Extract text from zone data files (DNS)
To convert DNS zone files to another format, you need BIND or other Web software.
To convert other file formats to the "DNS Zone File" file type, you need software like BIND or a similar tool.
The .dns file extension is most commonly used for DNS Zone Database files. These are plain text files that contain domain name mappings (such as A, CNAME, MX, and TXT records) used by servers like Microsoft DNS Server and BIND to direct network traffic. Secondary uses include proprietary packed game data archives by System Sacom, geodetic transformation parameter files for Netcad, and game save files for Duke Nukem Forever.
Managing raw DNS zone files is notoriously risky. Because the syntax is incredibly strict, a single missing period or formatting error can take a website completely offline. Non-technical users often struggle to read them. Furthermore, if your .dns file is a game archive or a geodetic file, it is a closed, proprietary binary format. Standard unarchivers and text editors cannot process these files, making them completely unreadable without the specific original software.
Users typically need to convert text-based DNS zone files into CSV or TXT for easier auditing in spreadsheets, or to migrate records into modern cloud DNS providers. For game data archives, users want to extract the underlying assets to ZIP or raw formats. Standard online converters fail to process .dns files because the extension applies to both strict plain text configurations and obscure binary archives.
Because of these conflicting formats, standard conversion is difficult.
Convert.Guru analyzes your DNS file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted DSN, DNG, JPEG, PNG, JPG, PDF, SMX, AEX, RWT and IP files.
If you want to convert DNS file to IP, EXE, ISO, BIN, CUE, PAK, WAD, PK3, PK4, BSP, MAP or SAV, you can use BIND or similar software from the "DNS Server Zone Configuration" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MOD, BIN, CFG, SCX, DAT, MPQ, LOG, CUE, INI, EXE, SCM or ISO files to DNS, try BIND or another comparable tool in the "DNS Server Zone Configuration" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our DNS converter.