Over the weekend, I embarked on the project to make my email server portable. All went well, until I realized that the same server that handled email was also my primary DNS server. That had to change! I configured a new primary DNS server and tried to transfer my zone files and… nothing. The new server happily reported that everything had transferred correctly (even naming the zones and number of records transferred), but the new zone files remained empty.
The first report I found of this problem online was twelve years old and without a resolution. I found three other threads, including one fairly recent one, but no solutions. DNS strikes again!
I ended up just manually copying over my zone files. The new DNS server is now running fine, and I pulled the Big Switch™ to change the mail server address and… not even a little glitch, as near as I can tell.
So, now when I move from here to the island, I can relocate my name server at will while keeping full physical control of the data. Whew!
—2p