DNS records

This page covers adding and changing individual DNS records on a domain. If you have not yet connected a domain, start with Custom domains.

Only for domains EventDrake manages

You can add, change, and delete records here only on a domain where you chose to let EventDrake manage the DNS. If your domain’s DNS is managed elsewhere, add and change its records with your domain provider instead, using the values shown on the domain’s verification page.

Open Site Config → Domains, then select the domain. Its records are listed under DNS records.

Site Config → Domains → your domain → DNS records

A table of records, with a row for each one and an Add record button above it.

Add a record

1. Select Add record.
2. Enter a Name. Leave it blank, or enter @, to set the record on the domain itself. For a subdomain, enter its label, for example www.
3. Choose a Type, such as A, CNAME, TXT, or MX.
4. Enter one or more Values. Most record types take a single value; some, like TXT, accept several.
5. Set the TTL, in seconds. This controls how long other computers hold onto the record before checking it again. The default suits most cases; it must be between 60 and 86400 seconds (24 hours).
6. Select Add record.

If what you type for Name does not already end in your domain, EventDrake completes it for you and shows the full name it is about to save, so you can check it before you commit.

A domain holds up to 50 of your own records. Once you reach that limit, delete one before adding another.

Edit a record

Select Edit next to one of your own records to change its values or TTL. The name and type are set when you add a record and cannot be changed afterwards; to point a different name or use a different type, add a new record and delete the old one.

Delete a record

Select Delete next to one of your own records, then confirm. You can always add the record again later.

Records EventDrake manages for you

Some rows in the table are shown with muted text and cannot be edited or deleted. These are grouped at the bottom, under a divider that reads “Managed by EventDrake, published automatically and not editable here.” They cover things EventDrake needs to run your site on this domain, such as web hosting, the certificate for a secure connection, and sending email. EventDrake keeps these current on its own; you do not need to do anything with them.

Record status

Each of your own records shows a status:

• Pending: the record has been saved, but EventDrake has not yet confirmed whether publishing it succeeded.
• Published: the record is live.
• Failed: the last attempt to publish the record did not succeed. Hovering over the status shows the reason.
• Removing: you deleted the record and removal is in progress.

If a record is stuck on Failed, Pending, or Removing, select Retry next to it to try the publish or removal again.

Adding a DMARC record

If you turn email on for a domain and it doesn’t already have a DMARC record, EventDrake offers to add one for you, above the record table. The suggested starting policy is p=none. This does not change how any of your mail is delivered; it only asks the mail services that receive your mail to send you reports on how it is being authenticated, so you have real data to look at before you move to a stricter policy.

You can optionally give a reporting address to receive those reports at.

Reporting address on another domain

If the reporting address you give is on a domain other than the one you’re adding this record to, that other domain also needs a matching record published on it, by whoever manages its DNS. Without that, no reports will arrive, and you’ll have nothing to confirm the policy is safe to tighten later.

Certificate authority records

A CAA record lists which certificate providers are allowed to issue a secure-connection certificate for a name. If you add or change a CAA record here and its list does not include amazon.com, EventDrake is blocked from issuing or renewing the certificate your site needs to serve this name (and anything under it) over a secure connection. If this name already covers a domain, itself or a subdomain, that currently has web hosting turned on, EventDrake refuses to save the record at all. Otherwise, it lets you save it, but turning on web hosting for this domain or any of its subdomains is refused until you add amazon.com to the list; EventDrake warns you about this before you save such a record and asks you to confirm you understand, so you don’t lock yourself out of web hosting by accident.

Names you can’t add records at

A handful of names in your domain are set aside for EventDrake and refuse a record of your own, even where the table shows no managed row for them. These include the name server records at the domain itself (not, for instance, its mail records, which stay yours to set); the address records at the domain itself while web hosting is turned on; the names EventDrake uses to prove you own the domain and to validate certificates; and, once email is turned on, the names used to sign your mail. If you’ve set a custom sending subdomain, the names under it are reserved too, whether or not email is currently turned on. The domain’s page lists exactly which names are reserved for your setup.