Recipe 13.8 Querying Resource Records

13.8.1 Problem

You want to query resource records.

13.8.2 Solution

13.8.2.1 Using a graphical user interface

The DNS Management snap-in does not provide an interface for searching resource records.

13.8.2.2 Using a command-line interface

In the following command, replace <RecordType> with the type of resource record you want to find (e.g., A, CNAME, SRV) and <RecordName> with the name or IP address of the record to match:

> nslookup -type=<RecordType> <RecordName>

13.8.2.3 Using VBScript

' This code prints the resource records that match
' the specified name
' ------ SCRIPT CONFIGURATION ------
strQuery = "<RecordName>"
' ------ END CONFIGURATION ---------

set objDNS = GetObject("winMgmts:root\MicrosoftDNS")
set objDNSServer = objDNS.Get("MicrosoftDNS_Server.Name="".""")
set objRRs = objDNS.ExecQuery(" select * " & _
                              " from MicrosoftDNS_ResourceRecord" & _
                              " where  OwnerName = """ & strQuery & """" & _
                              " Or  DomainName = """ & strQuery & """" & _
                              " Or RecordData = """ & strQuery & """")
if objRRs.Count < 1 then
   WScript.Echo "No matches found for " & strHostName & " of " _ 
                & strRecordType & " type"
else
   for each objRR in objRRs
      WScript.Echo objRR.TextRepresentation
   next
end if

13.8.3 Discussion

13.8.3.1 Using a command-line interface

You can leave off the -type switch and the command will find any A, PTR, and CNAME records that match <RecordName>. You can also run nslookup from interactive mode, which can be entered by typing nslookup at a command prompt with no additional parameters.

13.8.3.2 Using VBScript

In the VBScript solution a WQL query was used to find all matching resource records. This is a good example of how powerful the DNS WMI Provider can be. The query attempts to find any object of the MicrosoftDNS_ResourceRecord class that has an OwnerName, DomainName, or RecordData field equal to the <RecordName>. This is not the most efficient query if the server supports multiple large zones, so you may want restrict it to search for specific types of records by adding criteria to match RecordType = <Type>.

13.8.4 See Also

MSDN: MicrosoftDNS_ResourceRecord