diff --git a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/TableUtils.pm b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/TableUtils.pm
index d1538b454..9f026379c 100644
--- a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/TableUtils.pm
+++ b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/TableUtils.pm
@@ -1824,8 +1824,8 @@ sub enableSSH
        
     } else { 
         # if not a service node we need to check, before enabling
-        if (defined($groups_hash)) {
-            if ($groups_hash->{ALLGROUPS} == 1)
+          if (keys %$groups_hash) {   # not empty
+            if  ($groups_hash->{ALLGROUPS} == 1)
             {
               $enablessh=1;
             }
diff --git a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Zone.pm b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Zone.pm
index 64fa1d5c3..e712d2dd1 100644
--- a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Zone.pm
+++ b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/Zone.pm
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ sub genSSHRootKeys
     Returns:
     Name of the current default  zone from the zone table
     Example:
-     my $defaultzone =xCAT::Zone->getdefaultzone(); 
+     my $defaultzone =xCAT::Zone->getdefaultzone($callback); 
 =cut
 
 #--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -192,9 +192,107 @@ sub iszonedefined
  my ($class,$zonename) = @_;
  # checks the zone table to see if input zonename already in the table 
  my $tab = xCAT::Table->new("zone");
- my $zone = $tab->getAttribs({zonename => $zonename},'sshkeydir');
  $tab->close();
- if (defined($zone)) {
+ my $zonehash = $tab->getAttribs({zonename => $zonename},'sshkeydir');
+ if ( keys %$zonehash) {
+    return 1;
+ }else{
+    return 0;
+ }
+}
+#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+=head3    getmyzonename 
+    Arguments:
+       $node -one nodename      
+    Returns:
+     $zonename 
+    Example:
+     my $zonename=xCAT::Zone->getmyzonename($node); 
+=cut
+
+#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+sub getmyzonename 
+{
+ my ($class,$node,$callback) = @_;
+ my @node;
+ push @node,$node;
+ my $zonename;
+ my $nodelisttab = xCAT::Table->new("nodelist");
+ my $nodehash = $nodelisttab->getNodesAttribs(\@node, ['zonename']); 
+ $nodelisttab->close();
+ if ( defined ($nodehash->{$node}->[0]->{zonename})) { # it was defined in the nodelist table
+    $zonename=$nodehash->{$node}->[0]->{zonename};
+ } else {  # get the default zone
+    $zonename =xCAT::Zone->getdefaultzone($callback);
+ }
+   return $zonename;
+}
+#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+=head3    enableSSHbetweennodes 
+    Arguments:
+      zonename 
+    Returns:
+     1 if the  sshbetweennodes attribute is yes/1 or undefined
+     0 if the  sshbetweennodes attribute is no/0 
+    Example:
+     xCAT::Zone->enableSSHbetweennodes($zonename); 
+=cut
+
+#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+sub enableSSHbetweennodes 
+{
+ my ($class,$node,$callback) = @_;
+ # finds the zone of the node
+ my $enablessh = 1;   # default
+ my $zonename=xCAT::Zone->getmyzonename($node);
+ # reads the zone table 
+ my $tab = xCAT::Table->new("zone");
+ $tab->close();
+ # read both keys,  want to know zone is in the zone table. If sshkeydir is not there
+ # it is either missing or invalid anyway
+ my $zonehash = $tab->getAttribs({zonename => $zonename},'sshbetweennodes','sshkeydir');
+ if (! ( keys %$zonehash)) {
+          my $rsp = {};
+          $rsp->{error}->[0] = 
+         "$node has a  zonename: $zonename that is  not define in the zone table. Remove the zonename from the node, or create the zone using mkzone. The generated mypostscript may not reflect the correct setting for  ENABLESSHBETWEENNODES";
+          xCAT::MsgUtils->message("E", $rsp, $callback);
+          return $enablessh;
+ }
+ my $sshbetweennodes=$zonehash->{sshbetweennodes};
+ if (defined ($sshbetweennodes)) {
+   if (($sshbetweennodes  =~ /^no$/i) ||  ($sshbetweennodes eq "0")) {
+     $enablessh = 0;  
+   } else {
+     $enablessh = 1;  
+   }
+ } else { # not defined default yes
+   $enablessh = 1 ;   # default
+ }
+ return $enablessh;
+}
+#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+=head3    usingzones 
+    Arguments:
+      none 
+    Returns:
+     1 if the zone table is not empty
+     0 if empty
+    Example:
+     xCAT::Zone->usingzones; 
+=cut
+
+#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+sub usingzones 
+{
+ my ($class) = @_;
+ # reads the zonetable 
+ my $tab = xCAT::Table->new("zone");
+ my  @zone = $tab->getAllAttribs('zonename');
+ $tab->close();
+ if (@zone) {
     return 1;
  }else{
     return 0;
@@ -275,7 +373,7 @@ sub getzoneinfo
      unless ( xCAT::Zone->iszonedefined($zonename)) {
           my $rsp = {};
           $rsp->{error}->[0] = 
-         "$node has a  zonenane: $zonename that is  not define in the zone table. Remove the zonename from the node, or create the zone using mkzone.";
+         "$node has a  zonename: $zonename that is  not define in the zone table. Remove the zonename from the node, or create the zone using mkzone.";
           xCAT::MsgUtils->message("E", $rsp, $callback);
           $::GETZONEINFO_RC =1;
           return;
diff --git a/xCAT-server/lib/perl/xCAT/Postage.pm b/xCAT-server/lib/perl/xCAT/Postage.pm
index 14ff1a23c..3d17cd1f9 100644
--- a/xCAT-server/lib/perl/xCAT/Postage.pm
+++ b/xCAT-server/lib/perl/xCAT/Postage.pm
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ use xCAT::Utils;
 use xCAT::TableUtils;
 use xCAT::Template;
 use xCAT::SvrUtils;
+use xCAT::Zone;
 #use Data::Dumper;
 use File::Basename;
 use Socket;
@@ -186,8 +187,8 @@ sub makescript {
   if($entries[0]) {
        $installroot = $entries[0];
   }
+
   my $tmpl="$installroot/postscripts/mypostscript.tmpl";     #the customized mypostscript template
-    
   unless ( -r $tmpl) {
        $tmpl="$::XCATROOT/share/xcat/mypostscript/mypostscript.tmpl";  #the default xcat mypostscript template
   }
@@ -367,6 +368,16 @@ sub makescript {
       } 
       $cloudinfo_hash = getcloudinfo($cloud_module_name, $cloud_exists); 
   }
+
+  # see if we are using zones.  If we are then sshbetweennodes comes from the zone table not
+  # from the site table
+  my $usingzones;
+  if (xCAT::Zone->usingzones) {
+     $usingzones=1;
+  } else {
+     $usingzones=0;
+  }
+
  
   foreach my $n (@$nodes ) {
       $node = $n; 
@@ -477,9 +488,21 @@ sub makescript {
     # for #INCLUDE_POSTBOOTSCRIPTS_LIST#
     my $postbootscripts;
     $postbootscripts = getPostbootScripts($node, $osimgname, $script_hash);
-
-    my $enablesshbetweennodes = enableSSHbetweennodes($node, \%::GLOBAL_SN_HASH, $groups_hash); 
-
+    
+    # if using zones then must go to the zone.sshbetweennodes
+    # else go to site.sshbetweennodes
+    my $enablesshbetweennodes;
+    my $zonename="\'\'";
+    if ($usingzones) {
+       $enablesshbetweennodes = enableSSHbetweennodeszones($node,$callback); 
+       $enablesshbetweennodes = enableSSHbetweennodeszones($node,$callback);
+       my $tmpzonename = xCAT::Zone->getmyzonename($node,$callback);
+       $zonename="\'";
+       $zonename .= $tmpzonename;
+       $zonename .="\'";
+    } else {  
+       $enablesshbetweennodes = enableSSHbetweennodes($node, \%::GLOBAL_SN_HASH, $groups_hash); 
+    }
     my @clients;
     my $cfgres;
     my $cloudres;
@@ -792,7 +815,7 @@ sub getsshbetweennodes
     Error:
         none
     Example:
-        my $enable = xCAT::TableUtils->enableSSH($node);
+        my $enable = xCAT::TableUtils->enableSSHbetweennodes($node,$sn_hash, $groups_hash);
     Comments:
 
 =cut
@@ -818,6 +841,48 @@ sub enableSSHbetweennodes
 }
 
 
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+=head3  enableSSHbetweennodeszones 
+    Description:  return how to fill in the ENABLESSHBETWEENNODES  export in the mypostscript file
+                  based on the setting in the zone table sshbetweennodes attribute
+    Arguments:
+     $node
+     $callback
+    Returns:
+       1 = enable ssh
+       0 = do not enable ssh 
+    Globals:
+        none
+    Error:
+        none
+    Example:
+        my $enable = xCAT::TableUtils->enableSSHbetweennodeszones($node);
+    Comments:
+
+=cut
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+sub enableSSHbetweennodeszones
+{
+
+    my $node   = shift;
+    my $callback   = shift;
+    my $result;
+  
+    my $enablessh=xCAT::Zone->enableSSHbetweennodes($node,$callback);
+    if ($enablessh == 1) {
+       $result = "'YES'";
+    } else {
+       $result = "'NO'";
+    }
+ 
+    return $result;
+}
+
+
+
 
 
 
diff --git a/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/ddns.pm b/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/ddns.pm
index d86b9b1b8..2b2f930a1 100755
--- a/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/ddns.pm
+++ b/xCAT-server/lib/xcat/plugins/ddns.pm
@@ -390,7 +390,8 @@ sub process_request {
 			# - need domain for this node
 			my $host = $nodehash{$n}{host};
 			$domain=$nodedomains{$host};
-			unless ($domain =~ /^\./) { $domain = '.'.$domain; }
+			# remove the first . at domain name since it's not accepted by high dns parser
+			if ($domain =~ /^\./) { $domain =~ s/^\.//;; } 
 
             ($canonical,$aliasstr)  = split /[ \t]+/,$names,2;
             if ($aliasstr) {
@@ -404,13 +405,13 @@ sub process_request {
             xCAT::SvrUtils::sendmsg(":Handling $node in /etc/hosts.", $callback);
             
             unless ($canonical =~ /$domain/) {
-                $canonical.=$domain;
+                $canonical.=".".$domain;
             }
 			# for only the sake of comparison, ensure consistant dot suffix
             unless ($canonical =~ /\.\z/) { $canonical .= '.' }
             foreach my $alias (@aliases) {
                 unless ($alias =~ /$domain/) {
-                    $alias .= $domain;
+                    $alias .= ".".$domain;
                 }
                 unless ($alias =~ /\.\z/) {
                     $alias .= '.';
@@ -505,9 +506,11 @@ sub process_request {
         $ctx->{slaves}=\@slave_ips;
     }
 
+    $ctx->{domain} =~ s/^\.//; # remove . if it's the first char of domain name
     $ctx->{zonestotouch}->{$ctx->{domain}}=1;
 	foreach (@networks) {
 		if ($_->{domain}) {
+		    $_->{domain} =~ s/^\.//; # remove . if it's the first char of domain name
 			$ctx->{zonestotouch}->{$_->{domain}}=1;
 		}
 	}
@@ -796,11 +799,11 @@ sub update_zones {
 
     xCAT::SvrUtils::sendmsg("Updating zones.", $callback);
 
-    unless ($domain =~ /^\./) {
-        $domain = '.'.$domain;
+    if ($domain =~ /^\./) { # remove . if it's the first char of domain name
+        $domain =~ s/^\.//;
     }
     unless ($name =~ /\./) {
-        $name .= $domain;
+        $name .= ".".$domain;
     }
     unless ($name =~ /\.\z/) {
         $name .= '.';
@@ -1166,9 +1169,9 @@ sub add_or_delete_records {
         }
 
 		my $domain = $nodedomains{$node};
-		unless ($domain =~ /^\./) { $domain = '.'.$domain; }
+		if ($domain =~ /^\./) { $domain =~ s/^\.//; } # remove . if it's the first char of domain name
 
-        unless ($name =~ /$domain/) { $name .= $domain } # $name needs to represent fqdn, but must preserve $node as a nodename for cfg lookup
+        unless ($name =~ /$domain/) { $name .= ".".$domain } # $name needs to represent fqdn, but must preserve $node as a nodename for cfg lookup
 
         if ($ctx->{hoststab} and $ctx->{hoststab}->{$node} and $ctx->{hoststab}->{$node}->[0]->{ip}) {
             @ips = ($ctx->{hoststab}->{$node}->[0]->{ip});
diff --git a/xCAT-server/share/xcat/mypostscript/mypostscript.tmpl b/xCAT-server/share/xcat/mypostscript/mypostscript.tmpl
index ff7cd0aad..ca7f44a20 100755
--- a/xCAT-server/share/xcat/mypostscript/mypostscript.tmpl
+++ b/xCAT-server/share/xcat/mypostscript/mypostscript.tmpl
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
 ENABLESSHBETWEENNODES=$ENABLESSHBETWEENNODES
 export ENABLESSHBETWEENNODES
 
+ZONENAME=$ZONENAME
+export ZONENAME
+
 ## tabdump(<TABLENAME>) is used to get all the information 
 ## in the <TABLENAME> table 
 ## The <TABLENAME> should only be non-"node key" table