How to manage DNS records in your client area

Applies to: All plans

Before you start: You need access to your client area at my.maxinodes.com, and the record details you want to add (type, name and value). Your DNS is managed by us, on our own nameservers, and you edit it in the client area DNS manager — not the cPanel zone editor. Editing records in cPanel will not change what visitors see.

Your DNS zone is created automatically when you order hosting, so there is nothing to set up first. This guide shows you how to add, edit and delete records. The DNS manager supports eight record types: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SRV and CAA.

Note: Changes only take effect if your domain is pointed at our nameservers (ns1.maxinodes.com and ns2.maxinodes.com). See How to point your domain to Maxinodes (set your nameservers).

Open the DNS manager

Go to my.maxinodes.com and select Login.
Open Domains from the top menu (or open the relevant service under Services -> My Services).
Find the DNS management option for your domain and open it.

Result: You see the list of current DNS records for your domain.

Add a record

In the DNS manager, choose to add a new record.
Select the record type: A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SRV or CAA.
Enter the name (host) — use @ for the root domain, or a subdomain such as www or shop. (SRV is the exception: its name must be written as _service._protocol — see the SRV section below.)
Enter the value:
- A — an IPv4 address. To point at your Maxinodes hosting, use 185.185.49.198. Pair any A record you add with an AAAA record to 2a00:7c80:0:286:c::10, so IPv6 visitors reach the same place.
- AAAA — an IPv6 address; for your Maxinodes hosting that is 2a00:7c80:0:286:c::10.
- CNAME — the target hostname (for example autodiscover.outlook.com).
- MX — the mail server hostname, plus a priority number.
- TXT — the text value (for example an SPF string).
- NS — a nameserver hostname, used if you delegate a subdomain to someone else's DNS.
- SRV — the target hostname, plus Priority, Weight and Port. See Add an SRV record below.
- CAA — the certificate authority's domain (or a contact address), plus Flags and a Tag. See Add a CAA record below.
Save the record.

Result: The new record appears in the list and starts to propagate.

Edit a record

Find the record in the list.
Select edit, change the value (or priority/TTL), and save.

Result: The updated record appears in the list.

Delete a record

Find the record in the list.
Select delete and confirm.

Result: The record is removed from the zone.

Add an SRV record

SRV records tell software which host and port run a service — SIP/VoIP, XMPP, Matrix and some game servers all use them. They have more fields than any other record, and every one of them is required.

Choose to add a new record and set Type to SRV.
In Name, enter the service and protocol as _service._protocol — for example _sip._tcp. The leading underscores are part of the format, not decoration: entering just sip will be rejected.
Enter Priority — which target to try first when a service has several (lower number = tried first).
Enter Weight — how traffic is shared between targets that have the same priority.
Enter Port — the port the service actually listens on. It cannot be 0.
In Value, enter the target: the hostname running the service, for example sipserver.example.com. This must be a hostname, not an IP address.
Save the record.

Worked example — a SIP service on port 5060:

Field	Value
Type	SRV
Name	`_sip._tcp`
Priority	`10`
Weight	`5`
Port	`5060`
Value (target)	`sipserver.example.com`

Result: The record is published as 10 5 5060 sipserver.example.com., and software looking up _sip._tcp.yourdomain.com is sent to that host on that port.

Add a CAA record

A CAA record lists the certificate authorities allowed to issue SSL certificates for your domain. It is optional — with no CAA record at all, any authority may issue — but publishing one narrows that down.

Choose to add a new record and set Type to CAA.
In Name, use @ to cover the whole domain (or a subdomain to cover just that host).
Enter Flags — 0 in almost every case. Use 128 to mark the record issuer-critical, which tells an authority to refuse to issue if it does not understand the tag.
Choose the Tag:
- issue — the authority allowed to issue ordinary certificates.
- issuewild — the authority allowed to issue wildcard certificates.
- iodef — where an authority should report a policy violation.
Enter the Value:
- for issue and issuewild, the authority's domain, for example letsencrypt.org.
- for iodef, a mailto: address or an https:// URL.
Save the record.

Worked example — allow only Let's Encrypt, and ask for violation reports by email:

Type	Name	Flags	Tag	Value
CAA	`@`	`0`	`issue`	`letsencrypt.org`
CAA	`@`	`0`	`iodef`	`mailto:security@example.com`

Result: The records are published as 0 issue "letsencrypt.org" and 0 iodef "mailto:security@example.com", and only the listed authority can issue certificates for your domain.

Note: Our free AutoSSL certificates come from Let's Encrypt. If you publish a CAA record that does not allow letsencrypt.org, AutoSSL will not be able to issue or renew your certificate.

Important: IPv4 and IPv6 (dual-stack)

Customer websites are served over both IPv4 and IPv6 (dual-stack). Our hosting node is reachable at 185.185.49.198 (IPv4) and 2a00:7c80:0:286:c::10 (IPv6). 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, and AutoSSL (Let's Encrypt) covers both addresses. For any extra hostname you point at us yourself, add an A record and an AAAA record for it here.

Email records

If you use Professional Email (resold Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace), your mailboxes are not on the hosting server — there is no cPanel webmail. You still add your email's MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records here in the client area DNS manager. The exact values are tenant-specific and come from the Microsoft 365 admin centre or the Google Workspace setup wizard. See The DNS records your email needs (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC).

Troubleshooting this task

My change has not taken effect. DNS updates can take time to propagate (allow up to a few hours). Confirm your domain is pointed at ns1.maxinodes.com and ns2.maxinodes.com at your registrar.
I do not see a DNS option for my domain. A DNS zone is created for each hosting service when you order. Make sure your domain is pointed at our nameservers; if it is still missing, contact us.
I edited records in cPanel and nothing changed. DNS is managed in the client area, not cPanel. Make your changes in the client area DNS manager.
My email stopped working after a change. Double-check the MX, SPF and DKIM values against your Microsoft 365 admin centre or Google Workspace admin console — a typo in a TXT or MX value is the usual cause.
My SRV record will not save. The name must be in _service._protocol form (_sip._tcp, not sip), and Priority, Weight and Port must all be filled in — Port cannot be 0.
My SSL stopped renewing after I added a CAA record. AutoSSL issues through Let's Encrypt, so your issue record (and issuewild, if you use wildcard certificates) must allow letsencrypt.org. Add it, or delete the CAA record.