What should you check before importing a DNS zone?
Check which zone and DNS view the export represents, when it was collected and whether the file uses a syntax the Recon.ph workspace supports. A zone file is a snapshot of configured resource records; it is not a live-service test or a complete inventory of every asset.
Use the platform-specific instructions for Cloudflare, GoDaddy, or Azure DNS and Route 53 where you have authorized access. Preserve the original file separately so a normalized inventory never becomes your only backup.
Read the origin and record lines
A simple BIND-style example:
$ORIGIN example.com.
$TTL 300
@ IN A 192.0.2.10
www IN CNAME example.com.
api IN A 192.0.2.20
$ORIGIN supplies the base name for relative names. @ represents the origin. The terminal dot on example.com. marks an absolute name. In this example the relative api owner means api.example.com, and www has a CNAME pointing to example.com.
The workspace supports single-line BIND-style records for common types and optional TTL/class tokens. It does not implement the entire DNS master-file grammar. Multiline parentheses, $INCLUDE and unusual directives require review or conversion before comparison. See the supported input specification.
What is normalized—and what is not?
| Input detail | Workspace treatment | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Hostname case/root dot | Normalized | WWW.Example.com. and www.example.com refer to the same normalized name |
| Relative owner | Resolved using available $ORIGIN | Prevents comparing api with a different fully qualified name |
| Duplicate name/type/value | Merged with source filenames | Reduces repeated sightings without losing filename provenance |
| CNAME, MX and NS targets | Normalized as hostnames | Makes like-for-like target comparisons possible |
| TTL and provider comments | Not part of the comparison key | TTL-only or proxy-setting changes will not appear as record changes |
| TXT values | Preserved as distinct value evidence | A TXT value may contain sensitive data; review before import |
Cloudflare exports may include provider attributes, such as proxy status, in comments. The comparison tool does not represent those attributes. An unchanged normalized record therefore does not establish that every provider setting stayed the same.
A reproducible import procedure
- Record the provider, zone/account, DNS view, export time and intended scope outside the imported file.
- Preserve the original baseline and current exports.
- Import each snapshot on its corresponding side of the workspace.
- Set a base-domain scope, then examine import warnings and excluded rows.
- Review added/removed record evidence and download the changes CSV.
- Confirm consequential differences against authorized current configuration and change records before taking action.
For example, an A record changing from 192.0.2.20 to 192.0.2.21 produces one removed value and one added value; it does not establish who requested the change or whether either endpoint is operating.
Try the fictional zone files first, then compare their output against the worked walkthrough.