nsupdate querying Windows 2000 DNS server

[Paul A Vixie]

levon, you wrote:

> Just wanted to bring to your attention the following interop issue:
> 
> When nsupdate sends a query for a SOA record of a non-existing name and the
> Windows 2000 is authoritative for that name, the nsupdate fails to parse the
> servers response.
> 
> Windows 2000 DNS server returns NXDOMAIN with
> SOA record of an authoritative zone (in Authority section) and
> A record of the primary name server specified in the SOA record (in the
> Additional section).

this sounds like a correct response.  the only way it differs from modern BIND
is the inclusion of additional data (glue for the SOA.MNAME).  which ought to
be harmless in this case.

> It looks like the nsupdate can't parse this Additional section.
> Since nsupdate fails to parse the response, it fails the update. Thus,
> nsupdate cannot be used to update a Windows 2000 DNS server.

the code in res_update.c is horribly hokey and i apologize for publishing it.
its impenetrability makes it hard for me to tell exactly what's going wrong--
but i'll keep this bug report alive and go back to it when i've had more
coffee.

thanks for your report.

paul