The [ICANN Centralized Zone Data Service](https://czds.icann.org) *(CZDS)* allows *approved* users to request and download DNS zone files in bulk, provided they represent a legitimate company or academic institution and their intended use is legal and ethical. Once ICANN approves the request, this tool streamlines the retrieval of extensive domain name system data, facilitating research and security analysis in the realm of internet infrastructure.
## Zone Information
Zone files are updated once every 24 hours, specifically from 00:00 UTC to 06:00 UTC. Access to these zones is granted in increments, and the total time for approval across all zones may extend to a month or longer. It is typical for more than 90% of requested zones to receive approval. Please be aware that access to certain zones is time-bound, expiring at the beginning of the following year, or up to a decade after the initial approval has been confirmed.
## Usage
### Authentication
Credentials may be provided interactively upon execution or via the `CZDS_USER`&`CZDS_PASS` environment variables:
While ICANN does have an official [czds-api-client-python](https://github.com/icann/czds-api-client-python) repository, I rewrote it from scratch to be more streamline & included a POSIX version for portability.
Either way, big props to ICANN for allowing me to use the CZDS for research purposes!