In previous Zenarmor releases, we introduced built-in DNS integration for secure private networks, a capability that automatically registered every peer (endpoint or gateway) in your organization with Zenarmor's global DNS infrastructure. This provided seamless identification, monitoring, and real-time visibility across distributed environments.
With the Zenarmor 2.2 release, we're taking this one step further.
Administrators can now add their own DNS servers and search domains, in addition to using Zenarmor's built-in DNS services. This new flexibility gives organizations greater control, enhances integration with existing network topologies, and supports advanced use cases, such as hybrid cloud and multi-domain environments.
Background: DNS Integration for Secure Network Visibility
Every peer in a Zenarmor secure network is automatically registered with our public DNS service using a standardized record format:
${PEER_SLUG}-${NETWORK_SLUG}.{ORG_NAME}.zpeer.net
This automatic DNS registration is what makes Zenarmor's secure private networks so powerful. It provides:
- Instant peer identification – every endpoint and gateway can be uniquely identified within the organization.
- Seamless visibility – real-time DNS-based visibility across distributed and remote networks.
- Zero-touch configuration – automatic DNS registration and resolution without manual setup.
What's New in Zenarmor 2.2
As of version 2.2, administrators can now define custom DNS servers and search domains for their secure networks. This new capability complements the built-in Zenarmor DNS service, allowing greater flexibility and control.
Key enhancements include:
- Custom DNS Servers: Integrate with internal DNS resolvers or Active Directory-integrated namespaces for seamless name resolution between Zenarmor networks and existing infrastructure.
- Custom Search Domains: Add your own search domains alongside Zenarmor's default *.zpeer.net, enabling consistent naming conventions across your enterprise.
- Hybrid Environment Support: Perfect for organizations running split environments (e.g., part on-premises, part cloud) that need consistent DNS behavior across both.
Figure 1: DNS Settings UI to specify DNS servers and Search Domains.
Benefits of Custom DNS Support
This enhancement delivers a range of operational and security benefits:
1. Improved Interoperability
Integrate Zenarmor's private overlay networks with existing enterprise DNS systems, Active Directory, or multi-cloud environments. This ensures seamless communication between Zenarmor-managed peers and legacy systems.
2. Greater Administrative Control
Organizations can now enforce custom DNS routing policies, align with internal naming conventions, and control where DNS queries are resolved, supporting privacy, compliance, and operational efficiency.
3. Reduced Operational Overhead
By allowing administrators to set DNS preferences once within Zenconsole, configurations are automatically propagated across all peers in the secure network, reducing manual configuration effort and preventing misalignment.
4. Enhanced Security and Privacy
Custom DNS settings can ensure that sensitive internal queries are resolved only within trusted internal DNS resolvers, preventing potential data leakage through external DNS lookups.
How It Fits into our mission to deliver ONE.APP.SASE
Zenarmor continues to redefine how enterprises approach network visibility, control, and zero-trust connectivity. By integrating DNS visibility into every peer and enabling administrators to merge it with existing DNS infrastructure, Zenarmor bridges the gap between network-level awareness and zero-trust simplicity.
This capability reinforces Zenarmor's commitment to giving enterprises control without compromise, secure, private, and visible networking that can adapt to any environment, whether at the endpoint, edge, or cloud.
With the new DNS customization capability in Zenarmor 2.2, administrators gain the best of both worlds: Zenarmor's built-in, zero-touch DNS visibility, combined with the flexibility to integrate with internal or hybrid DNS infrastructures.
It's another step in Zenarmor's mission to make secure, private networking simple, flexible, and fully visible, anywhere.
DNS Support for Private Networks
For full details on custom DNS servers and search domains, along with all other enhancements in this release, see the Zenarmor 2.2 Release Notes.
