Overview

DNS (Domain Name Service) is the component of the internet that converts human-readable domain names (for example, domain.com) into computer-readable IP addresses (for example, 192.0.32.10). DNS uses zone files that reside on your server to map domain names to IP addresses.

There are several different types of DNS records that your domain will need to function properly. While cPanel will set up your DNS zone file with default settings, you can add and edit your zone file as needed to use other services.

If you are not sure how to log into your cPanel, you can find out here.

Please note:

  • When entering the ‘Name’, the system will automatically add the domain name to the end of the record, unless you end it with a ‘.’
    • mail will be saved as mail.domain.com
    • domain.com. will be saved as mail.domain.com
    • domain.com will be saved as mail.domain.com.domain.com
  • Your cPanel zone file is only in effect if you are using our name servers. If you are using different name servers, you will need to update your zone file with them before the changes take place, or, update your name servers with your registrar to use ours. While you can use any valid name servers with your services, using ours allows us to keep them up to date without interruptions.
  • Any time you make any changes to your zone file, you must allow for up to 24 hours for the records to fully propagated. While most modern servers will complete this within 4-6 hours, it is possible that some servers will take longer.

 

Accessing the DNS Zone Editor

In order to manage your domain’s DNS records, you will need to navigate to the DNS Zone Editor app in the Domain section of your cPanel

Managing Domain DNS

Once the app is loaded, you will see a list of your domains with several options:

  • + A Record – this will add a new A record for your domain
  • + CNAME Record – this will add a new CNAME record
  • + MX Record – add a new MX or mail exchange record
  • Manage – this will open the domain’s DNS manager where you can add, delete or edit your DNS records

In most cases, you will want to click on Manage

Manage

Once you load the DNS manager for your domain, you will see several options

  • Search Box – you can search the zone file for records
  • Filter – filter the zone file for records by type
  • Actions – Reset DNS Zone, this will reset your zone file to the default zone file for the server you are on (Use caution, this is not reversible.)
  • Email Routing Configuration – this will take you to the section where you can change your email routing (This is an advance function and is not typically altered)
  • Save All Records – save all changes made
  • + Add Record – add a new record, you can choose the type from the drop down
  • Settings – change how many records are displayed per page, the page controls are the arrows just above these buttons

Add Record

On you click on the + Add Record button, you will see the following at the top of the DNS record list:

Fill in the fields and then click Save Record to add it

  • Name – this is the name of the record (Ex. mail.domain.com.) When adding the record name, the system will automatically add your domain to the end, unless it ends with a “.” (Ex, the name ‘mail.domain.com.’ will save as ‘mail.domain.com’. If you save it as ‘mail.domain.com’, the system will save it as ‘mail.domain.com.domain.com.’)
  • TTL - “Time to Live”, this tells DNS servers how long to cache the record before refreshing and is set in seconds. This generally does not need to be updated
  • Type – this is the record type, see the section below for more about different record types
  • Record – this field will change, depending on the record type you select. In this example, this would be the IPv4 address for this A record
  • Save Record – save and update the zone file
  • Cancel – discard changes

Edit Record

To edit a record, click on the Edit button to the right of the record

Once you click on the Edit button, you will see the same fields as the Add Record button. Once again, these fields will change depending on the record type.

Delete Record

To delete a record, you only need to click the Delete button next to the Edit button

Actions – Reset DNS Zone

This will delete all of your custom records and revert your zone file back to the one created by cPanel by default. Be careful before using this option as it is not reversible.

Record Types

A Record

A records maps domain names to IP addresses. A records are essential because they allow DNS servers to identify and locate your website and its various services on the Internet. Without appropriate A records, your visitors cannot access your website, FTP site, or email accounts. The main record for your domain is known as a blank A record (some services refer to it as “@”). This ‘blank’ A record is required for every zone file to be valid. A records must be set to an IP address

AAAA Record

AAAA records are the same as A records but use IPv6 instead of IPv4. You can find more information on IPv4 vs IPv6 here.

CAA Record

CAA records are used to identify what certificate authorities are allowed to issue certificates for your domain. This is an advanced feature and you would need to get this information from your certificate issuer.

CNAME Record

CNAME records are similar to A records (and AAAA records for that matter) except instead of resolving to an IP address, they will resolve to a domain name (Ex. mail.domain.com). The most common use of CNAME records is to point www.domain.com or ftp.domain.com to the domain.com record.

MX Record

MX records (or Mail Exchange) are required for your email services. This is what directs mail to your mail server. While this is set up by default, if you are not using our mail service, you will need to update these records.

  • Name is typically the domain name (domain.com.)
  • TTL can stay at default
  • Type is MX
  • Priority – it is common that you would have several MX records in your zone file for redundancy reasons. The DNS server will attempt to resolve to the MX record with the lowest priority number first. Different MX records can be set to the same priority.
  • Destination – this would be the domain name of your mail server (Ex. mail.domain.com)

SRV Record

SRV records are used to provide information about additional services on specific ports on your server. This is more for advanced users. Any service requiring SRV records should provide them to you.

SRV records must point to an A or AAAA record.

TXT Record

TXT records contains text information for various services to read. For example, TXT records can specify data for the SPF (Sender Policy Framework) or DKIM (Domain Keys Mail Identifier) email authentication systems. They are also used for domain verification for SSL certificates and other services.

  • Name is typically the domain name (domain.com.)
  • TTL can stay at default
  • Type is TXT
  • Text – this can be any text, but is limited to 255 characters (bytes). If you need a longer record, you can click + Add TXT string to record.

 

If you have any further questions, please be sure to reach out to our support staff by putting in a ticket.