Managing the history of a DNS zone

Objective

The DNS (Domain Name System) zone is a domain name’s configuration file. It consists of DNS records that map the domain name to various services and functions.

For more information, please refer to our guides:

• Everything you need to know about DNS servers
• Everything you need to know about DNS zone
• Everything you need to know about DNS records

For various reasons, you may need to apply an old DNS configuration to your domain name.

DNS management is now easier thanks to the history of your DNS zones.

This guide explains how to view, compare, download and restore your DNS zone backups.

Requirements

• Sufficient rights to manage the domain name

OVHcloud Control Panel Access

• Direct link: DNS zones
• Navigation path: Web Cloud > DNS Zone > Select your domain name

Instructions

To access this feature, click on the tabs below to view each of the 3 steps.

View a DNS zone

To view the DNS zone of your choice, identify the corresponding row in the table, then click on the icon in the View column.

The data for the DNS zone concerned is displayed.

Click Close to return to the main page “DNS zone history”.

Download a DNS zone

To download the DNS zone of your choice, identify the corresponding row in the table, then click on the icon in the Download column.

The DNS zone is downloaded in .txt format.

Restore a DNS zone

If you would like to replace your current DNS zone with another one, simply restore an older DNS zone. In the table containing the history of your DNS zones, identify the row corresponding to the DNS zone you want to restore (check the date on the left-hand side of the row), then click on the icon in the Restore column.

The following window will appear.

Check that the date indicated in the message corresponds to the DNS zone you want to restore. As the yellow banner will show, please remember that the current DNS zone (at the top of the DNS zone history list) will be deleted and replaced with the DNS zone that you want to restore.

Click Restore to confirm the restoration or Cancel.

Compare two DNS zones

You can compare the contents of two DNS zones. In the table containing the history of your DNS zone, identify the two rows corresponding to the two DNS zones you want to compare (check the date to the left of each row), then select them. To compare these two DNS zone versions, click on Compare versions in the top left-hand corner.

A new page will appear, displaying the content of the two DNS zones. Above each version, you will see the corresponding date. By default, the most recent DNS zone version is on the left and the oldest DNS zone version is on the right. Colour-coded content helps you identify differences in content.
On the left, the content highlighted in red has been modified or deleted on the newer version.
On the right, the content highlighted in green has been changed or added from the older version.

You can also update the dates of the versions you want to compare by using the two drop-down lists.

With this guide, you can now compare two DNS zones, and also view, download, restore and delete a DNS zone.

Go further

Everything you need to know about DNS servers

Everything you need to know about DNS zone

Everything you need to know about DNS records

Logging in to the OVHcloud Control Panel

Creating an OVHcloud DNS zone

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