Win2K3 DNS - Cleaning out stale records

[NathanBWF]

I just started with a new company, and the DNS server has hundreds of stale records that are causing problems on our network. We have DNS/DHCP configured properly for dynamic dns, however records don't seem to update properly, and the server seems to hang on to old records.

Is it feasible to simply delete that vast majority of the records (not the servers of course)? The next time the machines reboot and are logged into the domain, the appropriate records should be recreated, no?

I've tried using the scavenging feature however it didn't do anything...

 

[Genx87]

I believe you can by setting the againg property in you zone. You can set an interval for it to get rid of old records.

 

[NathanBWF]

Originally posted by: Genx87
I believe you can by setting the againg property in you zone. You can set an interval for it to get rid of old records.

Yeah I tried setting that, still didn't do anything. 🙁

 

[spyordie007]

On the server level have you tried manually sending the "Scavange Stale Resource Records" command?

And for clairification have you enabled stale resource scavaging on the zone or on the server?

 

[NathanBWF]

Originally posted by: spyordie007
On the server level have you tried manually sending the "Scavange Stale Resource Records" command?

And for clairification have you enabled stale resource scavaging on the zone or on the server?

Yes, I tried manually on the server level. I'm in the snap in right now and don't believe you can set the scavenging time based on the zone, only on the server unless I'm missing something here...

EDIT: NM, you right click on the server, but it actually sets it on the zone...

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: NathanBWF

Originally posted by: spyordie007
On the server level have you tried manually sending the "Scavange Stale Resource Records" command?

And for clairification have you enabled stale resource scavaging on the zone or on the server?

Yes, I tried manually on the server level. I'm in the snap in right now and don't believe you can set the scavenging time based on the zone, only on the server unless I'm missing something here...

EDIT: NM, you right click on the server, but it actually sets it on the zone...

You can set it on the zone as well, just right-click on the zone, bring up properties and click on the "aging" button

 

[NathanBWF]

Originally posted by: spyordie007

Originally posted by: NathanBWF

Originally posted by: spyordie007
On the server level have you tried manually sending the "Scavange Stale Resource Records" command?

And for clairification have you enabled stale resource scavaging on the zone or on the server?

Yes, I tried manually on the server level. I'm in the snap in right now and don't believe you can set the scavenging time based on the zone, only on the server unless I'm missing something here...

EDIT: NM, you right click on the server, but it actually sets it on the zone...

You can set it on the zone as well, just right-click on the zone, bring up properties and click on the "aging" button

Ah, you're right.

When I went in there, it was set to the same as I had set it on the server level.

Anyway, it's still not working. Bah...

 

[Genx87]

After you set it at the server level, did you run the scavage stale records command?
It takes a few minutes or more depending on how big your DNS database is.

 

[Smilin]

Scavenging is set in three places and must be set at all three.

1. At the server (advanced tab, 'enable automatic...' checkbox)
2. At the zone (general tab, aging button)
3. On the individual RR (view, advanced in MMC then properties on the RR)

If you are using AD integrated zones you generally only want to have one server do the scavenging so you have a single place to look for events. Leave scavenging off on additional servers (but leave zone and RR settings on)

When you first flip scavenging on it isn't going to do much. You have a no-refresh and refresh interval that needs to expire before deletion will happen. If you want to scavenge more aggressively you can bump down the no-refresh interval (leave refresh alone unless you are lowering your DHCP lease time).

If you have a zone that is all dynamic records you can accelerate the process with dnscmd /ageallrecords. WARNING: this is a dangerous command as it ages ALL records, including static ones. You can shoot yourself in the foot with this real quick if you have static records and you fail to clear the stale checkbox on em.

 

[NathanBWF]

Originally posted by: Smilin
Scavenging is set in three places and must be set at all three.

1. At the server (advanced tab, 'enable automatic...' checkbox)
2. At the zone (general tab, aging button)
3. On the individual RR (view, advanced in MMC then properties on the RR)

If you are using AD integrated zones you generally only want to have one server do the scavenging so you have a single place to look for events. Leave scavenging off on additional servers (but leave zone and RR settings on)

When you first flip scavenging on it isn't going to do much. You have a no-refresh and refresh interval that needs to expire before deletion will happen. If you want to scavenge more aggressively you can bump down the no-refresh interval (leave refresh alone unless you are lowering your DHCP lease time).

If you have a zone that is all dynamic records you can accelerate the process with dnscmd /ageallrecords. WARNING: this is a dangerous command as it ages ALL records, including static ones. You can shoot yourself in the foot with this real quick if you have static records and you fail to clear the stale checkbox on em.

Sorry... RR = ?

Oh...and I didn't have it enabled as per #1...that could be one of the issues...

 

[Smilin]

RR = resource record (A host, PTR, SOA etc..)

You must have scavenging enabled in all three places for it to work so if #1 wasn't set that would be a problem.