Microsoft DNS Integration

Overview

The Microsoft DNS integration discovers DNS zones from a Windows Server DNS and ingests them into NetBox via the Diode pipeline. A and AAAA records from forward-lookup zones, and PTR records from reverse-lookup zones, are imported as IP address objects with their fully qualified domain names. When multiple DNS names resolve to the same IP address, one name is set as the primary DNS name and any remaining names are stored in a custom field. In multi-client deployments, you can map DNS zones to NetBox tenants so each client's records land under its own tenant.

What Gets Synchronized

• IP Addresses - from A records (IPv4) and AAAA records (IPv6) in forward-lookup zones, and from PTR records in reverse-lookup zones
• Tenants - optionally assigned to discovered IP addresses when you configure a zone-to-tenant mapping

Key Features

• DNS record discovery - retrieves A and AAAA records from forward-lookup zones and PTR records from reverse-lookup zones on the target Windows DNS Server; autocreated zones are excluded
• Reverse DNS (PTR) support - PTR records from reverse-lookup zones surface statically-assigned IPs that have a reverse mapping but no forward A/AAAA record; a PTR's target FQDN becomes the primary dns_name for its IP
• Multiple DNS name support - when more than one DNS name resolves to the same IP, one FQDN is set as dns_name and additional names are stored as JSON in the msft_dns_additional_names custom field
• Zone-to-tenant mapping - map zone names or glob patterns to NetBox tenants so IP addresses from each client's zones are assigned the matching tenant; useful for MSP and multi-client deployments
• Zone filtering - include or exclude specific zones using glob patterns; exclude always takes precedence over include
• Scheduled synchronization - configurable cron schedule keeps NetBox current with your DNS data
• WinRM connectivity - connects to the Windows DNS Server over WinRM using NTLM authentication; no agent software is required on the target server
• NetBox Assurance integration - discovered data is staged as deviations in NetBox Assurance for review before being written to NetBox
• Bootstrap mode - emits only the custom field definition, with no DNS server connection, so you can create the field in NetBox before the first full sync

Integration Architecture

The Microsoft DNS integration is built using the NetBox Labs controller integrations framework:

• Standardized integration pattern - consistent approach across all controller integrations
• NetBox Assurance integration - uses NetBox Assurance for safe data ingestion and deviation management
• Agent based - runs as part of the NetBox Discovery agent ecosystem using the Orb Agent Pro image
• One-way sync - data flows from Microsoft DNS Server to NetBox only; no changes are written back to the DNS server

Compatibility

Supported NetBox Versions

• NetBox Cloud and NetBox Enterprise v4.2.3 and later with NetBox Assurance

Supported Windows Server Versions

• Windows Server with the DNS Server role installed and WinRM enabled