# DNS Overview

Host your domain’s authoritative DNS on ZCP. You add a domain, point your registrar at ZSoftly’s name servers, and manage all your records from the console, the CLI, or the API.

## How It Works

A domain (also called a zone) is the container for your records, for example `example.com`. When you add a domain, ZCP creates the zone and adds its `SOA` and `NS` records for you. You then delegate the domain to ZSoftly at your registrar, and ZCP answers DNS queries for it.

Use this workflow:

1. Add your domain to ZCP. See [Domains](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/domains).
2. Add your records while the domain still resolves through its current provider.
3. Delegate the domain to ZSoftly’s name servers at your registrar.
4. Verify global resolution for the new records. See [Troubleshooting](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/troubleshooting).

This order avoids an empty-zone window during the switch.

## Name Servers

ZCP serves every zone from two authoritative name servers:

| Name server | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Primary | `ns1.zsoftly.ca` |
| Secondary | `ns2.zsoftly.ca` |

Point your domain at both. The exact values also appear in the console and in `zcp dns show`.

## Supported Record Types

| Type | Purpose | Details |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `A` / `AAAA` | Map a name to an IPv4 or IPv6 address | [A and AAAA](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/records/a-aaaa) |
| `CNAME` | Alias one name to another | [CNAME](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/records/cname) |
| `MX` | Route email to a mail server | [MX](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/records/mx) |
| `TXT` | Store text (SPF, DKIM, verification) | [TXT](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/records/txt) |
| `CAA` | Restrict certificate issuance to chosen CAs | [CAA](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/records/caa) |
| `NS` | Delegate a subdomain to other name servers | [NS](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/records/ns) |

Create `SRV` and `LOC` records in the console or through the API. The `zcp` CLI does not create them yet.

## Ways to Manage DNS

- Console: the DNS section of the portal. See [Records](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/records) for the per-type reference.
- CLI: [Manage DNS with the CLI](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/cli).
- API: [Manage DNS with the API](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/api/).
- Infrastructure as code: the `zcp_dns_record` resource in the [Terraform / OpenTofu provider](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/tutorials/manage-infrastructure-terraform/).

DNS commands are account-level. They do not need a region or project, unlike most other resources. The one exception is creating a domain, which takes a project.

## Next Steps

- [Add a domain and delegate it](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/domains)
- [Record types reference](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/records)
- [Worked examples](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/examples): host a website, route email, verify ownership, restrict certificate issuance, and delegate a subdomain.

See also: [Manage DNS with the CLI](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/cli), [Manage DNS with the API](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/api/), [Troubleshooting](https://docs.zcp.zsoftly.ca/public-cloud/dns/troubleshooting)