Zone Import/Export Configuration¶

Overview¶

Poweradmin includes zone import/export functionality that allows users to import zones from BIND zone files and export zones as zone files. This is useful for migrating zones between DNS servers or for backup purposes.

Configuration Options¶

Zone import/export settings can be configured in the config/settings.php file under the modules > zone_import_export section.

Setting	Default	Description
`enabled`	`false`	Enable zone import/export functionality
`auto_ttl_value`	`300`	Default TTL in seconds for records when importing zone files
`max_file_size`	`1048576`	Maximum allowed file upload size in bytes (default: 1 MB)

Configuration Example¶

PHP Configuration¶

return [
    'modules' => [
        'zone_import_export' => [
            'enabled' => true,
            'auto_ttl_value' => 300,
            'max_file_size' => 1048576,
        ],
    ],
];

Docker Environment Variables¶

docker run -d --name poweradmin -p 80:80 \
  -e PA_MODULE_ZONE_IMPORT_EXPORT_ENABLED=true \
  -e PA_MODULE_ZONE_IMPORT_EXPORT_AUTO_TTL=300 \
  -e PA_MODULE_ZONE_IMPORT_EXPORT_MAX_FILE_SIZE=1048576 \
  poweradmin/poweradmin

Variable	Description	Default
`PA_MODULE_ZONE_IMPORT_EXPORT_ENABLED`	Enable zone import/export module	`false`
`PA_MODULE_ZONE_IMPORT_EXPORT_AUTO_TTL`	Default TTL for imported records (seconds)	`300`
`PA_MODULE_ZONE_IMPORT_EXPORT_MAX_FILE_SIZE`	Max upload file size in bytes	`1048576`

Usage¶

When enabled, zone import/export features are available from:

Zone Export - Export any zone as a BIND zone file from the zone management page
Zone Import - Import zones from BIND zone files via the Tools menu

Zone Export¶

Navigate to any zone in Poweradmin
Click the Export button or icon
Select Zone File format
The zone file will be downloaded in BIND format

Zone Import¶

Navigate to Tools > Zone Import in the navigation menu
Upload a BIND-format zone file
Review the parsed records
Confirm the import

Record Comments (v4.6.0+)¶

Zone files can carry Poweradmin record comments, so a zone keeps them when it is exported and imported again. Both directions need interface.show_record_comments enabled.

Export. Tick Include comments in the zone page's Export menu before choosing Zone File. Each comment is written on the line above its record, one marker line per line of the comment:

; poweradmin-comment: web server
; poweradmin-comment: replaced in March
www.example.com. 3600 IN A 192.0.2.1

The marker starts with ;, so BIND, pdnsutil load-zone and other tools read it as an ordinary comment. With the box unticked the export is unchanged. A file with comments is built by Poweradmin from the zone's records rather than taken from the PowerDNS zone export.

Import. Zone Import reads ; poweradmin-comment: lines back into the comment of the record that follows them; the preview shows how many comments will be imported and lists them next to their records. Other ; comments are ignored as before. A marker that is not directly followed by a record is skipped with a warning. When record comments are disabled, the comments in the file are skipped and the preview says so.

Disabled records are not exported, with or without comments, because a zone file cannot mark a record as disabled. The copy kept when a change request deletes a zone is the exception: it writes them as ; poweradmin-disabled: lines, and Zone Import restores those as disabled records.

Supported Features¶

BIND zone file format
DNSSEC record types
IDN (Internationalized Domain Names) support
Record comment synchronization
Automatic TTL assignment for records without explicit TTL values

Security Considerations¶

Zone import requires appropriate user permissions
File uploads are limited by the max_file_size setting
Imported records are validated before being added to the database