Error Message:

Zone name expired before it could obtain a successful zone transfer or update from a master server acting as its source for the zone. The zone has been shut down.

Explanation:

The zone transfer failed to take place because the expiration time in the SOA record located on the primary server (the source of the zone information for a secondary server) expired. The primary server might be down.

User Action:

Verify that the primary server is operating properly by pinging its IP address or using the nbtstat utility. If the primary server is off-line, the zone transfer cannot take place. When the primary server is restarted, all addresses included in the Notify list for the specified zone will be contacted and a zone transfer will take place automatically. If the secondary server's IP address is not configured in the Notify list, stop and restart the secondary DNS server. The secondary server will then poll the primary server for a zone transfer.