RFC 5936 - DNS Zone Transfer Protocol (AXFR)

Metadata

• RFC Number: 5936
• Title: DNS Zone Transfer Protocol (AXFR)
• Authors: E. Lewis (NeuStar, Inc.), A. Hoenes, Ed. (TR-Sys)
• Date: June 2010
• Category: Standards Track
• Updates: RFC 1034, RFC 1035
• ISSN: 2070-1721

Abstract

The standard means within the Domain Name System protocol for maintaining coherence among a zone's authoritative name servers consists of three mechanisms. Authoritative Transfer (AXFR) is one of the mechanisms and is defined in RFC 1034 and RFC 1035.

The definition of AXFR has proven insufficient in detail, thereby forcing implementations intended to be compliant to make assumptions, impeding interoperability. Yet today we have a satisfactory set of implementations that do interoperate. This document is a new definition of AXFR -- new in the sense that it records an accurate definition of an interoperable AXFR mechanism.

Status of This Memo

This is an Internet Standards Track document.

This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has received public review and has been approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5936.

Copyright Notice

Copyright (c) 2010 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1. Definition of Terms
  • 1.2. Scope
  • 1.3. Context
  • 1.4. Coverage and Relationship to Original AXFR Specification
• 2. AXFR Messages
  • 2.1. AXFR Query
  • 2.2. AXFR Response
  • 2.3. TCP Connection Aborts
• 3. Zone Contents
  • 3.1. Records to Include
  • 3.2. Delegation Records
  • 3.3. Glue Records
  • 3.4. Name Compression
  • 3.5. Occluded Names
• 4. Transport
  • 4.1. TCP
  • 4.2. UDP
• 5. Authorization
• 6. Zone Integrity
• 7. Backwards Compatibility
  • 7.1. Server
  • 7.2. Client
• 8. Security Considerations
• 9. IANA Considerations
• 10. Internationalization Considerations
• 11. Acknowledgments
• 12. References
  • 12.1. Normative References
  • 12.2. Informative References

Authors' Addresses

Edward Lewis
46000 Center Oak Plaza
Sterling, VA 20166
US
EMail: <[email protected]>

Alfred Hoenes, Editor
TR-Sys
Gerlinger Str. 12
Ditzingen D-71254
Germany
EMail: <[email protected]>