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Managing DNS zone records

Managing DNS zone records

After you create a DNS zone, you can add records to the zone at any time. You can add, edit, or delete primary zone records in your account.

You can only edit secondary zone records in your primary provider's interface.

Unlike primary zones, secondary zone records are read-only. You cannot edit secondary zone records in your IBM Cloud account, because the zone is primarily hosted elsewhere. If you want to edit secondary zone records, you must do so on the primary provider. These changes reflect in your IBM Cloud account after the next zone transfer refresh.

If you want your IBM Cloud account to act as a primary provider rather than a secondary provider for your record, see Converting DNS Zones.

Adding a DNS zone record

The type of records that you can add to a DNS zone include:

  • A (Host) Records
  • AAAA (Host) Records
  • CNAME (Alias) Records
  • MX (Mail Exchange) Records
  • NS (Name Server) Records
  • SRV (Service) Records
  • TXT (Text) Records

To add a Primary zone record to a DNS Zone:

  1. From your browser, open the IBM Cloud console and log in to your account.
  2. Click the Menu icon Menu icon and select Infrastructure > Classic Infrastructure.
  3. Select Network > DNS.
  4. In the Primary zones table, locate the primary zone that you want to update, then click on the name of the zone.
  5. On the Primary zone details page, click Create in the Records table.
  6. Enter a name for your record, select a record type, and complete the other requested fields, then click Confirm.

Refer to the following tables for information on which fields are required for the record type.

Fields required for A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, NS, SRV, or TXT records

Fields required for A records
Use the buttons before the table to change the context of the table. The column headers identify the fields required and their description.
Field Description
IPv4 address Enter the target IPv4 address.
Fields required for AAAA records
Use the buttons before the table to change the context of the table. The column headers identify the fields required and their description.
Field Description
IPv6 address Enter the target IPv6 address.
Fields required for CNAME records
Use the buttons before the table to change the context of the table. The column headers identify the fields required and their description.
Field Description
Target hostname Enter the target hostname.
Fields required for MX records
Use the buttons before the table to change the context of the table. The column headers identify the fields required and their description.
Field Description
Mail server hostname Enter the hostname of the target mail server.
Priority Enter the priority of the target host. The lower the number, the higher the priority.
Fields required for NS records
Use the buttons before the table to change the context of the table. The column headers identify the fields required and their description.
Field Description
Name server hostname Enter the hostname of the target DNS server.
Fields required for SRV records
Use the buttons before the table to change the context of the table. The column headers identify the fields required and their description.
Field Description
Target hostname and port Enter the canonical hostname of the machine that provides the service, enter a semicolon, then enter the TCP or UDP port on which the service is to be found.
Weight Enter the relative weight for records with the same priority. The higher the number, the higher the priority.
Priority Enter the priority of the target host. The lower the number, the higher the priority.
Fields required for TXT records
Use the buttons before the table to change the context of the table. The column headers identify the fields required and their description.
Field Description
Data Enter one or more strings wrapped in double quotation marks (").

Editing a DNS zone record

You can edit existing DNS zone records to update their name, target, and time to live (TTL).

To edit a Primary zone record:

  1. From your browser, open the IBM Cloud console and log in to your account.
  2. Click the Menu icon Menu icon and select Infrastructure > Classic Infrastructure.
  3. Select Network > DNS.
  4. In the Primary zones table, locate the primary zone that you want to update, then click on the name of the zone.
  5. On the Primary zone details page, locate the Record that you want to edit in the Records table, then click Edit in the Actions menu Actions menu.
  6. Update the name, target, time to live (TTL), or other details of the record.
  7. Click Confirm to update the record.

Deleting a DNS zone record

You can delete a DNS zone record through the DNS Zone details page.

To delete a Primary zone record:

  1. From your browser, open the IBM Cloud console and log in to your account.
  2. Click the Menu icon Menu icon and select Infrastructure > Classic Infrastructure.
  3. Select Network > DNS.
  4. In the Primary zones table, locate the primary zone that you want to update, then click on the name of the zone.
  5. On the Primary zone details page, locate the Record that you want to delete in the Records table, then click Delete in the Actions menu Actions menu.
  6. Click Confirm to delete the record.