Get started

1. In the Cloudflare dashboard, go to the Internal DNS page.

   Go to Internal DNS ↗

2. Select Create an internal zone.

3. Give your internal zone a name.

Internal zone configuration conditions

• Internal zones can contain the same DNS record types that Cloudflare supports for public zones.
• An internal zone can have the same name as a public zone in the same account.
• Each internal zone can be linked to multiple views.1
• There can be several internal zones with the same name in one account. However, two internal zones with the same name cannot be linked to the same view.
• Internal zones are not subject to any top-level domain (TLD) restrictions. This means that an internal zone can be created if its TLD is not registered publicly (for example, xyz.local), if it is created on the TLD itself (local), or even if on the root (.).

1 Logical groupings of internal DNS zones that are referenced by Gateway resolver policies to define how a specific query should be resolved.

4. Add DNS records to your internal zone using your preferred option:

• Import a formatted BIND file.
• Select Add a record and choose Create under the record type you want to add. Refer to DNS record types for details.

5. Repeat this process for each internal zone you wish to add.

1. Use the Create Zone endpoint to create an internal zone. Specify your account ID and set the type to internal.

Internal zone configuration conditions

• Internal zones can contain the same DNS record types that Cloudflare supports for public zones.
• An internal zone can have the same name as a public zone in the same account.
• Each internal zone can be linked to multiple views.1
• There can be several internal zones with the same name in one account. However, two internal zones with the same name cannot be linked to the same view.
• Internal zones are not subject to any top-level domain (TLD) restrictions. This means that an internal zone can be created if its TLD is not registered publicly (for example, xyz.local), if it is created on the TLD itself (local), or even if on the root (.).

1 Logical groupings of internal DNS zones that are referenced by Gateway resolver policies to define how a specific query should be resolved.

Example

Required API token permissions

• Zone Zone Edit
• Zone DNS Edit

curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones" \
	--request POST \
	--header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \
	--json '{
		"account": {
				"id": "<ACCOUNT_ID>"
		},
		"name": "<ZONE_NAME>",
		"type": "internal"
	}'

2. Add DNS records to your internal zone using your preferred option:

• Import a formatted BIND file. Refer to the DNS records how-to for guidance.
• Use other API endpoints, such as /batch, to manage DNS records. Refer to Batch record changes for details.

3. Repeat this process for each internal zone you wish to add.

1. In the Cloudflare dashboard, go to the Internal DNS page.

   Go to Internal DNS ↗

2. Select a zone.

3. Within the selected zone, go to Reference zone.

4. Select Add reference zone.

5. Find the zone you want to use as reference and choose Select in the respective row.

1. Use the Update DNS settings endpoint to add a reference from an internal zone to another internal zone. In --json, specify the internal_dns object with the parameter reference_zone_id.

curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/8a904aeb565c42cfa207d98f6edea2f3/dns_settings" \
	--request PATCH \
	--header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \
	--json '{
		"internal_dns": {
				"reference_zone_id": "8e64c6fb4b514f3faf64de81efc11e51"
		}
	}'

1. In the Cloudflare dashboard, go to the Internal DNS page.

   Go to Internal DNS ↗

2. Go to Internal DNS Views.

3. Select Create a view.

4. Give your view a descriptive name.

DNS view configuration conditions

• DNS views can be empty, with no internal zones linked to them.
• A DNS view cannot contain public DNS zones.1
• Each internal DNS zone name must be unique within a given DNS view.
• Each DNS view name must be unique within a given Cloudflare account.

1 DNS zones that contain public DNS records and are accessible by public resolvers.

5. Select Manage zones to add zones to your view. Select the internal zones that should be used to resolve queries sent by Gateway resolver to this view.
6. Choose Save to confirm.

1. Use the Create Internal DNS View endpoint. For each view you create, list all the internal zones that should be grouped under that view.

DNS view configuration conditions

• DNS views can be empty, with no internal zones linked to them.
• A DNS view cannot contain public DNS zones.1
• Each internal DNS zone name must be unique within a given DNS view.
• Each DNS view name must be unique within a given Cloudflare account.

1 DNS zones that contain public DNS records and are accessible by public resolvers.

1. In Cloudflare One , go to Traffic policies > Firewall policies > Resolver policies.
2. Select Add a policy and enter a name and description.
3. Create an expression for the traffic you wish to route. For guidance about selectors, operators, and values, refer to Gateway resolver policies.
4. Select Use Internal DNS. Choose the view that queries matching the expression should be sent to.
5. (Optional) Adjust the option to Fallback through public DNS according to your use case.

• Off: Gateway DNS resolver returns the response as-is to the client.
• On: In case the response from the internal zone is REFUSED, NXDOMAIN, or a response with a CNAME type, Gateway DNS resolver sends the query to Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 public resolver and tries to resolve the query via public DNS.

6. Select Create policy to confirm.

Use the API endpoints under Zero Trust > Gateway > Rules to set up resolver policies. For guidance about selectors, operators, and values, refer to Gateway.

Use the rule settings object to define resolve_dns_internally, specifying view_id and fallback option. The fallback options behave as follows:

• none: Gateway DNS resolver returns the response as-is to the client.
• public_dns: In case the response from the internal zone is REFUSED, NXDOMAIN, or a response with a CNAME type, Gateway DNS resolver sends the query to Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 public resolver and tries to resolve the query via public DNS.