You can use this procedure to verify that a zone's scavenging interval is correct.

Membership in the Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477.

Viewing when a zone can start scavenging stale records

To view when a zone can start scavenging stale records using the Windows interface

  1. Open DNS Manager.

  2. On the View menu, click Advanced.

  3. Right-click the applicable zone, and then click Properties.

  4. On the General tab, click Aging.

  5. Under Refresh interval, view when the zone is first eligible to be scavenged for stale resource records.

Additional considerations

  • To open DNS Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.

  • The start scavenging date and time stamp are used to determine when zone scavenging starts.

  • After the start scavenging date and time stamp are reached, scavenging can occur only if the Scavenge stale resource records check box is selected. If the check box is cleared, scavenging for the zone cannot be performed.

To view when a zone can start scavenging stale records using a command line

  1. Open a command prompt.

  2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    dnscmd <ServerName> /ZoneInfo <ZoneName> RefreshInterval

Parameter Description

dnscmd

The command-line tool for managing DNS servers.

<ServerName>

Required. Specifies the DNS host name of the DNS server. You can also type the IP address of the DNS server. To specify the DNS server on the local computer, you can also type a period (.).

/ZoneInfo

Required. Displays configuration information.

<ZoneName>

Required. Specifies the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the zone.

RefreshInterval

Required. Specifies the configuration property that displays when the zone is first eligible to be scavenged for stale resource records. The output value is in hours. The default setting is 168 hours (one week).

To view the complete syntax for this command, at a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

dnscmd /ZoneInfo /help

Additional considerations

  • To open an elevated Command Prompt window, click Start, point to All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

Additional references

  • Start Immediate Scavenging of Stale Resource Records
  • Reset Aging and Scavenging Properties for a Specified Resource Record