[ActiveDir] _Msdcs.domain.com Zone Creation

[Nathan Casey]

I am setting a lab to test AD migration and have a question about _Msdcs.domain.com Zone Creation. dcpromo with DNS configured first: installed DNS and forward lookup zone (domain.gov). Server points to itself as primary DNS server and registered itself in the domain.gov zone. I then ran dcpromo. Dcpromo saw that DNS was already configured and continued with the install. After reboot, the _msdcs, _sites, _tcp, and _udp zones were created under the domain.gov zone. The forward lookup zone _Msdcs.domain.gov zone was not created. Dcpromo without DNS configured first: Server points to itself as primary DNS. DNS in not configured. I ran dcpromo. Dcpromo saw that DNS was not already configured and offered to install it for me which I chose to do. I set up domain.gov and continued with the install. After reboot, the _msdcs, _sites, _tcp, and _udp zones were created under the domain.gov zone. The forward lookup zone _Msdcs.domain.gov zone was also created. Why does the _Msdcs.domain.gov zone not install when dcpromo is run with DNS already configured. How can I create the _Msdcs.domain.gov zone.   what is the best method for configuring DNS on first DC in forest root domain? configure DNS, then run dcpromo? or let the dcpromo process configure DNS?   Thank you Nathan