I know I am going to look like a total dweeb/newb by asking this and I have even figured it out before but I want to make sure I am doing it correct.
Internally I need all requests for mydomain.homeip.net to be redirected to the local IP 192.168.0.99 which happens to host OWA and the Active Sync services for push email. Currently now these requests fail internally for mobile devices on the wifi and desktops that try to browse via the domain name.
What is the formal name/term for the task I need to complete within the Server 2008 DNS manager? And would some kind soul please inform me how to do it.
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I just need DNS requests to mydomain.homeip.net to be redirected to 192.168.0.99 that all really. I did it two years ago in the DNS manager and it took 2 seconds, but I hoonestly cant remember how. Domain is all setup perfectly mate, mail works machines have joined it and all machines use the DNS server already which has forwarders to the ISP's DNs working prefect. I just need to redirect request to the local IP, works fine outside the network.
There are three ways to do this:
1. the proper way:
look up how to set "DNS loopback" or "NAT loopback" for your router/firewall so that HTTPS requests from the LAN side to the WAN side are channelled to the correct server on the LAN side
2. the silly way
alter each users hosts file (C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVE
192.168.0.99 mydomain.homeip.net
3. the very very silly way
set up a new domain in your internal DNS server but expect other things to break
Exactly - in order to resolve an internal ip address you have to use an internal DNS server that is capable of resolving the internal address ... external DNS servers will not resolve internal/private ip addresses ... so in the DNS Manager for the internal domain setup a zone for the homeip.net domain and then setup an A Record for the mydomain host, and then you'll need to setup hosts and mx records and such for all the external stuff (mail server, website, etc ... as long as that is actually external and not really internal - ie - you host website on IIS, and use exchange for email, then you can just set the A Records to use the internal IP addresses for those instead of the external)
Essentially once you setup the internal DNS Server to be authoritative for the domain, clients won't check the external DNS Servers in a query for the external stuff belonging to that domain, hence why everything A Records, MX Records, etc. need to be done inside as well ...
tecnica - not all routers support NAT Loopback ... which leaves you with your silly method and my supposedly very silly method ... yes Hosts file presents a very easy and fast way to do the redirect, but you have to remember to do that all the time to all the units, but handhelds where do you set their hosts file? so it's easier to understand DNS in the long run and setup the zone in the internal DNS Server, and understand what is internal and external and set the appropriate A Records to point to the right addresses whether they are internal or external ... only internal boxes will use this anyways, and anything external will still use the proper outside DNS settings to get to the outside resources ... now if you want external access to the internal resource you can always do a port forward on the router (I haven't seen a router without this ability at least) and gain access that way whether you are internal or external ....
There are notes in their firmware releases saying they do support NAT loopback.
I can't remember how NAT is set up on Drayteks but on most good firewalls it is matter of setting a rule as follows:
Source: LAN Subnet
Destination: Primary WAN IP Address
Service: HTTPS
Translated Source: Primary WAN IP Address
Translated Destination: IP address of OWA server
Prior to trying to support DNS, you should understand how a DNS query works.
http://www.experts-exchang
For a domain, you need a top-level domain name server. Otherwise, you will not resolve inside queries without configuring a host file on EVERY SINGLE computer with a list of EVERY SINGLE COMPUTER in the host file.
Are you on a domain? If so, you set up a DNS server for internal queries. Then, you point all your servers printers and computers to that server. Then, you configure forwarders to look outside your domain.
I do have a Dc mate, I stuck in a few DNS forwarders provided by "OpenDNS.com" performance seems to have massively improved with regards to resolution of webpages well chuffed. To be honest I thought that meant I had configured everything perfectly. There is seems to be a lot more into this than I initially thought. I am currently reading your article, interesting to know how it all actually works.
The more secure method of getting into the domain from the outside world is a VPN connection. That is a secure tunnel to the domain itself. The VPN will go right to the router, where the router will provide a link into the domain. It's like skipping the router.
A more expensive approach, but the most secure way is to create a DMZ, outside the firewall, and impliment PKI or a citrix server.
I was under the impression, he wanted to fix internal DNS resolution. It also appears like there were a few discrepancies with External DNS resolution.
If he wants mail and maybe a corporate web site to be accessed from the oustide, this means we are looking at router edits and VPN software.
So, the author may need to be a little more explicit in his intentions before we can set him up with a working/secure solution.
Regargless of what action is taken, it would be best to get DNS to work the way it was designed. Then, work on outside access to certain stuff. None of this will work if DNS isn't straight.
No, I don't think you have been reading the question. He has been very explicit but you have an agenda. I think you've seen DNS in the title made some assumptions and waded in with lots of your pre-set DNS explanations (which I'm sure are very helpful to many people when used appropriately).
At no point has anyone but you said his DNS is broken. It is not. That is not the issue.
He needs his devices to resolve an external FQN to his main WAN address when outside the LAN but to a LAN server address when inside the LAN. He could spoof the FQN in his internal DNS but that would be nasty or he could keep the FQN pointing to the correct WAN address and do DNS loopback on the router for anything with a source on the LAN which is the proper way and neatest way to do it.
Luke,
Do you have a Cisco router? There is functionality built in for exactly what you want to do. It is the DNS rewrite configuration. Basically, it will rewrite the DNS at the router level and provide you what you need without having to monkey around with your DNS config.
Please let me know if you are interested in pursuing this method.
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by: TBK-ConsultingPosted on 2009-11-07 at 09:18:58ID: 25767130
You need to setup the domain internally on Windows 2008 DNS Server and then give the A Record for each host that needs to be resolved with the proper internal IP Address, and if anything is external for that domain you'll need to list those out as well or internal requests for external items in that domain will fail from then on as well ...