What is DNS?

The Domain Name System (DNS) is essentially the phonebook for the Internet. It manages the relationships between IP addresses (the phone numbers) and domains (individuals and corporations). All domains and their components, such as web and mail servers, use DNS to resolve IP addresses to the appropriate locations. This article provides step-by-step instructions for managing your DNS records using the Next Generation Control Panel.

Create a Domain

To create a domain for your account, follow these steps:

1. Log into the next generation Control Panel and click DNS at the top of the page.
2. Click Create Domain. The Create Domain pop-over appears and looks like this:

3. To create a domain not already listed:

• Enter the Domain Name you want to add (for example you would use yourcompany.com, not www.yourcompany.com).
• Enter the Email address for the Domain Administrator (domain contact person) who is responsible for maintaining the domain.
• Enter the domain Time to Live (TTL). This controls when the record expires. This is also how long you will have to wait for changes to take effect. We recommend that you set TTL to 5 minutes (300 seconds), however you can choose any number you want up to 86400 seconds (24 hours). Then select the time unit.

4. Click Create Domain.

The domain name will appear on the DNS list page.

View the Details of a Domain

To view a domain for your account, follow these steps:

1. Click the DNS button at the top of the Control Panel page.
2. A list of the domains for your account is displayed.
3. Click the Domain Name to view.

The details for the domain are displayed. From this page you can:

• Add a record to the domain by clicking Add Record.
• Modify the domain by selecting an action from the Actions drop-down menu.

Modify an Existing Domain

Edit the selected domain by choosing an option from the Actions cog or Actions menu or by clicking the edit pencil next to the option description. You can make the following modifications:

• Edit Time to Live — Enter the Time to Live (TTL). Note that the domain TTL is displayed as the default value. Select the time unit from the drop-down menu. Then click Save TTL. This controls when the record expires. This is also how long you will have to wait for changes to take effect. We recommend that you set TTL to 5 minutes (300 seconds), however you can choose any number you want up to 86400 seconds (24 hours).
• Add DNS Record — Enter the information for the record to add.
• Edit Domain Contact — Enter the Email Address for the Domain Administrator (domain contact person).
• Delete Domain — Confirm that you want to permanently delete the selected domain by clicking Delete Domain. If you are not sure about the deletion, click Cancel. When a domain is deleted, its immediate resource records are also deleted from the account. If a deleted domain had subdomains, each subdomain becomes a root domain and is not deleted. 

Add a DNS Record to a Domain

To add a record to the selected domain, follow these steps:

1. Select the Record Type using the drop-down menu:

• A/AAAA — A is an IPv4 Address record. This is the main type of record and should be the first record you add (for example rackspacecloud.com). AAAA is an address record for IPv6. The Target (IP Address) field is automatically used to determine whether the record type is A or AAAA.
• CNAME — This is a Common Name or Canonical Name Record and is used for subdomains (for example www.rackspacecloud.com). The CNAME record works like an alias. 
• MX — This is a Mail Exchange record and is used for mail delivery (for example mike@rackspacecloud.com).
• NS — An NS record can be used to delegate an authoritative DNS server for a domain or subdomain. NS (Name Server) records indicate where the domain's DNS hosting services are located. It effectively delegates a domain to use a set of name servers.
• SRV — An SRV record is used to designate a host and port for certain services for a domain (such as LDAP).
• TXT — The TXT record can be used to store several data types, such as SPF or DKIM records.

TXT records are used primarily for SPF and DKIM records. An SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record allows administrators to specify which hosts are allowed to send e-mail from a domain by creating a specific SPF record in the public (DNS). Mail exchangers then use the DNS to check that mail from a given domain is being sent by a host sanctioned by that domain's administrators. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is a method for associating a domain name to an email, thereby allowing an organization to take responsibility for a message in a way that can be validated by a recipient.

2. Specify the information for the record you are adding. The fields change as appropriate based on the Record Type selected.
3. When you are finished editing the fields for the record, click Add Record.

The new record appears in the Records list.

Modify a DNS Record

To modify a record for the selected domain follow these steps:

1. Click the Actions cog to the left of the Name of the record you want to modify in the Records list.
2. Choose the desired action from the drop-down menu:

• Delete Record — Click Delete Record to permanently delete this record.
• Modify Record — Modify the information as desired and then click Modify Record.