TechnitiumSoftware/DnsServer · error · DnsServerException

No such zone was found: <zoneName or ".">

Error message

No such zone was found: <zoneName or ".">

What it means

Thrown by the public ConvertZoneTypeTo(string, AuthZoneType) when GetAuthZoneInfo(zoneName) returns null. Identical lookup semantics to error 381: the zone name is unknown, deleted, or malformed, and an empty name is displayed as '.'.

Solutions

  1. Confirm the zone exists via GetAuthZoneInfo(zoneName) before converting.
  2. Normalize the name (trim, strip trailing dot) and re-resolve.
  3. Refresh the zone list to ensure the target is still present.
  4. Catch DnsServerException and surface a 'zone not found' error to the API caller.

Example fix

// before
manager.ConvertZoneTypeTo(zoneName, AuthZoneType.Primary); // throws if missing

// after
if (manager.GetAuthZoneInfo(zoneName) is null)
    return NotFound($"Zone '{zoneName}' not found; cannot convert.");
manager.ConvertZoneTypeTo(zoneName, AuthZoneType.Primary);
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (manager.GetAuthZoneInfo(zoneName) is null)
    return NotFound($"Zone '{zoneName}' not found; cannot convert.");

Try / catch

try { manager.ConvertZoneTypeTo(zoneName, newType); }
catch (DnsServerException ex) when (ex.Message.StartsWith("No such zone was found")) { return NotFound(ex.Message); }

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling ConvertZoneTypeTo(zoneName, newType) with a zoneName that does not resolve to an authoritative ApexZone. The null-check at line 1437 fires immediately after the GetAuthZoneInfo call.

Common situations: Converting a zone that was just deleted. Misspelled name or wrong casing. Passing the zone's display name instead of its canonical name. Race between a delete and a convert.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of TechnitiumSoftware/DnsServer@d0484b6c1e (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/006397b7f3838c6f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at DnsServerCore/Dns/ZoneManagers/AuthZoneManager.cs:1438

                        newRecords.Add(newRecord);
                        break;
                }
            }

            //load and init zone
            LoadAndInitZone(zoneInfo, newRecords);

            //save zone file
            SaveZoneFile(zoneInfo.Name);

            return zoneInfo;
        }

        public AuthZoneInfo ConvertZoneTypeTo(string zoneName, AuthZoneType newType)
        {
            AuthZoneInfo currentZoneInfo = GetAuthZoneInfo(zoneName);
            if (currentZoneInfo is null)
                throw new DnsServerException("No such zone was found: " + (zoneName.Length == 0 ? "." : zoneName));

            //validate conversion type
            if (currentZoneInfo.Type == newType)
                throw new DnsServerException("Cannot convert the zone '" + currentZoneInfo.DisplayName + "' from " + currentZoneInfo.TypeName + " to " + AuthZoneInfo.GetZoneTypeName(newType) + " zone: the zone is already of the same type.");

            switch (currentZoneInfo.Type)
            {
                case AuthZoneType.Primary:
                    switch (newType)
                    {
                        case AuthZoneType.Forwarder:
                            if (currentZoneInfo.ApexZone.DnssecStatus != AuthZoneDnssecStatus.Unsigned)
                                throw new DnsServerException("Cannot convert the zone '" + currentZoneInfo.DisplayName + "' from " + currentZoneInfo.TypeName + " to " + AuthZoneInfo.GetZoneTypeName(newType) + " zone: converting the zone will cause lose of DNSSEC private keys.");

                            break;

                        default:
                            throw new DnsServerException("Cannot convert the zone '" + currentZoneInfo.DisplayName + "' from " + currentZoneInfo.TypeName + " to " + AuthZoneInfo.GetZoneTypeName(newType) + " zone: not supported.");

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