server service, and is installed with TCP/IP. You can use Nslookup to view resource records and direct queries to any DNS name server, including UNIX implementations of DNS.

Nslookup has two modes: interactive and noninteractive. When you require:

The following table describes the Nslookup syntax: nslookup [-option ...] [computer-to-find | - (server)]

Syntax Description
-option... Specify one or more Nslookup commands. For a list of commands, type a question mark (?) to open Help.
computer-to-find If the computer-to-find is an IP address, Nslookup returns the host name. If the computer-to-find is a host name, Nslookup returns an IP address. If the computer to find is a name and does not have a trailing period, the default DNS domain name is appended to the name. To find a computer outside of the current DNS domain, append a period to the name.
-server Use this server as the DNS name server. If the server is omitted, the currently configured default DNS name server is used.

Note   For Nslookup to work properly, a PTR resource record for the DNS name server must exist in the server's database. Upon startup, Nslookup performs a reverse lookup on the IP address of the server that is running the DNS Server service.