Import a BIND-format zone file when bringing DNS records into PD DNS Manager. Choose deliberately between importing a new zone under Migration and adding records to a zone that already exists. Neither operation changes the registrar’s delegation for you.

Before a change, confirm the provider connection and the actual zone it resolves. With Route 53, name-based operations resolve the first matching hosted-zone name; selecting a familiar domain is not sufficient when AWS holds multiple zones with that name. Have your AWS administrator compare the hosted-zone ID, records and assigned nameservers before proceeding. With Google Cloud DNS, the current connection derives the managed-zone name from the domain. An existing zone with a different native name can appear in a list yet fail to open correctly; establish that mapping with your Google Cloud administrator instead of creating a duplicate zone.

For a PowerDNS backend, module reads and zone-file snapshots omit disabled native record values. Editing an affected record set can rebuild it from the enabled values. If your hosting team uses disabled records, preserve and review the native record set with your DNS administrator before module changes; use your established native management process where those values must be retained. A module export is not a complete backup of those disabled values or other provider settings.

Prepare the zone file

Export the intended zone from its current DNS host and retain that original copy. Review the zone name, records and provider-specific features that a standard zone file does not carry, such as a CDN proxy configuration or forwarding rules.

A zone-transfer dump can be used as an input file; this workflow does not mean the module automatically pulls an unrestricted AXFR from your old server. For moving zones between providers already connected here, use the provider-migration workflow instead.

Preview a migration import

1. Open DNS → Migration and choose the BIND zone-file input.
2. Upload or paste the intended file, or a set of zones separated by their $ORIGIN lines.
3. If there is no origin line, set Zone name explicitly.
4. Select the target provider for each zone.
5. Click Preview import and review the proposed zone/record counts before applying.
6. Apply only the reviewed input and inspect the resulting zone and Activity entry.

Check that the backend supports the record types you need. Provider record quotas and minimum TTLs can differ. Do not treat a partial operation as a reason to repeat it blindly: reconcile what was already written first.

Import or export an existing zone

Where supported, the zone’s Import / Export page offers Download zone file and Import records. The current import compares the staged records with live values, skips duplicates and already-present records, and leaves provider-owned SOA and apex NS alone. Child-domain NS delegations still need review. Records absent from the file are not removed, and an existing value is not rewritten solely to change its TTL. Adding a value may affect a shared record-set TTL.

The existing-zone import checks the planned missing records against the owning customer’s allowance before writing. Later provider failures can still leave earlier successful writes. The administrative Migration workflow has its own processing: do not assume it applies all customer editing policies or allowances.

Verify public answers after the intended delegation and cache changes. Preserve mail, verification and subdomain records that still serve real services. Keep source copies until the new DNS service has been checked, and see the DNSSEC guide before moving a signed domain.

Check the imported records

Your hosting team should compare the input zone, destination and preview with the actual records now present. Establish whether the failure occurred before writes or after some rows succeeded, and distinguish the customer allowance from provider permissions, supported types and quotas. Keep the original export before correcting only the remaining differences.

See the PD DNS Manager Blesta guide for related tasks, or explore the module.