SliceManager - DNS Administration. April 2008 (v1.0.1)

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1 SliceManager - DNS Administration April 2008 (v1.0.1) Page 1 of 13

2 Table of Contents DNS Administration - an overview 3 DNS tab 3 Domains 4 Creating a DNS Zone 4 DNS Records 5 A records - domains 6 A records - subdomains 7 CNAME records 8 NS Records 9 MX Records 10 DNS Records display 12 Reverse DNS records 13 Page 2 of 13

3 DNS Administration - an overview The DNS tab in the SliceManager allows you to create DNS zones and configure your domainʼs DNS records. Please ensure you have the latest document version so any updates to the SliceManager are included. You can check for the latest version here: DNS tab You can administer your DNS records account via the main menu in the SliceManager: The DNS administration options will be displayed, each of which is described in below: Any domain that uses Slicehost nameservers will need the master domain nameservers changed to: ns1.slicehost.net ns2.slicehost.net ns3.slicehost.net Please note that it is.net and not.com. Page 3 of 13

4 Domains Creating a DNS Zone Assuming you are using the Slicehost nameservers for your DNS records, each domain will require a zone. If you are unfamiliar with the terminology, think of a zone as a blank document - eventually it will contain the DNS records for the domain, but for now, the blank document, or zone, needs to be created. To create the zone, enter the domain name in the new domain page: Page 4 of 13

5 DNS Records Now the zone has been created, each individual records needs to be added. The ʻrecordsʼ link will allow you to add, edit and delete individual DNS records for that zone: Adding a new record to the DNS zone is done via the ʻnew recordʼ link. The most common option when adding DNS records are shown below. Page 5 of 13

6 A records - domains Adding an A record require the domain name and the IP address of the Slice: Note the domain name ends with a period (.) - it important that full domain names are suffixed with a period as that indicates it is the end of the record (see below for an example of when a period(.) is not required). Page 6 of 13

7 A records - subdomains Adding a subdomain with an A record only requires the subdomain name and the IP address of the Slice: Note that in this case, the ʻwwwʼ name does not require a period (.) at the end. Leaving the period off the end of the name will append the zone name to the record. As such, in this case, the record will be read as which is what is required. Page 7 of 13

8 CNAME records CNAME records are different from A records in that they reference a domain name rather than an individual IP address. This does require two requests as the initial call has to reference the domain name to find the IP address: Again, note the period (.) at the end of the domain name in the Data field, indicating the end of the record. Page 8 of 13

9 NS Records The individual NS records should match the domainʼs master nameservers records. In other words, if, at the domain registrar, you set the master nameserver records as ns1.slicehost.net to ns3.slicehost.net, they need to be replicated here: As mentioned, you need an NS record for each of the domainʼs master nameservers. Note the period (.) at the end of the Name and Data records. Page 9 of 13

10 MX Records MX (Mail Exchange) records require the referenced record to exist. In other words, in this example the MX record will be pointed to the subdomain ʻmail.domain.comʼ. As such, the subdomain ʻmail.domain.comʼ must exist. To add the ʻmailʼ subdomain requires a simple A record: Page 10 of 13

11 The MX record requires an entry in the ʻAuxiliary Infoʼ field. MX records are prioritised by the Auxiliary info number - the lower the number, the higher the priority. A good place to start is to enter ʼ10ʼ as that leaves room for expansion at a later date should you add another MX record that requires a higher priority: As with all the previous record types, note the period (.) at the end of the domain names. Page 11 of 13

12 DNS Records display Each DNS Zoneʼs records are summarised and ordered by record type in the zone view. In this case, each record shown above is displayed for the domain.com zone: Each record can be edited or deleted as needed. NOTE: For demonstration purposes we have used the domain name ʻdomain.comʼ. You must only use domains you either own or are authorised to use when adding DNS zones and records. Page 12 of 13

13 Reverse DNS records Each Slice has a single, dedicated IP (more IPs can be purchased with justification). Although a default RDNS record is created for the IP, it is often recommended to change this to suit your needs. An example is when sending s from the Slice - a technique often used by spam screens is to match the RDNS record with the sending domain. If they do not match, then the is classed as spam. You are able to set the RDNS for each IP on a Slice via the ʻReverse DNSʼ link: Using the examples shown above, it would be a good idea to change this record to ʻmail.domain.com.ʼ. Page 13 of 13