Which statement correctly describes nslookup's role in DNS zone transfers?

• A. It can perform zone transfers.
• B. It is used to query DNS records but not perform zone transfers.
• C. It replaces the primary DNS server during transfers.
• D. It is not used for performing zone transfers; they are accomplished with DNS.

Answer: (D)

nslookup is a DNS query tool used by clients to look up specific DNS records and test responses from DNS servers. Zone transfers, on the other hand, are a server-to-server operation where a DNS zone is replicated from a primary (master) server to its secondary (slave) servers, using the DNS transfer mechanisms like AXFR/IXFR. This replication is handled by the DNS servers themselves, not by a client tool. In practice, you can query records with nslookup, but you don’t perform the zone-wide transfer through it; access to zone transfers is governed by the DNS servers and their configuration. So the statement that nslookup is not used for performing zone transfers and that those transfers are accomplished with DNS best captures how these functions operate.