DNS Record Types

Technical specifications for all supported record types.

A and AAAA Records

A records map a hostname to an IPv4 address. AAAA records map to IPv6 addresses. Use these to route your domain to your infrastructure's IP address.

Example A Record


                            example.com.    3600    IN    A    192.0.2.1

Common Uses:

Routing your root domain (@) to your web server or load balancer IP.
Pointing subdomains (e.g., api.example.com) to specific backend services.

CNAME Records

CNAME (Canonical Name) records map a hostname to another hostname. The DNS lookup follows the chain to the final destination.

Example CNAME Record


                            www.example.com.    3600    IN    CNAME    example.com.

Common Uses:

Aliasing 'www' to your root domain.
Pointing a subdomain to a PaaS provider like Heroku, Vercel, or Shopify.

Zone Apex Warning: You cannot place a CNAME record at the root of your domain (e.g., example.com). This is a protocol limitation. You must use an A record for the root.

MX Records

MX (Mail Exchange) records direct email to your mail servers. The priority value sets the order of preference (lower is preferred).

Example MX Records (Google Workspace)

example.com.    3600    IN    MX    1 aspmx.l.google.com.
example.com.    3600    IN    MX    5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com.
example.com.    3600    IN    MX    5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com.

Common Uses:

Configuring email for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or Zoho Mail.
Setting up backup mail relays.

TXT Records

TXT records hold arbitrary text data. They are heavily used for email authentication and domain ownership proof.

Example SPF Record (Email Security)


                            example.com.    3600    IN    TXT    "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all"

Common Uses:

SPF/DKIM/DMARC: Essential for email deliverability and preventing spoofing.
Verification: Proving domain ownership to Google Search Console, SSL providers, or platforms like Facebook.

NS Records

NS (Name Server) records indicate which servers are authoritative for the zone. TrueDNS automatically handles your root NS records.

TrueDNS Nameservers

ns1.truedns.io
ns2.truedns.io
ns3.truedns.io
ns4.truedns.io

Common Uses:

Delegating a specific subdomain to a different DNS provider (e.g., AWS Route53 for a specific app).

SRV Records

SRV records define the hostname and port for specific services. Format: _service._protocol.name TTL class SRV priority weight port target

Example SRV Record (SIP)


                            _sip._tcp.example.com.    3600    IN    SRV    10 5 5060 sipserver.example.com.

CAA Records

CAA (Certificate Authority Authorization) records allow domain owners to declare which Certificate Authorities are allowed to issue SSL certificates for the domain.

Example CAA Record (Let's Encrypt only)


                            example.com.    3600    IN    CAA    0 issue "letsencrypt.org"

Common Uses:

Preventing unauthorized certificate issuance by restricting valid CAs.