Manage your DNS Records on CloudCannon DNS

DNS Records are instructions for a domain name, served by its authoritative nameservers. When a Custom Domain uses CloudCannon DNS, you manage its DNS Records on the DNS tab of its Domain page.

This article covers Custom Domains on CloudCannon DNS. On External DNS, you manage your DNS Records at your DNS Provider. For more information, please read our documentation on configuring External DNS.

Before we begin, this article assumes your Custom Domain uses CloudCannon DNS. For more information, please read our documentation on configuring CloudCannon DNS.

Add DNS Records#

The Add record button is disabled until the DNS zone for your domain is ready, or if you don't have the base-domain:settings:dns:write permission. Hover over the disabled button to see why.

To add a DNS Record:

1. Log in to CloudCannon.
2. Select the Organization your Custom Domain is connected to.
3. Click the Custom Domains link in the App Sidebar. CloudCannon will open the Domains Browser.
4. Select the domain for which you want to add a record by clicking the Card for the domain. CloudCannon will open the Summary tab of the Domain page.
5. Click the DNS tab. CloudCannon will open the DNS tab, which lists your records in the DNS records section.
6. Click the Add record button. CloudCannon will open the Add DNS record modal.
7. Use the Type dropdown to select the type of record. Valid options include A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, SRV, TXT, and NS. CloudCannon will update the available fields depending on the record type.
8. Enter the details for your DNS Record.
9. (Optional.) Enter a description of the record in the Comment field.
10. Click the Add record button.

CloudCannon will add the DNS Record to the DNS zone for your domain and list it in the DNS records section.

Edit or delete DNS Records#

The DNS records section on the DNS tab lists the Type, Name, Content, and TTL of each record. Type in the Filter field to find a record.

To edit or delete a DNS Record, click the Context Menu button for the record and select the Edit or Delete option. Without the base-domain:settings:dns:write permission, the Context Menu only has the View option.

Records CloudCannon adds#

When CloudCannon creates the DNS zone for your domain, it adds two CNAME Records:

• *.example.com is an alias for sites.cloudcannon.com
• example.com is an alias for sites.cloudcannon.com

These records instruct servers completing a DNS lookup for your Base Domain (and its Subdomains) to search for the IP address of sites.cloudcannon.com. These records let visitors' browsers find the IP address of the CloudCannon server that hosts your Site. The wildcard record covers one level of Subdomain (e.g., docs.example.com, but not api.docs.example.com⁠). A Subdomain the wildcard record doesn't serve needs its own record, which you can add with the Fix button.

If you migrated from the legacy CloudCannon DNS, CloudCannon copies your existing records into the new zone as well. If CloudCannon is restoring a zone that Cloudflare deleted, it restores the copy of your records instead of adding these two records.

If an SSL Certificate needs TXT Records for validation, CloudCannon also adds those records for you, including at each renewal of the wildcard SSL Certificate for your Base Domain. For more information, please read our documentation on adding an auto-generated SSL Certificate.

Fix the DNS Record for a Subdomain#

Fixing a record requires the base-domain:settings:dns:write permission. Without it, the Fix button is disabled, and hovering over it shows You do not have permission to edit the DNS for [Base Domain].

The Required records section on the DNS tab lists the Subdomains on your Custom Domain whose DNS Record still needs a change. For each of these Subdomains, the table shows:

• Subdomain — The Subdomain. Click it to open the Subdomain page.
• Record — The record the Subdomain needs to reach CloudCannon, followed by the records CloudCannon found for it. If the wildcard record for your Base Domain serves the Subdomain, the needed record reads Served by the *.example.com wildcard. The needed record is marked Configured once CloudCannon finds it, a found record that points somewhere else is marked Points elsewhere, and other records at the same name are marked Existing.
• Status — Not pointing at CloudCannon if a record points somewhere else, No DNS Record if CloudCannon found nothing, Checking while a new record is still spreading, or Not checked yet.

When every Subdomain reaches CloudCannon, the section shows [Subdomain] points at CloudCannon, Both subdomains point at CloudCannon, or All [Number] subdomains point at CloudCannon, and says there is nothing to add. The DNS section of each Subdomain page shows the record for that Subdomain, whether or not it needs a change.

The footer of the table says when CloudCannon last checked the records. Click the Check now button in the footer to check every listed Subdomain again.

The Required records section is hidden until your nameservers point at CloudCannon DNS. Until then, the DNS section of each Subdomain page marks records CloudCannon hasn't checked yet as Waiting for nameservers, and has no Check now button.

If a record in CloudCannon DNS stops a Subdomain from reaching CloudCannon, CloudCannon can replace or remove that record for you. For example, a record for the Subdomain can override the wildcard record for your Base Domain. The Fix button appears once your nameservers point at CloudCannon DNS.

To fix the DNS Record for a Subdomain:

1. Navigate to the DNS tab of the Domain page, or to the DNS section of the Subdomain page.
2. Click the Fix button in the row for the Subdomain. CloudCannon will open the Fix DNS for [Subdomain]? modal, which lists the records it will remove and add.
3. Click the Replace record, Remove record, or Add record button to confirm the change. When the change covers more than one record, the button reads Replace records, Remove records, or Add records.

CloudCannon will update the records in CloudCannon DNS. Visitors reach CloudCannon once the change spreads, usually within a few minutes.

CloudCannon checks the record of each Subdomain daily. Click the Check now button below the Required records table, or in the DNS section of a Subdomain page, to check again. For a minute after a check, the button is disabled. Checking a Subdomain's record requires the base-domain:settings:details:write permission. Without it, the button is disabled, and hovering over it shows You do not have permission to edit the Domain Settings for [Base Domain].