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DNS records, explained simply

DNS is your domain's address book. Four record types cover almost everything:

  • A — "this name lives at this server address". Your website needs one for example.com and usually one for www.
  • CNAME — "this name is an alias of another name". Handy for subdomains.
  • MX — "email for this domain goes here". Created automatically when you enable email with us.
  • TXT — free-form notes machines read: SPF/DKIM/DMARC (email trust) and ownership checks live here.

Editing records

If your domain uses our nameservers, edit everything under DNS in the portal. Changes go live in seconds. If a record exists twice, delete the stale one — the newest is not automatically preferred.

Rules of thumb

  • Don't delete records you don't recognise while email works — MX/TXT often look obscure and matter most.
  • TTL = how long the internet caches a record. Lower it before a planned move, raise it after.

Export and import a zone file

Every zone has a Download zone file button on its DNS page. It gives you a standard BIND zone file (RFC 1035) — the same format BIND, PowerDNS, Knot and most DNS hosts read — with every record exactly as our nameservers serve it. The SOA and the apex NS lines are included as comments: they are managed by us and would be ignored on import anyway. Keep a copy before a big change, or take it with you if you ever move your DNS elsewhere.

Going the other way, paste or upload a zone file (up to 256 KB) into Import a zone file at the bottom of the same page. You always get a preview first: what would be added, what would be updated, what is already in place, and what we refuse — with the reason next to each line, for example an unsupported record type or a value that does not pass the same checks the editor applies. Nothing is written until you confirm.

  • Imported: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SRV, CAA, and NS records for subdomains. SOA and apex NS lines are skipped with a note.
  • An import only adds and updates. Records already in your zone that the file does not mention are left alone — it never deletes.
  • Long TXT values (DKIM keys) are split into 255-character strings automatically; two files that split the same value differently are recognised as the same record.
  • Exporting a zone and importing the same file back changes nothing — that is the check we run on it.

The same works over the API: GET /api/v1/dns/{zone}/export returns the file, POST /api/v1/dns/{zone}/import with {"zone_file": "...", "dry_run": true} returns the plan as JSON and, with dry_run: false, applies it. Under Account → Export everything you can also download every zone file on your account in one zip, together with your domain list and restore points.