Table of Contents
A Records
If you don't know how to edit your zone file, see the step-by-step tutorial.
You have two options for editing your zone file: normal and expert.
Normal interface
In normal mode (recommended for beginners), your zone file will be shown with each resource record on its own line, like this:
Click the pencil icon to edit the corresponding line, or click “Add” to add a new record.
You will be presented with a form that looks like this:
Each field corresponds to one of these example columns:
| Type | TTL | Name | Value | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record type | Lifespan | Subdomain | IP Address (IPv4) | |
| A | 3 hours | www | 123.123.123.123 | www.mydomain.tld will point at the server found at 123.123.123.123. |
| A | 3 hours | @ | 456.456.456.456 | mydomain.tld will point at the server found at 456.456.456.456. |
| A | 3 hours | * | 789.789.789.789 | All subdomains not otherwise specified will point at the server found at 789.789.789.789. |
| A | 3 hours | photos | 333.333.333.333 | photos.mydomain.tld will point at the server found at 333.333.333.333 |
For example, if all of the records above existed in the zone file of domain mydomain.tld:
mydomain.tldwill point at456.456.456.456www.mydomain.tldwill point at123.123.123.123www2.mydomain.tldwill point at789.789.789.789photos.mydomain.tldwill point at333.333.333.333blog.mydomain.tldwill point at789.789.789.789
Note that the configuration above would cause mydomain.tld and www.mydomain.tld to point to different servers (probably not your desired effect).
When you're done, be sure to click Submit. You will see this message:
Then, you must click “Activate this version”:
You'll receive a confirmation message that the zone file's version has been changed.
Now, you just have to wait about three hours for your changes to propagate.
Expert interface
In expert mode, your zone file will look something like this:
You will now need to add your desired A line.
Here is a model that you can follow:
www 10800 IN A 123.123.123.123
Simply replace www with the name of the subdomain you want, and 123.123.123.123 in the above example with the IP address that your provider gives you.
As a reminder, * means “every subdomain”, so if you have an * A record, then there is no need for www unless you want to override the IP address you gave with your * entry.
If you want just the domain, then you need the @ record you see in the above example, or:
@ 10800 IN A 123.123.123.123
Usually both the * and @ are used.
When you are done, click on the “Submit” button on the bottom of the page to continue.
All that remains now is to wait for the changes to take affect, so for this please wait at least 3 hours.
When to use an A record
A records are ideal for pointing your domain (or subdomain) at a server that has a static IP.
When not to use an A record
A records don't work well in scenarios where your server IP changes a lot. You might want to use a CNAME record instead.
