DNS Records
DNS records connect your domain to services. Each record has a name, a type, a value, and a TTL. This page covers the shared rules. Each type has its own page with fields, examples, and constraints.
Record Types
Section titled “Record Types”| Type | Purpose | Page |
|---|---|---|
A / AAAA | Point a name at an IPv4 or IPv6 address | A and AAAA |
CNAME | Alias one name to another | CNAME |
MX | Route email to a mail server | MX |
TXT | Store text (SPF, DKIM, verification) | TXT |
CAA | Restrict certificate issuance to chosen CAs | CAA |
NS | Delegate a subdomain to other name servers | NS |
Names Are Relative
Section titled “Names Are Relative”The record name is relative to your zone. Enter www for www.example.com, not the full name.
Use @ for the zone root (the apex). In the CLI and API, ZCP appends the zone for you, so a full
name like www.example.com becomes www.example.com.example.com.
Values With a Trailing Dot
Section titled “Values With a Trailing Dot”Hostname values, such as a CNAME target, an MX mail server, or an NS name server, should end
with a trailing dot. For example, use mail.example.com.. The dot marks the name as fully qualified
so ZCP does not treat it as relative to your zone.
The TTL (time to live) is how long, in seconds, resolvers cache the record. The default is
14400 (4 hours). Lower it to 300 a day or two before you plan to change a record, so the change
propagates quickly. Raise it again once the record is stable.
How to Manage Records
Section titled “How to Manage Records”Every type works the same way across all surfaces:
- Console: the DNS section of the portal, then Create Record.
- CLI: Manage DNS with the CLI.
- API: Manage DNS with the API.
There is no update action. To change a record, delete it and create it again with the new value.
See also: DNS Overview, Worked examples, Troubleshooting