JSI Tip 10376. You receive 'The zone cannot be created' when you attempt to create a stub zone in a DNS server running Windows Server 2003?

When you attempt to create a stub zone in a Windows Server 2003 DNS (Domain Name System) and select the To all Domain Controllers in the Active Directory Domain box in the New Zone Wizard dialog, you receive:

The zone cannot be created. The request is not supported.

This behavior occurs because you cannot store stub zones in the domain partition of the Active Directory database until you raise the domain functional level to Windows Server 2003.

To resolve this issue, raise the domain functional level the Windows Server 2003:

1. Open Active Directory Domains and Trusts.

2. Right-click the domain for which you want to raise functionality and select Raise Domain Functional Level.

3. In the Select an available domain functional level list, select Windows Server 2003 and press Raise.

To workaround this behavior without raising the domain functional level, you either of the following:

- Select the To all DNS servers in the Active Directory Domain box in the New Zone Wizard dialog to store stub zones in the DomainDNSZones application partition.

- Select the To all DNS servers in the Active Directory Forest box in the New Zone Wizard dialog to store stub zones in the ForestDNSZones application partition.

NOTE: See DNS zone replication in Active Directory.

NOTE: See Raise the domain functional level.