Setting up DNS on Windows 2003 is an easy task. In this article will explain the steps to set up DNS on Windows 2003 in an easy to understand way. The first thing you need to do is to install the DNS module. To install the DNS snapin on Windows 2003 Standard or Enterprise Server click Start and select Manage You Server. Once the Wizard opens select Add or Remove a Roll. When the wizard is done checking your hardware it will popup a box that will list all rolls you can enable. Select DNS and follow along with the prompts. It’s pretty straight forward and easy to follow. Once installed you’ll see an option to configure a DNS server. This will open the DNS Manager and start the wizard to configure your DNS server. Once the DNS manager opens you can start to set up the zones for your websites. Lets get started.

Right click YouServerName in the left pane of the manager and select Configure a DNS server. The wizard will open. There will be a DNS checklist that you can click to make sure you have all the information you need to set up DNS for your domain.
Once you are sure you have all the information needed click next.
The first option, create a forward lookup zone, will be checked bydefault. Leave like that and click next.
This step is to set your server as the maintainer of the zone. The correct option that you want is checked by default so go ahead and click next.
The next step is to give this server a name. The name should be your domain. If you’re domain is mydomain.com then enter mydomain.com as the name. Once you enter the name click next.
Next thing is the creation of the zone file. The zone file holds all the data for this domain. It is similar to the zone files on Linux servers. No need to change this. Leave it as default. The default will be mydomain.dns. Click next to go to the next step.
In this step you’ll choose if you want to allow dynamic updates for this zone. It is not a good idea to enable this unless you plan on running a dynamic DNS server. One that can be updated by a script if the IP to your site changes. Leave this at default which is Do not allow dynamic updates. Click next to go to the next step.
This step is for forwarders. This should be set to yes, the first option and defaut option, if you have a master DNS server and what to forward lookup request to that server. I wll assume this will be your default DNS server for your domain so uncheck the first option and check the option to not forward queries.
That’s it. A DNS server for your domain is now set up.
In DNS manager in the left window expand forward zones and you’ll see a new folder called mydomain.com. Now you can set up your host (IP) records, mx records and nameservers so that your domain resolves to your server. In the next article I write about how to set up the domains.