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Frequently Asked Questions

Disabling Recursive DNS Queries on Windows Servers with Parallels Plesk Panel

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Last Updated: November 16, 2013 6:41 PM

For information on recursive DNS, see What risks are associated with recursive DNS queries?.

To Disable Recursive DNS

  1. Log in to Parallels Plesk Panel as admin.
  2. Go to the Server tab.
  3. In the General Settings section, click DNS Template.
  4. Go to the DNS recursive tab.
  5. Select Deny.

If making this modification in Plesk does not disable Recursive DNS or you do not have the options in Parallels Plesk Panel you will need to follow the manual update path below:

NOTE: To perform this procedure, you must be a member of your local computer's Administrators group or have the proper authority delegated to you.

  1. Log in to your dedicated or Virtual Private Server (VPS).
  2. From the Start menu, click Run.
  3. If you are running Windows dedicated hosting with Parallels Plesk Panel, type the following command in the Open: textbox and press Enter:
    notepad "%plesk_dir%dns\etc\named.user.conf"
  4. Modify the file so that one and only one "options" instruction exists. It should look like the one below:
    options { allow-recursion {none; }; };

    Add the instruction if one does not exist or remove duplicate instructions.
  5. Save and close the file.
  6. From the Start menu, click Run.
  7. Type cmd and press Enter.
  8. From the command prompt, type the following commands and press Enter after each:
    net stop named
    net start named