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Common DNS records explained (A, CNAME, MX, TXT)

Maxim Tsitsejev
Updated

Applies to: All plans.

DNS records are the instructions that tell the internet where to find your website and email. You manage all of them in your client area under your domain's DNS records (our DNS is managed by us, on our own nameservers) — not in the cPanel zone editor, which does not control your live DNS here.

This article explains the four record types you'll meet most often. Each row of a DNS zone has a type, a name (the host it applies to, like @ for the root domain or www for a subdomain), and a value (what it points to).

The four records you'll use most

Record What it does Typical value at Maxinodes When you'd add one
A Points a name to an IPv4 address — this is what makes your website load. Your hosting node's IPv4: 185.185.49.198 The root domain (@) and www for your site; any subdomain you want to serve from your hosting.
CNAME Points one name to another name (an alias) rather than to an IP. A hostname, e.g. autodiscover -> autodiscover.outlook.com Aliasing www to your root, mail autodiscover, DKIM selectors, and third-party verification that asks for a CNAME.
MX Says which mail server receives email for your domain, with a priority (lower number = tried first). From your email provider, e.g. Microsoft 365 <tenant>.mail.protection.outlook.com (priority 0) Setting up or moving email to Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or any provider.
TXT Holds plain text used for verification and email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). A text string, e.g. SPF v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all Domain ownership checks, SPF, DMARC, and other verification records.

A records and our IP address

Our hosting node is reachable over both IPv4 and IPv6 (dual-stack). Point your A records (the root @ and www) at our hosting node's IPv4 address, 185.185.49.198.

If you keep DNS at another provider, add the records there yourself: an A record to 185.185.49.198, and an AAAA record — the IPv6 equivalent — to 2a00:7c80:0:286:c::10 so IPv6 visitors reach you too. AutoSSL / Let's Encrypt certificates cover both addresses once they exist.

Note: Customer websites are served over both IPv4 and IPv6 (dual-stack). When your domain uses our nameservers, the zone we create contains both the A and the AAAA records for your domain, www, cpanel and ftp — you do not have to add anything.

CNAME vs A: which to use

Use an A record when you have an IP address to point at. Use a CNAME when a provider gives you a hostname to point at instead (common for email autodiscover, DKIM and verification). One important rule: you cannot put a CNAME on the root domain (@) — use an A record there, and reserve CNAMEs for subdomains like www, autodiscover or a vendor-specified host.

MX and TXT records are for email

Maxinodes does not host mailboxes on the server. Email is resold Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, so your MX, SPF (TXT), DKIM (CNAME or TXT) and DMARC (TXT) records come from your provider, not from us. The exact values always come from the Microsoft 365 admin centre or the Google Workspace setup wizard — never copy a value from elsewhere. On Managed plans we set these records up for you.

Other record types you may see

The client-area DNS manager handles eight types in all: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SRV and CAA. Besides the four above, these are the ones you may be asked for:

  • AAAA — the IPv6 twin of an A record. Same idea, but the value is an IPv6 address; ours is 2a00:7c80:0:286:c::10.
  • NS — nameserver records. Yours are ns1.maxinodes.com and ns2.maxinodes.com.
  • SRV — tells software which host and port run a particular service (VoIP/SIP, XMPP, Matrix, some game servers). It is the fiddliest record to fill in: the name has to be written as _service._protocol, for example _sip._tcp, and besides the target hostname you must give a Priority, a Weight and a Port. All four are required.
  • CAA — says which certificate authorities are allowed to issue SSL certificates for your domain. It takes Flags (0 normally, or 128 to mark the record issuer-critical), a Tag (issue, issuewild or iodef) and a value — a certificate authority's domain such as letsencrypt.org for issue and issuewild, or a mailto: address or https:// URL for iodef.

Note: Our free AutoSSL certificates are issued by Let's Encrypt. If you publish a CAA record, make sure it allows letsencrypt.org — a CAA record that leaves it out will stop your certificate being issued or renewed.

You add all of these in the same client-area DNS manager. For the exact fields, the field-by-field steps and worked examples for SRV and CAA, see How to manage DNS records in your client area.

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