Configure Custom DNS Settings for an Azure Virtual Network

DNS name resolution is a foundational networking function that determines how resources locate each other by translating human-readable hostnames into IP addresses. In Azure, every virtual network uses Azure-provided DNS (168.63.129.16) by default, which handles internal name resolution automatically. However, production environments frequently require custom DNS servers - for example, to integrate with on-premises Active Directory, enforce corporate DNS policies, or resolve internal domain names that Azure-provided DNS cannot reach.

In this lab, you will configure custom DNS server settings on an Azure virtual network, observe how DNS settings propagate to connected virtual machines, apply a NIC-level DNS override on a specific VM, and verify name resolution behavior using command-line tools.

Note: This lab's environment takes roughly 6-8 minutes to fully provision before you begin.

Objectives

Upon completing this beginner level lab, you will be able to:

• Configure custom DNS server IP addresses on an Azure virtual network
• Understand the DNS resolution hierarchy between Azure-provided DNS, VNet-level DNS, and NIC-level DNS settings
• Apply a NIC-level DNS override to configure per-VM DNS resolution
• Verify DNS resolution between virtual machines using nslookup
• Restart VMs to apply updated DNS configuration changes

Who is this lab for?

This lab is designed for:

• Cloud administrators preparing for the AZ-104 certification who need hands-on experience with Azure DNS configuration
• IT professionals managing hybrid networking environments that require custom DNS settings

Basic familiarity with the Azure Portal and networking fundamentals is recommended.