Create your first DNS zone and query it

Prerequisites

• You have a STACKIT customer account: Create a customer Account
• You have a STACKIT user account: Create a user account
• You have a STACKIT project: Create a project
• You either own a domain name that you want to manage with STACKIT DNS or you want to use a STACKIT free subdomain.

In this getting-started guide you will create a DNS zone and configure DNS records for it. This guide shows the most common settings for a basic DNS setup. When following this guide, you will work with the STACKIT Portal. There are many other ways to manage DNS zones and records. For a deeper understanding, please consult Manage DNS zones, Manage DNS records and API Reference.

Prepare, create and configure a DNS zone

At first create a new zone:

1. Visit the STACKIT portal.
2. On the sidebar click on DNS.
3. On the bar on the top click on Create DNS zone.
4. Fill out all needed inputs in the wizard.

   • Zone name: Enter a freely choosable name.

   • Leave the Type-selector on Primary.

   • Fill out the Domain-field. If you own a domain, enter it here. If you don’t own a domain, activate the Use free STACKIT subdomain-select, enter a desired subdomain and choose a domain part in the dropdown.

     In this tutorial we use the STACKIT subdomain stackit.rocks. If you choose an own domain, you need to point the domain registrar nameservers to STACKIT DNS.

     

5. Click on Order fee-based.

Add DNS records

To make your DNS zone useful, you need to add DNS records. In this guide, we’ll create some common record types that you’ll typically need.

Open your zone and create a record

In this guide we will create a TXT-record to allow Google mail servers to send mails for our newly created domain. This is among other things done with an SPF-entry.

There are other steps needed with DNS to get a domain fully operational with Google mail. In this guide the scope lies only on the SPF-entry.

1. On the sidebar click on DNS.
2. Click on your newly created zone.
3. You will see the zone overview.
   If you use an own domain name, note down the nameservers displayed for your zone (e.g., ns1.stackit.cloud, ns2.stackit.cloud). You will need to configure these nameservers at your domain registrar for the DNS zone to work.
4. On the left pane click on Resource records.
5. On the top bar click on Create resource record.
6. On the new pane enter all needed information:
   • Name: Leave the name-field blank.
   • Description: Optionally enter a Description.
   • TTL: Change the TTL to 600.
   • Type: Select TXT.
   • Record data: Paste v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all.
7. On the bottom of the pane, click on Create.

OPTIONAL: Update your domain registrar

This step is only needed, when you use your own domain.

Before you can test your DNS zone, you need to update the nameservers at your domain registrar to use STACKIT DNS.

1. Log in to your domain registrar’s control panel.
2. Find the nameserver configuration for your domain.
3. Replace the existing nameservers with the STACKIT nameservers you noted down in the previous step.
4. Save the changes.

Nameserver changes can take up to 24-48 hours to propagate globally due to DNS caching. However, in most cases the changes are visible within a few hours.

Test your DNS zone from your local machine

Once you’ve configured your DNS records and updated the nameservers at your registrar, you can test the DNS resolution from your local machine.

Query the TXT record

To verify that your TXT record is working correctly, follow these steps:

Windows

Replace my-getting-started-zone.stackit.rocks with the name of your zone.

1. Open a PowerShell.

2. Execute the following command:

   nslookup -type=TXT my-getting-started-zone.stackit.rocks.

3. Verify the result: Look for a line that starts with ;; ANSWER SECTION:

   Non-authoritative answer:
   my-getting-started-zone.stackit.rocks   text =
   
           "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all"

   If you can find it and if you see a line with your SPF-record, than your creation was successful.

Mac OS/Linux

Replace my-getting-started-zone.stackit.rocks with the name of your zone.

1. Open a terminal.

2. Execute the following command:

   dig TXT my-getting-started-zone.stackit.rocks

3. Verify the result: Look for a line that starts with ;; ANSWER SECTION:

   ;; ANSWER SECTION:
   my-getting-started-zone.stackit.rocks. 600 IN TXT "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all"

   If you can find it and if you see a line with your SPF-record, than your creation was successful.

If your queries don’t return the expected results immediately, wait a few minutes for the DNS changes to propagate, or check that the nameservers are correctly configured at your domain registrar.

Now your DNS zone is set up and ready to serve DNS queries for your domain. You can manage and update your DNS records at any time through the STACKIT Portal or with the other options described in this chapter.

Next steps

From here you can explore more advanced DNS features:

• Learn about handling the product in the How-Tos.
• Start with inter-topic guides in the Tutorials section.