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I'm sorry if this has already been asked. I just had a really hard time searching for exactly what I need to do. There are only so many keywords to use.

An application we use is hosted externally of our network. Our users access these servers via custom RDP files that connect to abcd.example.com. We have been informed that we now need to have all of our users connect to wxyz.example.com instead.

This will likely cause us to have to "touch" every custom RDP file on all 300 PCs to manually change them to point to wxyz.example.com.
(Sending out a single updated file is not an option, unfortunately)

We do not own example.com

Is there any way to use our internal DNS Servers (AD) to answer the request for abcd.example.com (1.2.3.4) and return the result for wxyz.example.com (1.2.3.5)?
It looks like AD DNS is very authoritative and will take over ALL (internal) resolution for example.com. Since there are many other hosts at example.com that we need access to (ftp. www. support. etc...) I can't have it answer every request for that domain.

Thank you, and sorry for the long question.

Erik
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3 Answers3

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You actually have the answer, but you're frowning upon it. You will need to create an internal zone in your DNS and create the records you need to resolve manually. This is called Split Brain DNS, here is a good read about it: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/networking/2015/05/12/split-brain-dns-deployment-using-windows-dns-server-policies/

If you don't own the domain name, your options are very limited.

Suggestion 1: Why not mass mail the new RDP file by email or a share location? easier than going to 300 PC, it's the same file(s) with the same edits after all.

Suggestion 2: I don't like doing this but, you could mass edit the "Hosts" file by using group policy? here's a good step by step guide: Deploy hosts file among machines connected to a domain

Community
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Noor Khaldi
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  • I wish I could mass deploy the new RDP. Unfortunately, our environment is in the situation where there are other custom settings in these files for each user that we have to cater to. I wish that weren't the case! I will consider the deployed Hosts file, but that wouldn't be my first choice either. I'll do a Split Brain DNS first. It's a temporary solution until we can touch these files. – Erik Nov 09 '16 at 03:27
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The following is a terrible, terrible idea. It may not work if the remote desktop server is dependent on the name that you are connecting to. It may stop working if the IP address changes, which seems likely given that whoever is hosting this already pulled the rug out from under you by changing the name. Apparently they really, really like wxyz. Or maybe it's more about you. People may also snicker at you and say bad things about you if they learn that you did this. You really should manage these with Group Policy Preferences as Joe recommended or some other automated deployment solution like XCOPY.

Terrible Idea

enter image description here

Greg Askew
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  • Thank you for the suggestion. I never even thought about creating a domain for just the name of the server we are trying to get to. I know it's not ideal, and it won't be a long term solution. We need to make this change soon. We can clean up the mess later as we re-deploy the RDP file with the correct server address. I wish I could deploy this. Unfortunately, there is just too much customization for each user (screen size, credentials, etc) for that to happen. I don't like it, but we have a very picky user base. – Erik Nov 09 '16 at 03:09
  • I understand. You're in a jam because the service you are using changed the name. For internal IT this may be doable, but it really should not happen for external clients. – Greg Askew Nov 09 '16 at 04:04
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Just create a zone in AD using wxyz.example.com. Add a A record that point parent folder, and apply new IP. This way you can point wxyz to whatever, and leave the rest of example.com alone.

FACTORY909
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