A DNS zone file is a text file that creates mappings between human-readable domain names and computer-readable IP addresses. These are organized in Resource Records. The format of a zone file is defined in RFC 1035 section 5 and RFC 1034 section 3.6.1.

If you are familiar with using bind and managing DNS zones, you probably don't need to be reading this page, but should find the format of the Custom Zone Editor very familiar and intuitive. The editor has been designed to have the look of a bind zone.

How It Works

Use R4L DNS service

Of course, your domain needs to be using R4L's DNS service in order to be able to have us host a custome zone file for you. If you open the editor and are using external DNS service for your domain, then a warning message will be displayed. You can still use and save a zone using the editor. This allows you to configure a custom zone on our servers before pointing your domain to us. To reset the DNS for your domain to our servers, follow this guide.

Loading your zone

If no custom zone file is in place for your domain name, we will load the pre-configured zone file that is in place for domain names using R4L's Email and Web Hosting service. This will be the starting point for your zone, and you can start to make additions/deletions from there.

If you have a custom zone file in place for your domain, then this zone is loaded for you.

Record Types:

• SOA. TTL (time to live), minumum value is 1 minute, defines the length of time the record should be cached before a new lookup should be done. Minimum TTL, minumum value is also 1 minute, defines the length of time negative caching should be valid.
• NS Records. Which name servers are in use for this domain. This should be ns1.R4L.com and ns2.R4L.com.
• MX Records. These define where mail is routed. MX records have priority, so if you are running a primary and back up mail server, set the primary's priority to a lower value than the backup mail server. Equal priority will have mail delivered to the servers in a round-robin (random) fashion. MX records should point to a CNAME record that has been defined by an A record, i.e. should resolve directly to an IP address.
• A Records. Defines mapping betwen domain/sub-domain and IPv4 address. Two different A records with the same name can point to a different IP address.
• AAAA Records. Defines mapping betwen domain/sub-domain and IPv6 address. Two different A records with the same name can point to a different IP address.
• CNAME Records. Canonical names create a mapping between a defined CNAME record to another CNAME record. You cannot defined two CNAME records with the same name.
• SRV Records. An SRV record or Service record is a category of data in the Internet Domain Name System specifying information on available services. Follow the guide for the particular service you are setting up for how to configure this record.
• TXT Records. Sender Policy Framework and DomainKeys, instead of creating their own record types, are defined using the TXT record. Important note, the default R4L zone has a SPF record in place for mail services. If you are setting up email externally, you need to edit this record to point it to the external mail provider.

Step by Step Instructions:

To edit or create your domain's custom zone, log into your account and navigate to DNS and then Custom DNS Zone.

Adding, Editing, Deleting Records

To add records, simply type in the name of the record and host it will be pointing to. When you add a new record, a new form for the next record will automatically be added to the form.

To edit a record, simply change the name of the value or host that it is in the form.

To delete a record, click on the red X at the right of the form and the record will be deleted. If you delete a record in error, use the cancel button to reset your zone.

Switch to Another Domain

If you wish to edit a zone file for another domain in your account, use the Switch Domain function on the left of the screen. You can type in the name directly, or pick from your list of domains.

Multiple Domains in One Zone

If you have more than one domain using the same zone file, when you edit the zone, you'll have the choice to have your changes apply to all domains pointing to this zone or only the one doamin you are editing. Similarly, if you are reseting the DNS to point back to the R4L standard zone, you can do this for all domains pointing to the current one or just the one.