Edit DNS Records (Zone File) - A Records, CNAME Records, MX Records, TXT Records, SRV Records
This tutorial explains how to create customized DNS records for registered domain names in Hover.
Please note that your domain needs to be pointed at the Hover name servers (ns1.hover.com and ns2.hover.com) in order for changes to your DNS records to take effect. Instructions for changing your name servers are posted at this URL: http://about.hover.com/changeNS
This is an advanced solution for technical users. You should not change your DNS records unless directed by your hosting company, or if you are familiar with configuring zone files. If you are unsure whether or not you need to edit your DNS records, don't hesitate to contact a customer adviser for assistance at help@hover.com or by phone at 1-866-731-6556.
To begin, log into your Hover account online at: https://www.hover.com/login
Select the List of Domains tab then click on the domain name that needs to be updated.
Select the Manage Domain tab then click on Manage DNS.
A warning is displayed about changing DNS settings negatively impacting services that rely on domain settings. To edit the DNS records, click on the Click here link.
In the screenshot above the Manage DNS page is displayed with all of the default records.
The Host is the prefix before the domain name. An @ in the Host represents the blank record for the root domain (awesomelawncare.com in the example above)
An * (asterisk) in the Host is a wildcard. For example, creating a record for *.awesomelawncare.com will point <anything>.awesomelawncare.com at the IP address provided.
In the screenshot above, *.awesomelawncare.com and awesomelawncare.com are both pointed at 64.99.80.21.
There are five record types that you can create in Hover: A, CNAME, MX, TXT, and SRV Records.
A Records
An A Record is used to point a hostname at an IP address. This record type can be used to point your domain name at your web host or for creating subdomains which point directly to an IP address.
In the example above, I am creating an A Record that will point ftp.awesomelawncare.com at 216.40.33.117.
Click Save to add a new record to your domain's zone file.
The screenshot above shows the new A record for ftp.awesomelawncare.com.
CNAME Records
A CNAME record, or Canonical Name record, is a pointer of one name to another. A CNAME record points a hostname to another name that is already created for a server or system. Canonical means expected or real name. These records are pointing a name you created at the "real" name for the server or system.
This is useful when running multiple services (such as an FTP and a webserver) from a single IP address. Each service can then have its own entry in DNS (such as blog.mydomain.com or ftp.mydomain.com).
You may also be requested to enter a CNAME record to verify domain ownership for online services such as Google Apps
CNAMEs should only be used if you can't use an A Record.
In the screenshot above, I am pointing the hostname calendar.awesomelawncare.com at ghs.google.com.
The screenshot above displays the new CNAME record for calendar.awesomelawncare.com.
MX Records
A MX record or Mail Exchange record specifies how e-mail should be routed. The MX record points to the servers that should receive e-mail for the domain.
In simple terms, the MX record allows the rest of the world to know where your email needs to be delievered. The default setting points your domain to Hover's mail system.
Each MX record contains a host name and a numeric priority. The lower numbers have higher priority. Priority 0 is highest priority. Setting priority is useful if the e-mail service uses secondary servers. Secondary servers are usually given lower priority because they may be operated externally, not have direct access to the primary e-mail storage, have less Internet bandwidth, among other reasons.
To create an MX record for your domain enter @ as the hostname as in the example above. If you are creating an MX record for a sub domain, then you can enter your sub domain into the Hostname field.
TXT or Text Records
TXT records allow users to associate some text with a hostname. Originally TXT records were created to add arbitrary human-readable text to DNS records. Today TXT records have a number of practical uses, one of which is to define Sender Policy Framework (SPF) information which can be used by multiple e-mail technologies to assist in identifying the actual sender of an email.
SRV Records
An SRV record is a service record which specifies information on available services. Services such as Google Apps may require you to create SRV records.
SRV records have the following form: _Service._Protocol.DomainName TTL Class SRV Priority Weight Port Target
In Hover, the Value text field should contain the priority, weight, port, and hostname in that order.
The example screenshot will create an SRV record with the following values:
Hostname: _xmpp-server._tcp.awesomelawncare.com
Type: SRV
Priority: 5
Weight: 0
Port: 5269
The Class is always set to IN and the TTL is set automatically by our DNS server.
Delete Existing Record
Click the X next to a record to delete it.
Edit Existing Record
You can also edit an existing record then press Update instead of creating a new record and deleting the old one.
Restore Default DNS Records
To revert back to Hover's default DNS records click on "Reset to Default" then click Proceed and click OK.
Create and Manage Name Servers Based on the Domain
Click on Manage Nameservers to create or modify name servers based on your domain name.
For each name server enter a hostname and your nameserver IP address then click on Add.
Click on Add Record to create additional name servers.
In the screenshot above I've added two names servers, ns1.awesomelawncare.com (64.99.80.21) and ns2.awesomelawncare.com (64.99.80.22).
Name Servers Require Glue Records
If you have created custom name servers based on your own registered domain, the zone file for your domain name must contain A records for your name server's hostnames. These A records are referred to as the glue records.
The glue records must be created on the authoritative name servers for the domain name. The authoritative name servers are the name servers that you have your domain pointed at in the Name Servers section under the Manage Domain tab in your Hover account.
In the screenshot above, I've added records for my custom name servers in the Manage DNS section in Hover because the domain is pointed at Hover's name servers.
More details on DNS record types, and information on record types not covered in Hover, can be found by clicking on this URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TXT_record
__________________________________________________________
Article Shortcut: http://about.hover.com/editzonefile
__________________________________________________________
Comments (4)
Add Your Comment
March 31, 2010 9:07 pm
is there no way to add multiple txt records?
if not, doing both dkim and SPF is impossible, given the size limit of the fields
April 1, 2010 12:57 pm
Thanks for the comment. At this time, it isn't possible to add multiple txt records for the same hostname. I've passed this along as a feature request to our development team. If you have further suggestions on how we can improve our DNS services, you can post feature requests in the following forum: http://ask.hover.com/forums/13514-feature-requests
August 30, 2010 11:30 am
I'm trying to add MX Records for Google Apps. In their documentation, I'm supposed to add "aspmx.l.google.com." including the trailing "." at the end of the hostname but am unable to do so using Hover's interface. Is there a way to do this?
August 30, 2010 12:50 pm
@Matt - Thanks for your question! The trailing "." is not required. Technically, all domain names end in a dot, but the Hover system inserts it automatically. If you add aspmx.l.google.com as an MX record, our system will automatically recognize it as being "aspmx.l.google.com." with the trailing dot.